UKTF Begins SECTF Outdoor Championships Friday

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Kentucky track and field season will enter the stretch run this weekend as the Wildcats will compete at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships Friday through Sunday.
 
The meet will be held at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on the Tennessee Campus.
 
The meet begins at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, 10 a.m. on Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the SEC women’s 100-meter hurdles each of the past two years, while Katy Kunc is defending 3,000-meter steeplechase gold medalist.

Sydney McLaughlin won the SEC indoor 400m title earlier this year, but she’s entered in just the 400m hurdles this weekend. The freshman Phenom leads the nation in both events outdoors.

Reigning NCAA outdoor pole vault champion Olivia Gruver, who made her outdoor season debut last week, won the SEC indoor title in February.

Senior Jacob Thomson won the SEC indoor 5k earlier this season, and won the SEC outdoor 5k and 10k in 2016.

Conference Championship meets mark the last team athletes can record marks that qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Championships to be held Memorial Day weekend. There, they will look to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which will occur June 6-9 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Broadcast information
The SEC Championships will be streamed live on SECN+ Friday at 11 a.m. ET, Saturday at 10:15 a.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The meet will air live on the SEC Network Sunday at 6 p.m. The broadcast talent includes Dwight Stones, Larra Overton, Jill Montgomery and John Anderson.

Friday outlook
The first Wildcats will compete on Friday starting at 3 p.m. ET with Elijah Marta and Ethan Shalaway throwing the javelin and Ian Jones running in the 800m preliminary heats.

UK will have Kayelle Clarke and Kianna Gray in the women’s 200m prelims at 3:40 p.m. and EJ Floréal in the men’s 200m prelims at 4:05 p.m.

Sydney McLaughlin and Faith Ross are entered in the women’s 400m hurdles prelims at 4:35 p.m. McLaughlin leads the nation by more than two seconds in the 400m hurdles, having run a personal best and world junior record 53.60 two weeks ago in her signature event collegiate debut.

The only track finals on Friday will be the women’s and men’s 10k. Avery Bussjager is entered in the women’s race at 9:30 p.m., while Jacob Thomson – winner of the race two years ago and bronze medalist last season – will have another shot at glory in the men’s race at 10:15 p.m.

Logan Bryer and David Cline are entered in the men’s hammer throw, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.

Rankings snapshot
The UK women’s team is ranked No. 5 in the nation, and the UK men’s team is ranked No. 13.
 
A total of 18 SEC men’s and women’s track and field teams are ranked among the nation’s top-25 teams, according to the latest national rankings announced Monday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
A nation-leading eight SEC men’s programs are ranked in the top-25, including five of the top eight. Florida is ranked No. 1, Alabama is No. 3, Texas A&M is No. 5, Georgia is No. 6 and Arkansas is No. 8. Other SEC programs in the top-25 include No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Kentucky and No. 20 Mississippi State. No other conference has more than five men’s teams in the top-25.
 
A nation-best 10 SEC women’s programs are ranked in the top-25 with six in the top nine. LSU is No. 1, Arkansas is No. 4, Kentucky is No. 5, Georgia is No. 6, Texas A&M is No. 8 and Florida is No. 9. Other SEC teams ranked in the top-25 include No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Alabama, No. 18 Missouri and No. 23 Ole Miss. No other conference has more than five women’s teams in the top-25.
 
SEC men’s and women’s track and field athletes lead the nation in 19 individual events entering this weekend’s SEC Championships.
 
Wildcats leading the nation in individual events are McLaughlin in the 400 meters and 400m hurdles (she’s ranked second in the 200m).
 
Camacho-Quinn has the No. 1 time on the NCAA Championships qualifying list (tailwinds slower than 4.0 meters/second), a 12.53w (+2.6) at the National Relays two weeks ago.
 
UK’s women’s 4x400m relay of Ross, Camacho-Quinn, McLaughlin and Kayelle Clarke that ran 3:26.92 has the top time in the country this year.

Timothy Duckworth has the top decathlon score in the NCAA this season, 8,145 in early April. He won’t compete in the decathlon this week, electing instead to just long jump and pole vault – two events in which he’s scored in at multiple SEC Championships before.

SECTF precedent
The UK men’s and women’s teams have both finished as high as second at the SEC Outdoor Championships. The UK women’s team’s best finish was second place in 1981 (150 points.

The UK men’s team’s best SEC outdoor finish was second in 1971 with 114 points.

Last season the UK women’s team finished third, and the UK men’s team finished 11th at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
 
The defending SEC men’s champion is Texas A&M, which has captured two SEC crowns since joining the league. Tennessee has claimed a league-leading 25 SEC men’s titles. The defending SEC women’s champion is Arkansas, which has won each of the last four SEC crowns. LSU has claimed a league-leading 13 SEC women’s titles all-time.
 
Tickets are available for purchase at UTsports.com, with all-session passes $25 for adults and $10 for students.
 
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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.
 

Friday – Field

Friday – Track

Saturday – Field

Saturday – Track

Sunday – Field

Sunday – Track