COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Led by Javianne Oliver and Olivia Gruver’s medal performances on Saturday, the Kentucky women’s track and field team finished sixth with 26 points at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships inside Texas A&M’s Gilliam Indoor Stadium.
Women’s team finish context
UK’s sixth-place performance was the second best at an NCAA indoor meet in women’s program history. UK 26 points were the women’s program record for a NCAA Indoor Championships.
Kentucky finished fifth with 25 points in 2015.
Men’s team finish context
Kentucky’s men’s team finished tied for 22nd with 10 points as Tim Duckworth claimed silver in the heptathlon, and Nick Anderson placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.
The UK men’s program earned its first NCAA indoor top-25 finish since placing 19th with 13 points in 2009.
Saturday medalists
Oliver took the early lead out of the blocks with her patented explosive start, and looked to be ahead up until the final steps, getting outleaned across the line by Oregon’s Hannah Cunliffe 7.14 seconds-7.16. Oliver scored eight points. She was sixth in the same event last season.
After sleeping on the day-one heptathlon lead, Tim Duckworth tied his PR 8.10 in the 60m hurdles to open day two by scoring 957 points.
He then made a major move in the pole vault, clearing a two-inch-plus PR 17’3”/5.26m to score 991 points and take a 224-point lead over second place Devon Williams (Georgia) into the heptathlon-concluding 1k.
There, he finished with a time of 3:04.24 to score 623 points. UGA’s Williams ran 2:41.26 to score 859, and take the heptathlon gold by the narrowest of margins — 12 points, which roughly equates to one second.
Duckworth’s 6,165 points broke his British record by 159, and with third place Karl Saluri having scored 6,051 it was the first NCAA meet to feature three heptathletes with more than 6,050 points.
Duckworth’s score tied for the seventh best in collegiate history (Williams’ 6,177 ranks fourth best in NCAA all-time).
Gruver became the first Wildcat to score in the NCAA pole vault, and took bronze to boot. Her bronze medal clearance was 14’5.25”/4.40m. She cleared her first two attempts at 13’9.25” and then 14’1.25”, before getting over 14’5.25” on her second attempt. She was unable to get over 14’7.25”/4.45m – the winning height.
Saturday scorers
Sophomore Jasmine Camacho-Quinn placed seventh in the women’s 60m hurdles to score two points at her first NCAA indoor meet.
Senior Nick Anderson placed seventh in the men’s 60m hurdles with a time of 7.85, after running a PR 7.69 in the prelims. He scored two points at his first NCAA indoor meet.
Coverage
The Championships will be shown on ESPN2 as a condensed show on Sunday, March 12 starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Meet format
The top-16 declared entries, and top-12 declared relay teams from marks recorded this season
qualified for the Championships.
The top-eight scorers in each of the 17 events on the men’s and women’s sides will score points by virtue of their place finish on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
The Kentucky women’s team placed 12th at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season, while the men did not earn a team score.
UK Team Results
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Women’s Team
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6. Kentucky 26
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Men’s Team
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22. Kentucky: 10
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Saturday, March 11 Results
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Women’s PV
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3. Olivia Gruver: 14’5.25”/4.40m
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Women’s 60m
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2.
Javianne Oliver: 7.16 – eight points
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Women’s 60H
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7. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: 8.11 – two ponits
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Women’s TJ
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13.
Sha’Keela Saunders: 42’0”/12.80m
Marie-Josée Ebwea-Bile: foul
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Men’s 60H
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7. Nick Anderson: 7.85 – two points
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Heptathlon
Total
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2. Tim Duckworth: 6,177 (British record,
school record)
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Heptathlon
60M
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1.
Tim Duckworth: 6.77 (966 points) PR
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Hept
Long Jump
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2. Duckworth:
25’6″/7.77m (1,0002 points) PR for a heptathlon LJ
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Hept
Shot Put
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11.
Duckworth: 42’11.5″/13.09m (673 points) PR
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Hept
High Jump
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1. Duckworth: 7’1″/2.16m
(953 points) T-PR
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Hept Day One Total
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1.
Duckworth: 3594 points (+86 on field)(+55 on PR)
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Hept 60H
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3. Duckworth: 8.10 (957
points) (T-PR)
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Hept Pole Vault
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2.
Duckworth: 17’3”/5.26m (991 points) (PR)
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Hept 1k
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12. Duckworth: 3:04.24 (623
points)
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Friday, March 10 Results
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Women’s 60m
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2. Javianne Oliver: 7.14Q (PR, No. 2 UK)
11. Kianna Gray: 7.31
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Women’s 60H
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7. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: 8.06q
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Men’s 60H
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3. Nick
Anderson: 7.69Q (PR)
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Women’s LJ
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1. Sha’Keela Saunders:
22’7.75″/6.90m
10. Destiny Carter:
20’7.25″/6.28m
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Women’s 200m
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13.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: 23.38
15.
Kianna Gray: 23.47
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