Kentucky Has Six Indoor All-SEC Selections
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kentucky track and field earned five All-Southeastern Conference selections, and added a member to the All-Freshman team for the 2019 indoor season, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Athletes earned spots on the All-SEC teams by virtue of their finishes at the Conference Championships two weeks ago. Event winners earned spots on the first team, while silver and bronze medalists were named to the second team. The top freshman scorer in each event were named to the All-Freshman team. If no freshmen scored no one was named to the team in that event.
Daniel Roberts earned a spot on the men’s second team.
Marie-Josée Ebwea-Bile Excel, Ellen Ekholm, Kianna Gray and Micaela Hazlewood earned spots on the women’s second team.
Abby Steiner made the SEC All-Freshman team in her second sport this academic year as she was named to the 2018 women’s soccer SEC All-Freshman team. She placed fourth in the SEC 200m and with a season-best time of 22.97, will be the No. 6 seed in that event at the NCAA Indoor Championships, which start on Sunday in Birmingham.
Ebwea-Bile Excel was named Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year by USTFCCCA and was Southeastern Conference silver medalist in the triple jump. She goes into the NCAA Championships ranked No. 2 in the triple jump after a 45’2.5″/13.78m mark that earned her USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors. One of just two triple jumpers in the nation to have passed 45-feet this season.
Roberts was named Southeast Region Runner of the Year and claimed SEC 60H silver in 7.48, which made him the fourth fastest collegian ever (sixth fastest time). That performance is fastest non-race-winning time in collegiate history. Roberts’ time would’ve broken his former training partner and the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist Omar McLeod’s previous SEC Championships record. The time is No. 2 in the world this year. He placed fourth in the SEC 60m running 6.65. He has a 60m season best of 6.63. He ran on UK’s SEC sixth-place 4x400m relay to earn a total of 13.75 points at the conference championships.
Ekholm claimed her first SEC medal, a bronze, with a high jump clearance of 5’9.75″/1.77m. The junior’s season-best 6’/1.83m has her as the No. 6 seed at this week’s NCAA Indoor Championships.
Gray picked up the first SEC individual-event medal of her career with an inspired 60m run for silver out of lane one (7.27). She’ll be the No. 15 seed in the 60m dash at NCAAs.
Hazlewood took home the SEC shot put silver medal. Hazlewood, who transferred to UK from Purdue in January for her final indoor season of eligibility, took second place in her last collegiate shot put competition with a personal best 54’2″/16.51m to score eight points and move to No. 2 on the Kentucky all-time indoor performers’ list.
2019 Indoor Track and Field All-SEC Teams
Men
Second Team
Daniel Roberts
Women
Second Team
Marie-Josée Ebwea-Excel
Ellen Ekholm
Kianna Gray
Micaela Hazlewood
Freshman All-SEC
Abby Steiner (200m)
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