COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Kentucky track and field program’s prowess for hurdling events extended to distance on Friday as junior Katy Kunc won UK’s first Southeastern Conference Championship in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Kunc (pronounced Koontze) looked comfortable at the front the whole race, opening up a four-second advantage with about three laps to go, and never relinquishing that lead. She ran a personal best by more than nine seconds the new school record 10:02.95.
“I’ve been working so hard for this,” Kunc said. “The race went exactly as planned. I got a big PR out of it, and my teammates did awesome so it was exciting. I’m so happy for them too.”
Kunc’s time ranks No. 8 in the NCAA right now based on rankings entering Friday.
Kentucky had three runners combine to score 18 points in the steeplechase. Kunc earned 10 for winning, of course.
Caroline McCaslin contributed five points with a fourth-place, personal best time of 10:11.84. Amy Hansen also ran a PB in finishing sixth with a time of 10:26.45 to add three points.
Kunc ran a 10:11.99 in March at the Florida Relays, the previous school record, notable because she fell on the back stretch of the bell lap and still won the race comfortably.
She scored in two events at the SEC Indoor Championships in February, placing fourth in the 3k and sixth in the 5k. Kunc was All-America in cross country as well as SEC bronze medalist, last fall.
Kunc, McCaslin and Hansen’s times rank them as the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 performers in school history.
George Yiannelis was UK’s only men’s SEC Champion in the 3k steeplechase in 1993 (8:49.53).
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Saunders retains SEC Outdoor Silver in Long Jump
Sha’Keela Saunders repeated as SEC outdoor long jump silver medalist.
Alabama’s Quanesha Burks won the SEC outdoor long jump for the third year in a row with a nation-leading 22’4.5”/ 6.82m (+0.2) mark. Saunders’ who ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this outdoor season was second with a mark of 22’1.75”/6.75m. 4.25 inches shy of Burks’ winner.
The two have combined to win the last six SEC long jump titles indoors and out as Saunders won the SEC indoor title in 2015 and 2017 to sandwich Burks’ indoor title.
Saunders pipped Burks for the NCAA indoor title in the last round in March.
Team score update
Arkansas leads the women’s scoring on 73 points with seven of 21 events scored. Alabama is second with 30, Ole Miss has 27.5 and Kentucky and Georgia are tied with 27.
The UK men’s team sits in 11th on 11 points with eight of 21 events complete. Alabama leads on 54 points. Texas A&M has 38, UGA has 35, while Arkansas and Ole Miss are tied on 31.
Friday scorers
Justin Kretchmer and Tim Duckworth put up points for the Wildcats in the men’s high jump. Kretchmer tied his PB with a clearance at 7’0.5”/2.15m to score three. Tim Duckworth placed seventh to add two points with a clearance at 6’10.75”/2.10m.
Xaivier McAllister cleared the same height as Duckworth but placed 10th due to the miss tiebreaker.
Friday advancers from prelims
Kentucky’s sprint hurdlers had a 100 percent qualification record on Friday.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn had the second fastest time of the 100m hurdles preliminary heats cruising to a win in heat three stopping the clock at 12.94Q (+0.3). Jacklyn Howell was second in that heat with a time of 13.18Q, the fourth-fastest time of the prelims. UK’s short hurdles duo will defend their SEC medals in the event on Saturday. Camacho-Quinn won and Howell took bronze last year.
Nick Anderson looked good running 13.62Q (-0.5) to win his 110m hurdles heat with the second fastest performance of qualifying. Daniel Roberts broke Anderson’s wind-legal freshman record in running 13.89q (+0.7), seventh fastest of the prelims.
Michelle McKinney ran a strong personal best 4:22.14Q to place second in her heat and qualify automatically for Saturday’s final. The time moved McKinney to No. 9 on the UK all-time performers’ list.
Destiny Carter bounced back from fouling out of the long jump moments before to qualify for the 100m final with a prelim time of 11.25Q (+1.4). She will also run in the 200m final after qualifying on Thursday.
The coverage
The meet continues tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. SEC Network+ will stream the action via WatchESPN/ESPN3 on
Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET .
Dwight Stones will handle play by play, Larry Rawson and Jill Montgomery will provide analysis and SportsCenter’s John Anderson will conduct the interviews.
The meet will first air on television Wednesday, May 17 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
SECTF Strength
Kentucky’s women’s team is ranked No. 6 in this week’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association computer rankings – which are a forecast of team finish at the NCAA Championships, not the SEC Championships.
Three of the five women’s teams ranked ahead of the UK women are SEC squads (No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Arkansas), six of the top-10 are SEC teams, and a 11 SEC women’s team rank in the top-25.
Four of the top-five and six of the top-10 men’s teams are in the SEC. Twelve of the top-25 men’s teams in the country rank in the top 10.
UK’s SEC precedent
The Kentucky women’s team has placed third at the SEC Outdoor Championships each of the past two years. UK’s best SEC outdoor finish was second place in 1981, the first year the meet was held.
A year ago Kentucky placed 10th in the men’s competition with 48.50 points.
Arkansas is the defending SEC Champion on the men’s and women’s side both indoors and outdoors.
Indoor 2017: At the SEC Indoor Championships in February, the Kentucky women’s team tied the school record for team finish at the SEC Indoor Championships – third overall with 71 points.
The UK women’s program finished third at the SEC indoor meet for the first time since 1989, its only other top-three finish at indoor SECs.
The UK men’s team improved by 12 points and four spots from a year ago in placing seventh with 44 points at 2017 SEC indoors.
The SEC Championships format
Athletes earn points for their teams at the SEC Championships based on top-8 finishes on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
The meet features 21 events per gender, and the team with the most points at the end wins.
On the horizon
Kentucky will welcome in effect the whole of Division I this side of the Mississippi River May 25-27 for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships. UK will play host for that event for the first time. The Wildcats were the host institution for the 2014 SEC Championships at the UK Outdoor Track.
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Friday, May 12 – UK Results
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Field
Events
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EVENT
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Round
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UK Entry
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Men’s Long Jump
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Final
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15. Fred Dorsey: 24’2.25”/ 7.37m (+1.2)
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Men’s Discus
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Prelim/Final
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10.
Charles Lenford: 177’3”/54.04m
12.
Noah Castle: 172’10”/52.69m
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Women’s Pole Vault
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Final
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NH: Olivia Gruver
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Men’s High Jump
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Prelim/Final
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6. Justin
Kretchmer: 7’0.5”/2.15m – 3 points | Tied PB
7. Tim
Duckworth: 6’10.75”/2.10m – 2 points
10.
Xaivier McAllister: 6’10.75”/2.10m
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Women’s Long Jump
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Prelim/Final
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2. Sha’Keela
Saunders: 22’1.75”/6.75m – 8 points
Foul: Destiny Carter
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Track
Events
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EVENT
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Round
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UK Entry
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Men’s 110H
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Prelim
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2. Nick
Anderson: 13.62Q (-0.5)
7. Daniel
Roberts: 13.89q (+0.7) | WIND LEGAL UK Freshman record, No. 4 UK performers’ list
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Women’s 100H
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Prelim
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2. Jasmine
Camacho-Quinn: 12.94Q (+0.3)
4. Jacklyn
Howell: 13.18Q (+0.3)
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Men’s 1500M
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Prelim
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21.
Ben Young: 3:52.41
30.
Kendall Muhammad: 3:59.76
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Women’s 1500M
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Prelim
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6. Michelle McKinney: 4:22.14Q
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PB, No. 9 UK performers’ list
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Men’s 100M
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Prelim
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25.
Kenshard Hamilton: 10.71 (+0.9)
27.
Fred Dorsey: 10.77 (+0.7)
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Women’s 100M
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Prelim
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7. Destiny
Carter: 11.25Q (+1.4)
11. Javianne Oliver: 11.35 (+1.4)
14. Kianna Gray: 11.41 (+1.4)
23. Kayelle Clarke: 11.65 (+1.7)
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Men’s 3k Steeplechase
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Final
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9.
Gabe Harm: 9:14.96
10.
Brennan Fields: 9:17.11
14.
Matthew Thomas: 9:35.29
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Women’s 3k Steeplechase
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Final
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1. Katy Kunc:
10:02.95 – 10 points | Nine-second PB, No. 8 in NCAA right now
4. Caroline
McCaslin: 10:11.84 – 5 points | PB
6. Amy
Hansen: 10:26.45 – 3 points | PB
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Saturday, May 13 – UK Schedule
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Field
Events
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TIME (ET)
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EVENT
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FIELD EVENT
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UK Entry
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11:00 AM
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Women’s
Javelin
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Prelim/Final
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One flight: Sarah Blake
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1:00 PM
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Men’s Triple
Jump
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Prelim/Final
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1:30 PM
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Women’s
Discus
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Prelim/Final
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2:30 PM
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Men’s Pole
Vault
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Final
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Tim
Duckworth
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2:30 PM
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Women’s High
Jump
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Final
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Ellen Ekholm
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4:10 PM
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Women’s
Triple Jump
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Prelim/Final
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Two flights
Fl 1, #4: Sha’Keela Saunders
Fl 5, #5: Marie-Josee Ebwea-Bile
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4:30 PM
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Men’s Shot
Put
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Prelim/Final
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One flight: Noah Castle, CJ Lenford, Nik
Huffman
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Track
Events
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TIME
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EVENT
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Round
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UK Entry
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3:15 PM
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Men’s 4x 100M
Relay
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Final
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Two heats, Ht; 1, Ln.
7: UK
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3:25 PM
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Women’s 4x100M
Relay
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Final
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Two heats, Ht. 2, Ln.
4: UK
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3:35 PM
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Men’s 1500M
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Final
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3:45 PM
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Women’s 1500M
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Final
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Michelle McKinney
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3:55 PM
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Men’s 110H
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Final
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Nick
Anderson, Daniel Roberts
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4:05 PM
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Women’s 100H
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Final
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Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Jacklyn Howell
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4:15 PM
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Men’s 400M
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Final
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4:25 PM
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Women’s 400M
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Final
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4:35 PM
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Men’s 100M
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Final
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4:45 PM
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Women’s 100M
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Final
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Destiny Carter
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4:55 PM
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Men’s 800M
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Final
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Ln.
3; Ian Jones
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5:05 PM
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Women’s 800M
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Final
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5:15 PM
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Men’s 400H
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Final
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5:25 PM
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Women’s 400H
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Final
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Ln. 9: Kiah Seymour
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5:35 PM
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Men’s 200M
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Final
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5:45 PM
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Women’s 200M
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Final
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Ln. 5: Destiny Carter
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5:55 PM
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Men’s 5000M
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Final
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Gabe
Harm, Mick Iacofano, Jacob Thomson
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6:15 PM
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Women’s 5000M
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Final
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Michelle McKinney, Katy Kunc, Avery
Bussjager
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6:40 PM
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Men’s 4x400M
Relay
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Final
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Two heats, Ht. 1, Ln.
6: UK
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6:50 PM
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Women’s 4x400M
Relay
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Final
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Two heats, Ht. 2, Ln. 4
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Thursday,
May 11 – UK Results
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Field
Events
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EVENT
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Round
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UK Entry
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Men’s Hammer
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Prelim/Final
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10. David Cline: 209’6”/23.87m (Personal
best, No. 3 performer in UK history)
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Women’s Hammer
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Prelim/Final
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8.
Brandi Walker: 190’10”/58.16m | 1 point (First SEC point of her career)
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Men’s Javelin
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Prelim/Final
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9. Ethan Shalaway: 214’11”/65.52m
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RUNNING EVENTS
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Round
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UK Entry
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Men’s 800M
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Prelim
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5. Ian Jones: 1:50.12q
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Men’s 200M
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Prelim
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20.
Craig Green: 21.11w (+2.6)
24. Victor Oye: 21.29w (+3.0)
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Women’s 200M
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Prelim
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3. Destiny Carter: 22.64w (+2.8) Q
11. Kianna Gray: 23.04 (+1.6)
12. Kayelle Clarke: 23.10w (+2.8)
17. Precious Hitchcock: 23.25 (+1.5)
19. Javianne Oliver: 23.47 (+1.5)
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Women’s 400H
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Prelim
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6.
Kiah Seymouur: 57.34Q
13.
Faith Ross: 1:01.27
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Men’s 10k
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Final
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3. Jacob Thomson: 30:27.69
12. Mick Iacofano: 31:50.67
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Women’s 10k
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Final
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22.
Avery Bussjager: 37:10.35
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The most up-to-date coverage of the UK track and field program is available via @KentuckyTrack handles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
