June 25, 2014
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Seven members of the Kentucky track and field teams – five women and two men – will travel to Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State for the United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which begin on Wednesday.
The first Wildcat to compete will be senior Allison Peare in the 800 meters on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Matt Hillenbrand will also take the track on Thursday for the first round of the 1,500m.
Peare was the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Silver Medalist at 800m, and placed fifth in the NCAA 1,500m. She had the fastest 1,500m time among comeptitors not accepted into the Championships.
Hillenbrand ran a personal best 3:39.84 earlier this month at the Portland Track Festival to qualify for the meet.
Andrew Evans enters the men’s discus as the top seed overall, with a personal-best throw 217′ 9″/66.37m, which came at the Tennessee Challenge in early May.
Other Wildcats scheduled to compete at the U.S. Championships are Kendra Harrison and Kayla Parker in the 100m hurdles, Leah Nugent in the 400m hurdles and Sha’Keela Saunders in the long jump.
The meet will be broadcast on USATF.tv, NBC Sports Network and Universal Sports at various points throughout the week.
Among those competing for the title of top American in their respective events are 150 men who were collegians in 2013-14 from 96 different programs and 132 collegiate women from 76 programs as compiled by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Many Senior National Championship meets will be held throughout the world this weekend, including the Canadian Championships, where Keffri Neal (800m) and Raymond Dykstra (javelin) are slated for action.
While there are no 2014 Major International Championships (World Championships or Olympics) – for which the USA Championships could serve as a qualifying meet – UK’s Canadian competitors can use this weekend to strengthen their cases to earn trips to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The Canadian Championships alone do not decide the Commonwealth Games team.
