UKTF Well Represented at IAAF World Championships

DOHA, Qatar – The Kentucky Track and Field program will be well represented at the biggest meet in athletics this side of the Olympic Games – the IAAF World Championships being held in Khalifa Stadium Sept. 28-Oct. 6.  

  

Eight UKTF alumni ranging from those who competed for UK this past season to Wildcats who attended the University more than a decade ago will represent their nations at the World Championships over 10 days this autumn.  

  

The crop of Wildcats competing in Doha will be led by young superstar Sydney McLaughlin fresh off winning the Diamond League 400-meter hurdles final — as well as a trio of reigning USATF Outdoor Champions, Daniel Roberts (110H – Class of 2019), Dezerea Bryant (200M) and Kendra Harrison (100H) (both Class of 2015).  

  

Roberts who won the Southeastern Conference title and took NCAA silver indoors and out this past season as a junior, recently turned professionally with a nike contract and won the USATF 110H title in July.  

  

Harrison – a two-time NCAA Champion and five-time SEC Champion in two years at UK – will be looking for her first World 100H title, the event she holds the World Record in (12.20). Harrison won her third-straight USATF title in the event earlier this summer and won the World Indoor 60H title in 2018.  

  

UK Class of 2015 and two-time NCAA 200m Champion Bryant made the World Championships team when she won her first USATF Gold in her signature event, the 200m, with a 22.47 time in July. She made Team USATF for a major championship for the first time in her career after being on the 2015 World Championships relay pool.  

  

Sha’Keela Saunders, who wrapped her collegiate career in 2017 after winning the NCAA indoor long jump gold, medaled at USAs for the third year in a row to make the U.S. LJ team. Saunders has made Team USA for the past two World Championships after coming agonizingly close to making the 2016 Olympic Team as a college junior.  

  

Tim Duckworth, the 2018 NCAA Champion in the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon as a senior, will compete at his first World Championships. He placed fifth at the European Championships in the decathlon a year ago in his biggest international championships to date. He took silver in the European Indoor Heptathlon earlier this year.  

  

UK Class of 2017 alumna Kiah Seymour – who was 2016 NCAA silver medalist – will also represent Team USATF in the 400H.  

  

The World Championships are held biennially in odd-numbered years around Olympic Games. They are usually held in August but were pushed into Autumn this year because of the heat in Qatar during summer months.  

  

The 2019 IAAF World Championships will be broadcast and streamed with more than 60 hours of competition coverage from Doha, Qatar available in the U.S. on NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. Click here for the full broadcast and streaming schedule. 
 

— 
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.