10 Wildcats Earn All-SEC Honors
LEXINGTON, Kentucky – Ten members of the University of Kentucky men’s and women’s indoor track and field team earned All-Southeastern Conference honors based on the results of the SEC Championships held this week at the University of Arkansas.
Matthew Peare and Abby Steiner were named first-team based on their gold-medal performances. Peare cleared 17’9.75″ on Saturday to win the pole vault for the second year in a row. Likewise, on Saturday, Steiner won the 200-meter dash for the second year in a row, this time with a clocking of 22.50 seconds. On Friday, she turned in an SEC-record mark of 22.41 in the preliminary heat, a time that currently leads the United States and is second in the world for the 2021 indoor season.
Athletes who won silver and bronze medals at the SEC Championships were afforded second-team All-SEC status. Members of the men’s team earning that distinction were Lance Lang (third in the 200m, 20.79 seconds) and the 4x400m relay quartet – Jacob Smith, Lang, Kenroy Williams and Dwight St. Hillaire – who posted a school-record time of 3:04.67 in earning the silver medal. The UK women’s 4×400 relay also earned silver with a school-record mark of 3:28.82 and the unit of Megan Moss, Steiner, Masai Russell and Dajour Miles are second-team All-SEC. (An athlete receives only one All-SEC status, so Steiner is officially on the first team with that being the higher honor.)
The top freshman finisher in each event is named Freshman All-SEC and UK’s Tori Herman earned that distinction Saturday in the finals of the mile run. She was the first freshman across the finish line, eighth overall, with a time of 4:44.01. In Friday’s qualifier, she went with a personal-best 4:39.52, which is No. 3 on the UK all-time indoor mile list.
These All-SEC Wildcats led the Kentucky women to a fifth-place finish with 57 points. The UK men totaled 47 points and placed seventh. The Arkansas men and women won the SEC team titles.
The Wildcats have returned to Lexington and are awaiting Tuesday’s announcement of the athletes who have qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 11-13 at the University of Arkansas.
A tape-delayed broadcast of the SEC championship, called by John Anderson, Dan O’Brien and Dwight Stones, will air on the SEC Network Sunday, February 28, at 8 p.m. ET.
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