Charles Lenford Jr., Abby Steiner, Lance Lang Tally Wins at Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. and RICHMOND, Ky. – Charles Lenford Jr., Abby Steiner and Lance Lang posted victories Friday at the Tom Jones Memorial Meet at the University of Florida while more Wildcats also competed at the Rick Erdmann Twilight Meet at Eastern Kentucky University.
Lenford got Kentucky going by winning the first field event, the men’s discus throw. The senior from Oceanside, Calif., slung the platter 190’6″/58.08m for his 14th collegiate win, fifth in a discus throw.
UK also won its first running event as Steiner zipped 22.79 seconds in the 200-meter dash, the first time she has run the distance during the outdoor season. It is her sixth straight victory in the 200, including outdoor and indoor meets, dating back to February 2020. The junior from Dublin, Ohio, who is on The Bowerman watch list for the nation’s top collegiate track and field athlete, notched her 17th individual collegiate victory, 12 of which have been in the 200.
Lang gave Kentucky a sweep in the 200m, as he edged current NCAA indoor champion Matthew Boling at the wire. Lang’s time of 20.39 seconds is a personal best, improving his grip on the No. 3 slot on the all-time outdoor UK list. The sophomore from St. Louis earned his fifth individual collegiate win, three of which have been in the 200m.
Lang wasn’t the only strong performer in the men’s 200m. Dwight St. Hillaire finished third with a clocking of 20.69.
Another notable showing was Masai Russell in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. She finished third overall, but was the top collegian with a time of 58.69.
Saturday’s action on UF’s Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium resumes in the field at 10 a.m. and on the track at noon.
In addition to Kentucky and host Florida, participating schools include Arkansas, Central Florida, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi, North Carolina State, North Florida, South Florida and Virginia Commonwealth. Seven of the 15 women’s teams are ranked in the nation’s top 25, including No. 22 Kentucky. Three men’s squads are nationally ranked, including the No. 10 Wildcats.
Florida meet information: Schedule | Live Stats | Day 2 Heat Sheets
Meanwhile, in Richmond, Love Melton ran a personal-best 4:52.87 to finish in second place in the women’s 1500m. Bryanna Lucas’ 2:07.85 in the 400m got a third-place finish. In the men’s and women’s 100m dashes, Chris Duffy and Kaylyn Heath ran qualifying times for Saturday’s finals.
Along with UK and host EKU, schools at that meet are Furman, Butler, Oklahoma State, Louisville, West Virginia, Northeastern, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Toledo, Loyola Chicago, Binghamton, Morehead State, Northern Kentucky, Bellarmine, Kennesaw State, Wright State, Miami (Ohio) and Lee (Tenn.).
Saturday’s competition at Tom Samuels Track begins with field events at 6 p.m. and running at 6:30 p.m.
Eastern Kentucky meet information: Schedule | Live Stats | Saturday heat sheets
Here are Kentucky’s Friday results and Saturday schedules:
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Friday, April 16 – Tom Jones Meet, Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium, Gainesville, Fla. |
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Event |
UK entries |
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Men’s Discus Throw |
1. Charles Lenford Jr., 190’6″/58.08m | 14th collegiate win, fifth in discus throw 6. Josh Sobota, 177’3″/54.03m 14. Michael Browning, 150’10″/45.99m | Personal best 17. Ezarious Roller, 139’10″/42.64m |
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Men’s High Jump |
5. Rahman Minor, 6’9″/2.06m 7. Trey Causey III, 6’7″/2.01m |
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Men’s Pole Vault |
2. Lincoln Young, 16’10.75″/5.15m | Ties personal best 3. Dalton Shepler, 16’6.75″/5.05m | Personal best 6. Joseph Jardine, 15’7″/4.75m |
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Men’s Shot Put |
3. Josh Sobota, 58’7.5″/17.87m 4. Charles Lenford Jr., 58’5.75″/17.82m |
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Men’s Long Jump |
22. Trey Causey III, 21’6″/6.55m |
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Men’s 200m |
1. Lance Lang, 20.39 | Personal best, No. 3 on the all-time UK list | Fifth individual collegiate win, third in the 200m 3. Dwight St. Hillaire, 20.69 11. Rodney Heath Jr., 21.54 19. Tai Brown, 21.73 |
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Men’s 400m Hurdles |
6. Kenroy Williams, 51.82 8. Beck O’Daniel, 53.32 |
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Women’s Discus Throw |
7. Molly Leppelmeier, 162’2″/49.44m 18. Nicole Fautsch, 138’5″/42.20m |
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Women’s Pole Vault – moved to Saturday at 1 pm |
Alison D’Alessandro Siobhan Szerencsits Nicole Bagby |
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Women’s 200m |
1. Abby Steiner, 22.79 | Sixth straight meet win in the 200m, dating back to February 2020 17th individual collegiate win, 12th in the 200m 5. Dajour Miles, 23.46 31. Megan Moss, 24.67 36. Darci Khan, 25.01 43. Annika Williams, 25.27 |
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Women’s 400m Hurdles |
3. Masai Russell, 58.73 | Top collegian 4. Faith Ross, 59.14 |
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Friday, April 16 – Rick Erdmann Twilight Meet, Tom Samuels Track, Richmond, Ky. |
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Event |
UK entries |
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Women’s 100m Preliminaries (Finals Saturday) |
3. Kaylyn Heath, 11.83 Q |
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Men’s 100m Preliminaries (Finals Saturday) |
2. Chris Duffy, 11.18 Q |
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Women’s 1500m |
2. Love Melton, 4:52.87 | Personal best 13. Natalie Molotky, 5:12.60 |
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Men’s 400m |
7. Brendan Turner, 51.99 |
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Women’s 400m |
9. Sydney Spillman, 59.42 | Personal best 13. Amber Taylor, 1:01.29 | Personal best |
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Women’s 800m |
3. Bryanna Lucas, 2:07.85 | Personal best |
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Men’s 800m |
7. Gabriel Szalay, 1:55.30 |
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Men’s 200m |
5. Chris Duffy, 23.10 |
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Men’s Discus Throw |
6. John Kruzel, 143’6″/43.74m |
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Women’s 3000m Steeplechase |
7. Rachel Boice, 10:17.77 | Personal best by 22+ seconds |
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Men’s 300m Steeplechase |
20. McLean Griffin, 9:12.01 | Personal best 16. Matthew Thomas, 8:54.70 |
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Saturday, April 17, Tom Jones Meet, Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium, Gainesville, Fla. |
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Event |
UK entries |
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Men’s Hammer Throw, noon |
Charles Lenford Jr., Michael Browning, Ezarious Roller, |
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Men’s Triple Jump, 2 pm |
Joseph Palmer |
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Men’s 110m Hurdles, 12:20 pm |
Tai Brown |
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Men’s 4x100m Relay, 1:10 pm |
Kentucky |
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Men’s 400m, 2:40 pm |
Jacob Smith Cameron Council |
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Men’s 100m, 3:15 pm |
Lance Lang Rodney Heath Jr. |
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Men’s 4x400m Relay, 4:25 pm |
Kentucky A Kentucky B |
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Women’s Hammer Throw, 10 am |
Jade Gates Molly Leppelmeier |
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Women’s High Jump, 2 pm |
Ellen Ekholm Carly Hinkle |
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Women’s Shot Put, 2 pm |
Molly Leppelmeier Nicole Fautsch |
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Women’s 100m Hurdles Preliminaries noon Finals 2 pm |
Amaya Chadwick Masai Russell Faith Ross Darci Khan Annika Williams |
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Women’s 4x100m Relay, 1 pm |
Kentucky |
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Women’s 800m, 1:20 pm |
Alexis Holmes |
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Women’s 400m, 2:20 pm |
Megan Moss |
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Women’s 100m, 3 pm |
Celera Barnes |
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Women’s 4x400m Relay, 4:05 pm |
Kentucky A Kentucky B |
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Women’s Pole Vault, 1 pm |
Alison D’Alessandro Siobhan Szerencsits Nicole Bagby |
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Saturday, April 17 – Rick Erdmann Twilight Meet, Tom Samuels Track, Richmond, Ky. |
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|
Event |
UK entries |
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Women’s 100m Finals, 6:30 pm |
Kaylyn Heath |
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Men’s 100m Finals, 6:35 pm |
Chris Duffy |
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Women’s 1500m , 6:40 pm |
DeAnna Martin Madisyn Peeples Tori Herman Perri Bockrath Kaitlyn Lacy |
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Men’s 1500m, 7 pm |
Shane Williams Jake Allen Gabriel Szalay Dylan Allen |
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Men’s Triple Jump, 7:30 pm |
Joseph Palmer |
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Women’s 5000m, 8 pm |
Sarah Michels Kelli Walsh Sophie Carrier |
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Men’s 5000m, 8:45 |
Aaron Withrow Jacob Brizendine Jonah Mitchell Matt Duvall Jake Allen Brennan Fields Ethan Kern Dylan Allen |
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