Dorsey, Shalaway Make Splash for UK Track on Thursday

The Kentucky men’s track and field team made a splash on the first day of the NCAA Division I Track and Field East Preliminary Round in Lexington. A pair of Wildcats took full advantage of the friendly confines of the University of Kentucky Outdoor Track and Field Facility to punch their ticket to nationals.

Both Fred Dorsey and Ethan Shalaway qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships during Thursday’s events. But both came into the meet with very different expectations.

Dorsey, a junior from Atlanta who barely qualified for the meet in the long jump, had a best jump of 24 feet, nine inches (7.54 meters) on the day to finish ninth and qualify for the national meet in Eugene, Oregon.

For Dorsey, the result was somewhat surprising, but also gratifying.

“I was literally telling myself I had nothing to lose,” Dorsey said. “I was 48th coming in (to the meet). So going from 48th to top 12, I was really excited.”

Dorsey also knows that having the meet at home provided a bit of an edge. 

“I think it’s kind of a home field advantage,” Dorsey said. “You just feel comfortable being at home. It’s not that you have a crowd. You just know that you have practiced on this track and prepared on this track, so you are confident you can do the same thing (in a meet).”

As for Shalaway, a redshirt junior from Barto, Pennsylvania, he came into the meet with expectations of advancing to Eugene in the javelin.

“My expectations were to definitely make it out (of this meet),” Shalaway said. “With the weather the way it was, it boosted my expectations.”

Despite his expectations, Shalaway was still very pleased with his result, a throw of 218 feet, six inches (66.6m).

“I’m extremely excited, it’s been a long journey, a long process and a lot of hard work has gone into this,” Shalaway said. “I knew that if I qualified for nationals, my season would still be alive, so that was my only goal today.”

Shalaway, a native of Pennsylvania, took advantage of the fact that the cold, blustery, wet weather wreaked havoc on some of his competitors.

“The conditions today were definitely not ideal for a lot of people,” Shalaway said. “I’m from Pennsylvania, and this is spring track, a little cold and rainy. We deal with that all the time. We have thrown here and thrown in the rain, and we’re definitely used to it.”

Both Dorsey and Shalaway will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon. And both will hope to make a splash in that meet just as they did in Lexington on Thursday.