UKTF Begins Indoor Postseason at SEC Championships

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky track and field program will begin the indoor championship season this weekend at the Southeastern Conference Championships.

Texas A&M will serve as host for the second time, and its first time since 2014. Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium will host the NCAA Championships for the second season in a row in two weeks.

The SEC meet runs Saturday and Sunday, starting at noon ET on Saturday.
 
Action for UK begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday with the men’s 60-meter hurdles preliminary heats. The men’s weight throw and women’s pole vault also start at that time, but with Wildcats in the second weight throw flight, and Olivia Gruver not expected to enter the pole vault at the starting heights they won’t quite begin at the noted start time.
 
Championship Sunday starts at 6 p.m. ET with the women’s weight throw, men’s pole vault, women’s triple jump, women’s high jump and men’s shot put in the field, with the men’s 60m hurdles starting action on the track a minute later.

For the first time, the final day of the SEC Indoor Championships will be televised live on the SEC Network beginning at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. Live streaming of the competition will air on SECN+ Saturday at 3:55 p.m. ET. The broadcast talent includes Dwight Stones, Larry Rawson, Jill Montgomery and John Anderson.
 
A total of 18 Southeastern Conference men’s and women’s track and field programs are included in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Rankings released Monday. A nation-leading eight SEC men’s teams are ranked. No other conference has more than four.

Kentucky’s women’s team is up to a season high No. 3 for the second week in a row. The UK men’s team is ranked No. 11.  The rankings are constructed to project team finishes at the NCAA Championships, not at conference meets, where less teams are involved.
 
Florida is No. 2, Arkansas No. 3, Georgia No. 5, Texas A&M No. 7, Alabama No. 8, South Carolina No. 23 and Auburn No. 25. A nation-best 10 SEC women’s teams are ranked in the top-25, and no other conference has more than five. Arkansas is No. 1, Georgia No. 4, LSU No. 6, Texas A&M No. 7, Florida No. 8, Missouri No. 12, Tennessee No. 14, Alabama No. 17 and Mississippi State No. 24.
 
SEC men’s and women’s track and field athletes lead the nation in 13 individual events entering this weekend’s SEC Indoor Championships.
 
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn has an NCAA best 7.95 in the 60m hurdles, Olivia Gruver is the NCAA leader in the pole vault and Sydney McLaughlin leads the NCAA in the 400m.

Tim Duckworth is the NCAA leader (6,071) in the heptathlon, although he’s entered in just the long jump and pole vault, as he’ll look to score big points in those event and then go for the heptathlon in two weeks.

Dwight St. Hillaire is ranked fourth in the SEC 200m (20.73), fastest among league freshmen. Louisville native Jacob Thomson is entered in the SEC 3k and 5k. He ranks second in the SEC each of those events this year (3k: 7:53.87, 5k: 13:41.33).
 
Arkansas won the SEC Indoor men’s and women’s Championships last year.
 
UKTF SEC Precedent

• The UK women’s team was third with 72 points last season at SEC Indoors.
• The UK men’s team was seventh with 44 points last season at SEC Indoors.
• The UK women’s team’s best SEC Indoor Championships finish was third, last year, and in 1989. UK’s record score at SECs was 92 in 1989
• The UK men’s team’s best SEC Indoor Championships finish was a win in 1960. UK’s SEC Indoor high score was 85 in in 1996

 
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For the most in-depth coverage of the UK cross country and track and field program follow the @KentuckyTrack social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as on  UKathletics.com.