April 22, 2010

Notes

Philadelphia, Pa. —

To open the 116th Penn Relays the University of Kentucky track and field team featured a sole male athlete and a variety of events on the women’s side that included the varsity record holding women’s 4×400-meter relay team at historic Franklin Field on Thursday.

The UK women’s 4x400m relay team fought through the field literally as they qualified for the college finals with a time of 3:40.68 that will be held later this weekend on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. ET.

Jazmyn Shorter ran the opening leg without a hitch and with a time of 55.1 made an easy exchange to Jenna Martin starting the second leg in the middle of the pack. Martin began gaining ground on the field and was looking good down the stretch until a crowded handoff forced an awkward exchange and Brittany Cabbler had to make a complete stop to grab the baton in traffic. Martin finished with a split of 54.2 and with a slow start Cabbler made a successful handoff to Precious Nwokey to finish with a 57 flat split. Nwokey passed Southeastern Conference opponent Florida at the end with an outstanding performance and the fastest split time of the team, 53.00. The team concluded the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:40.68 to finish No. 16 overall.

Also in action were two Wildcat pole vaulters, senior Mary Chris Durham and sophomore Samantha Stenzel. Stenzel the current school indoor and outdoor record holder had a solid performance to finish tied eighth with a height of 12-06/3.81m. Durham finished 10 positions behind in 18th with a mark of 11-06.25.

The night was completed under the lights at Franklin Field with several distance events that included three Kentucky women. To start the distance events off was senior Andrea Halasek-Richardson in the 3,000m Steeplechase where she ran a time of 10:46.00 and claimed the xx spot. In addition to Halasek-Richardson fellow senior Katherine Peterson and freshman Cally Macumber ran in two separate sections of the 5,000m run. Macumber shaved more than 20 seconds of her personal best mark and finished 14th with a time of 16:43.61 in the college championship division. Peterson finished in 10th place in the olympic development section with a season best time of 17:00.33.

More exciting action will begin again tomorrow on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania at 9:00 a.m. ET. Everything you want to know from history, schedule of events and live results can be found at PennRelaysOnline.com.