Dwight St. Hillaire and Women’s 4x400 Relay Post Wins, Molly Leppelmeier Sets School Record at Florida Relays

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dwight St. Hillaire won the 400-meter dash, the women’s 4x400m relay won its event and Molly Leppelmeier set a school record in the hammer throw on Saturday at the Florida Relays in Gainesville.

Leppelmeier got the day going by finishing second in the hammer throw, slinging it 212’0″/64.62m.  She broke the school record of 211’9″ set by Beckie Famurewa in 2016 and eclipsed her own personal best by more than four feet.

Dwight St. Hillaire earned a win for the second-straight week by covering the 400-meter dash in 44.74 seconds, currently the second-best time in the nation for the young outdoor season. St. Hillaire has been on a torrid streak recently. Last week, he was part of three victories at the Weems Baskin meet, breaking the school record in the 200m dash and being part of the winning 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Prior to that, he concluded the indoor season with silver medals at both the NCAA and Southeastern Conference championships in the 4×400 relay. 

Saturday’s effort finished on a high note as the women’s 4x400m relay of Megan Moss, Abby Steiner, Celera Barnes and Dajour Miles won the event with a time of 3:29.91 that rates No. 4 on the UK all-time list.

“It was a very good weekend, the kids competed very well,” head coach Lonnie Greene said. “It started off with Molly breaking the school record in the hammer. Dwight was a highlight. As I said last week at South Carolina, when Dwight starts to believe in Dwight, he will do great things.  He ran 44.74 on the third day of April.  When he felt the challenge (in the 400), he didn’t back off. He trusted his training and executed very well.

“Lance Lang ran 20.51 in the 200 meters (Friday), a freshman record, he’s going to run well. The women winning the mile relay in 3:29 is a solid run. Masai Russell and Faith Ross in the 400-meter hurdles in 57 (seconds), finishing second and (fifth) respectively, Kenroy (Williams) running 51.3 and a PR in the 400 hurdles, Rahman Minor (fifth) in the high jump, Keaton Daniel (winning) the pole vault (Friday), it was a good weekend.  

“We just need to keep putting these types of weekends back-to-back, keep everybody healthy, get Faith Holmes and Langston Jackson back in the lineup, I think we’re going to be OK.  I’m excited about what’s happening with the program, both the men’s and women’s teams.”

The Wildcats set five personal bests on Saturday and landed three marks on UK all-time top 10 lists.  Along with Leppelmeier and the women’s 4×400, Jade Gates’ 191’0″/58.21m in the women’s hammer throw is No. 4 on the UK all-time list.

In addition to UK’s two wins on Saturday, UK’s second-place finishes were Charles Lenford in the discus throw, Leppelmeier in the hammer throw, Tai Brown in the 110m hurdles, Lance Lang in the 100m dash, and the men’s 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

All totaled for the two-day meet, UK athletes totaled 20 personal bests and had 10 marks on the UK all-time top-10 lists. 

In addition to Kentucky and host Florida, the strong field of participating schools included Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, South Carolina, Southern California and Virginia Tech.  Seven of the 13 women’s teams are ranked in the nation’s top 25, including No. 13 Kentucky.  Five men’s squads are nationally ranked.  The UK men have not yet hit the national rankings but are No. 5 in the Southeast Region.

Here are Kentucky’s results from the meet:

  
Kentucky returns to action Friday and Saturday, April 9-10, at the Joe Walker Invite in Oxford, Miss.

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