April 19, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Luis Orta put his best foot forward Thursday afternoon at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., running the third-best 3,000-meter steeplechase in Kentucky track and field history.
Orta, running in the famed Mt. SAC Relays hosted by Mt. San Antonio College, finished in ninth-place with a time of 8:49.45. Orta’s time is a career best, breaking his previous personal-best time of 8:50.52 set earlier this year at the Texas Relays. The Caracas, Venezuela, native missed out on the second-best time in program history by 0.01 seconds.
The 2012 Southeastern Conference Men’s Indoor Runner of the Year, Orta has enjoyed a strong outdoor season, winning the 3,000m steeplechase at the Texas Relays and finishing fifth in the 5,000m run at the Florida Relays.
The rest of the Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete Saturday and Sunday at the Polytan Invitational. Sophomore Andrew Evans and freshman Bradley Szypka will get things started for the Wildcats on Saturday with the men’s hammer at 4:30 p.m. ET. Evans currently has the seventh-best hammer mark in Kentucky history, recording a 156-04 in Kentucky’s first outdoor meet this season, the Bulls Invitational.
Freshmen Todd Nibbs and Ryan Ratliff will compete in the men’s high jump, while junior Shelby Kennard and senior Samantha Stenzel will go in the women’s pole vault. Wrapping up the field events for Kentucky on Saturday will be freshman Terence Boyd, who will compete in the men’s triple jump.
Julie Nunn, Kayla Parker, Keilah Tyson and Tamyah Pipkin will represent the Cats in the 4x100m relay. The quartet will try to top what Nunn, Parker, Shiara Robinson and Tyson accomplished last week, recording the fourth fastest 4x100m time in school history (45.28).
Freshman Devinn Cartwright will compete in the women’s 400m hurdles at 7:20 p.m. Saturday, and sophomore Brandon Bagley will follow at 7:35 p.m. in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Katy Achtien, Anna Bostrom, Megan Broderick and Allison Peare will race in the women’s 1,500m run at 8:30 p.m. In the men’s 1,500m run, Stacey Eden, Matt Hillenbrand, Adam Kahleifeh, Walter Luttrell and Jared Phillips will represent the Cats. At last week’s Texas Roadhouse Border Battle Kentuckiana, Hillenbrand recorded the fourth-fastest 1,500m in the SEC so far this season, crossing the finish line in 3:48.22.
UK will close out the first day of competition at the Polytan Invitational with the women’s 5,000m run, in which junior Hiruni Wijayaratne will compete for the Wildcats.
On day two, Kentucky will compete in six field events, beginning with the women’s shot put and men’s discus at noon. Other field events taking place Sunday will be the men’s and women’s long jump, women’s high jump and men’s shot put.
On the track Sunday, Kentucky will compete in the men’s 110m hurdles, men’s and women’s 100m dash, men’s 400m, men’s and women’s 800m and men’s 200m.
A complete schedule of when and which Kentucky student-athletes will compete in the Polytan Invitational is listed below. Live results for the Polytan Invitational can be found at IUhoosiers.com.
For all Kentucky track and field news, including daily recaps and results from the Polytan Invitational, follow the Wildcats on Twitter at “KentuckyTrack” and go to UKathletics.com.
Mt. SAC Relays
Hilmer Lodge Stadium
Walnut, Calif.
Thursday Lineup
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
9. Luis Orta – 8:49.45
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Polytan Invitational
Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex
Bloomington, Ind.
Day One Lineup
Men’s Hammer – 4:30 p.m.
Andrew Evans
Bradley Szypka
Men’s High Jump – 5:00 p.m.
Todd Nibbs
Ryan Ratliff
Women’s Pole Vault – 5:00 p.m.
Shelby Kennard
Samantha Stenzel
Men’s Triple Jump – 6:30 p.m.
Terence Boyd
Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay – 7:00 p.m.
Kentucky `A’ (Julie Nunn, Kayla Parker, Keilah Tyson and Tamyah Pipkin)
Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles – 7:20 p.m.
Devinn Cartwright
Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles – 7:35 p.m.
Brandon Bagley
Women’s 1,500-Meter Run – 8:30 p.m.
Katy Achtien
Anna Bostrom
Megan Broderick
Allison Peare
Men’s 1,500-Meter Run – 8:45 p.m.
Stacey Eden
Matt Hillenbrand
Adam Kahleifeh
Walter Luttrell
Jared Phillips
Women’s 5,000-Meter Run – 9:00 p.m.
Hiruni Wijayaratne
Day Two Lineup
Women’s Shot Put – Noon
Jennifer Svoboda
Men’s Discus – Noon
Andrew Evans
Isiah Kent
Women’s Long Jump – 1:00 p.m.
Brittany Britt
Men’s Long Jump – 1:00 p.m.
Terence Boyd
Todd Nibbs
Women’s High Jump – 1:00 p.m.
Terri-Ann Grant
Joanne Imbert
Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles – 1:15 p.m.
Brandon Bagley
Women’s 100-Meter Dash – 1:30 p.m.
Brittany Britt
Men’s 100-Meter Dash – 1:40 p.m.
Ben Mason
Men’s 400-Meter Dash – 2:05 p.m.
Ben Mason
Women’s 800-Meter Run – 2:15 p.m.
Megan Wright
Men’s 800-Meter Run – 2:30 p.m.
Trent Halasek
Sean Keane
Josh Nadzam
Keffri Neal
Robert Scharold
Men’s Shot Put – 2:30 p.m.
Isiah Kent
Bradley Szypka
Men’s 200-Meter Dash – 3:00 p.m.
Brandon Bagley
Ben Mason
