May 23, 2012
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In mid-March, the Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams began their outdoor seasons with aspirations of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships. From May 24-26, 14 Wildcats will put their dreams on the line at the NCAA East Preliminary round in Jacksonville, Fla., hoping to qualify for nationals in Des Moines, Iowa.
Seven student-athletes on the women’s side and seven on the men’s side will head south to Hodges Stadium on the campus of North Florida University and compete to qualify for the NCAA National Championships.
In outdoor track and field, the country is divided into two regions, the east and west. The top 48 individuals of each event from each region, excluding the heptathlon and decathlon, qualify for the preliminary round, while the top 24 relay teams from each region qualify for the preliminaries. In the preliminaries, the top-12 finishers from each event qualify for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, held this year in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9.
Second Team All-SEC freshman thrower Raymond Dykstra will compete Thursday at 11:00 a.m. ET in the javelin. The UK javelin record holder and SEC All-Freshman Team selection enters the event with the third-best mark in the region, throwing 247-05/75.41m at the Texas Relays.
The SEC men’s discus champion, sophomore Andrew Evans, will compete Thursday at 1:00 p.m. in the discus as the fifth-ranked thrower in the east region. Evans won the discus title at the SEC Championships with a throw of 181-09/55.40m, but has a season-best mark of 188-10/57.56m from the Texas Relays in late March. Sophomore Isiah Kent will also compete in the men’s discus. Kent enters the event with a season-best mark of 171-07/52.29m from the Polytan Invitational.
Senior Josh Nadzam, who was named to the SEC Community Service Team, will compete at 5:30 p.m. in the first round of the men’s 1,500-meter run. Nadzam enters the event with a season- and career-best time of 3:45.10 run at the Payton Jordan Invitational held in Palo Alto, Calif.
Two-time All-SEC Freshman Team selection Keilah Tyson will race in three events at the NCAA East Preliminary. Tyson will start her meet Thursday at 6:55 p.m. with the first round of the women’s 100m dash. Tyson will also compete in the women’s 200m dash on Friday at 8:25 p.m., and is scheduled to compete in the women’s 4x100m relay on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. Joining Tyson in the 4x100m relay is freshman Tamyah Pipkin, sophomore Julie Nunn and sophomore Kayla Parker. Junior sprinter Shiara Robinson will serve as an alternate on the team.
Sophomore Allison Peare will finish the first day of competition for UK with the first round of the women’s 800m run. Peare finished seventh in the event at the SEC Championships, running a career-best time of 2:06.03 in the preliminaries of the event to qualify for the finals. Peare’s time in the preliminaries was the fifth-fastest in school history.
Freshman Terence Boyd will compete in the men’s triple jump on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Boyd enters the event with a career-best mark of 50-00.50/15.25m from the Texas Roadhouse Border Battle Kentuckiana meet.
Senior Terri-Ann Grant will begin the women’s high jump at 5:00 p.m. Grant enters with the 14th-best mark in the region, eclipsing 5-11.25/1.81m at the Texas Relays.
Parker will race in the first round of the women’s 100m hurdles at 5:30 p.m., looking to improve upon her career-best time of 13.72.
Junior Luis Orta will compete Friday at 8:50 p.m. in the 3,000m steeplechase. A Second Team All-SEC selection in the 3,000m steeplechase this year, Orta enters Friday’s competition with the ninth-best time in the region, and the second-fastest time in UK history, running 8:45.77 at the SEC Outdoor Championships this year to finish second.
Also on Friday is the quarterfinals of the women’s 100m dash and women’s 800m run.
The final day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary will feature Kentucky’s 4x100m relay team at 6:15 p.m., and the quarterfinals of the men’s 1,500m, the women’s 200m and the women’s 100m hurdles.
A complete list of which Kentucky student-athletes are scheduled to compete in what events and at what times is listed below. All student-athletes and start times are subject to change. All times listed are eastern. Live results of the meet will be available each day at FlashResults.com.
For all Kentucky track and field news and information, including daily recaps and results from the NCAA East Preliminary, follow the men’s and women’s teams on Twitter at “KentuckyTrack” and go to UKathletics.com.
NCAA East Preliminary
Hodges Stadium – Jacksonville, Fla.
May 24-26, 2012
Thursday’s Lineup
Men’s Javelin (First Round) – 11:00 a.m.
Raymond Dykstra
Men’s Discus (First Round) – 1:00 p.m.
Andrew Evans
Isiah Kent
Women’s Shot Put (First Round) – 1:00 p.m.
Jennifer Svoboda
Men’s 1,500m Run (First Round) – 5:30 p.m.
Josh Nadzam
Women’s 100m Dash (First Round) – 6:55 p.m.
Keilah Tyson
Women’s 800m Run (First Round) – 8:35 p.m.
Allison Peare
Friday’s Lineup
Men’s Triple Jump (First Round) – 4:30 p.m.
Terence Boyd
Women’s High Jump (First Round) – 5:00 p.m.
Terri-Ann Grant
Women’s 100m Hurdles (First Round) – 5:30 p.m.
Kayla Parker
Women’s 100m Dash (Quarterfinals) – 6:45 p.m.
*Keilah Tyson
Women’s 800m Run (Quarterfinals) – 7:15 p.m.
*Allison Peare
Women’s 200m Dash (First Round) – 8:25 p.m.
Keilah Tyson
Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase (Quarterfinals) – 8:50 p.m.
Luis Orta
Saturday’s Lineup
Women’s 4x100m Relay (Quarterfinals) – 6:15 p.m.
Kentucky
Men’s 1,500m Run (Quarterfinals) – 6:30 p.m.
*Josh Nadzam
Women’s 100m Hurdles (Quarterfinals) – 7:20 p.m.
*Kayla Parker
Women’s 200m Dash (Quarterfinals) – 7:50 p.m.
*Keilah Tyson
* = Pending qualification for quarterfinals
