June 7, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa – The University of Kentucky track and field team sends nine student-athletes to compete in eight events at the four-day 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 8-11.
Live coverage of the meet can be seen on CBS College Sports, who will broadcast the meet on Friday from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET, while CBS will carry Saturday’s action from 1-3 p.m. ET. In addition to the coverage by CBS the meet will be accessible for free online at www.ncaa.com or www.godrakebulldogs.com. Live results of the championships will be available through Flash Results at www.flashresults.com.
The Wildcats have qualified four men to compete in four events at the NCAA championships, while the women secured five athletes in four events. Kentucky sent a similar number of athletes to Eugene, Ore., for last year’s outdoor championships, with 11 Wildcats competing in nine events.
Wednesday, the first day of competition, will see a group of four successful Kentucky seniors make their final push to reach the pinnacle of collegiate track and field, an NCAA championship. Colin Boevers, Jenna Martin and Sharif Webb all tout All-America honors, with Boevers the last to secure that honor at last year’s outdoor championships. The fourth of the group, Mary Angell, has made an incredible rise this season, beginning with two huge career bests at the Southeastern Conference Championships that produced a third-place finish in the shot put followed by a runner-up performance in the discus. Angell will be making her first appearance at the NCAA outdoor championships after furthering her career mark in the discus at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Bloomington, Ind. Angell will start things off for the Wildcats in Des Moines at 4:00 p.m. ET, competing in the discus throw.
Boevers will follow Angell in the discus ring, with the men’s discus competition beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. The native of Salt Lake City, Utah and two-time defending SEC champion in the discus throw, looks to back up last year’s All-America performance. As a junior, Boevers finished ninth overall in the discus at NCAA outdoors with a long throw of 54.88m/180-01. Earlier this season at the SEC championships in Athens, Ga., Boevers set a career-best mark of 59.74m/196-00 to secure the title. The senior’s career mark sits fifth on UK’s all-time discus list and is the fourth-best discus mark among the collegiate ranks.
Running events for UK begin at 7:15 p.m. ET with Sharif Webb in the 800m run. Webb holds the school record in the event with a time of 1:47.19, set earlier in the year at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. On the women’s side, Jenna Martin will compete in the 400m dash semifinals at 7:45 p.m. ET after securing the East preliminary round’s top time in the event. Martin comes into the championships with a season-best time of 52.30 and holds the school record time of 51.91.
Junior Keith Hayes, an indoor All-America honoree in the 60m hurdles, will compete in the 110m hurdles semifinals at 8:10 p.m. ET on Thursday. Hayes tied his career best time of 13.70 in the men’s 110m hurdles at the East preliminary round to finish in fifth place and move on to nationals. With his time of 13.70, Hayes ranks second on UK’s all-time 110m hurdle list behind Mikel Thomas.
Also on Thursday, the women’s 4x400m relay team makes their second-consecutive visit to nationals after setting a school record at the East preliminary round with a time of 3:34.12. The 4x400m relay team consists of Martin, Shiara Robinson, Precious Nwokey and Jazmyn Shorter and will begin at 9:20 p.m. ET. Nwokey will also compete in the heptathlon, which begins on Thursday with the first four events of the competition. The heptathlon will start at 2:00 p.m. ET with the 100m hurdles followed by the high jump, shot put and 200m dash. The final three events of the heptathlon will pick back up on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET with the long jump, javelin and 800m run.
The final event of the NCAA outdoor championships for the Wildcats will be the men’s triple jump at 12:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with senior Keenan Hall. The native of Indianapolis, Ind., holds the school record in the event with a lifetime-best leap of 52-00.50/15.86m, set at this season’s SEC championships. After a much improved senior season, Hall comes into the event as the 17th seed overall.
New All-America policy instituted prior to the 2011 indoor season
Individuals and relays that score any portion of a team point in an NCAA Track & Field Championship will earn USTFCCCA First-Team All-America honors (place first through eighth). Those individuals and relays that place between nine and 16 overall (including ties) in an NCAA Track & Field Championship will earn USTFCCCA Second-Team All-America honors. Those who do not meet the criteria above, but participate at least a round at the finals site for an NCAA Championship will be listed as Honorable Mention All-America. However, even though Honorable Mention All-America honors are awarded they do not count towards official records.
For continuous updates, follow the Kentucky track and field team on Twitter @Kentuckytrack and on UKathletics.com.
NCAA Outdoor Championships Schedule
Wednesday, June 8
Men’s 800m Run Semifinal– 7:15 p.m. ET
Sharif Webb
Women’s 400m Dash Semifinal– 7:45 p.m. ET
Jenna Martin
Women’s Discus Throw Trials/Final – 4:00 p.m. ET
Mary Angell
Men’s Discus Throw Trials/Final– 7:00 p.m. ET
Colin Boevers
Thursday, June 9
Men’s 110m Hurdles Semifinal – 8:10 p.m. ET
Keith Hayes
Women’s 4x400m Relay Semifinal– 9:20 p.m. ET
Jenna Martin, Shiara Robinson, Precious Nwokey, Jazmyn Shorter
Heptathlon
Precious Nwokey
100m Hurdles – 2:00 p.m. ET
High Jump – 3:00 p.m. ET
Shot Put – 6:00 p.m. ET
200m Dash – 7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 10
Men’s 800m Run Final – 8:20 p.m. ET
Sharif Webb
Women’s 400m Dash Final – 8:55 p.m. ET
Jenna Martin
Heptahlon
Precious Nwokey
Long Jump – 5:00 p.m. ET
Javelin – 6:15 p.m. ET
800m Run – 8:45 p.m. ET
Saturday, June 11
Men’s 110m Hurdles Final – 2:16 p.m. ET
Keith Hayes
Women’s 4x400m Relay Final – 2:40 p.m. ET
Jenna Martin, Shiara Robinson, Precious Nwokey, Jazmyn Shorter
Men’s Triple Jump Trials/Final – 12:05 p.m. ET
Keenan Hall
