UK Track & Field Releases 2021-22 Indoor Schedule
LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky track and field has revealed its schedule for the 2021-22 season, consisting of eight regular-season meets, including two home meets, and two postseason meets.
The schedule is highlighted by UKTF hosting the Jim Green Invitational and Rod McCravy Memorial in January. The former will take place from January 14-15 and the latter from January 28-29 in Nutter Field House.
Admission is free. Parking will be available in the Green Lot adjacent to Nutter Field House and Kroger Field.
Men’s and women’s track and field will open the season at a single-day dual meet in Louisville, Kentucky at the University of Louisville on December 11.
UKTF’s first out of state meet is at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina from January 21-22.
The Wildcats have a few more regular-season meets, including two distance meets in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a distance meet hosted by Vanderbilt University and the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson University.
The first of the two Winston-Salem meets is the Camel City Elite meet from February 4-5, while the second, the JDL DMR, will take place on February 18 as the final regular-season meet.
The Vanderbilt meet and annual Tiger Paw Invitational will take place on the same weekend, with distance runners competing in Nashville from February 11-12 while sprinters and field athletes will compete at Clemson on the same dates.
UKTF will begin their postseason at the Southeastern Conference Championships, which will take place in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M University from February 25-26. The Wildcats finished in fifth (women) and seventh (men) place at last year’s indoor SECs, while they placed fifth (men) and 11th (women) at outdoor SECs.
NCAA Championships will take place in Birmingham, Alabama from March 11-12, two weeks after SEC Championships. The 2020-21 indoor season concluded with Wildcats competing at NCAAs with a final men’s team finish of 14th and women’s team finish of 13th.
Kentucky track & field returns 12 of its 2021 SEC medalists, two NCAA medalists and 13 school record-holders for the 2021-22 season.
One of Kentucky’s many returners is Abby Steiner, who won the 200-meter dash at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships, tying the collegiate record in the process. Her time of 22.38 was also the second-fastest indoors in United States history and the fifth-fastest in indoor world history.
Keaton Daniel and Matt Peare highlight Kentucky’s returning pole vaulters with Daniel as the reigning NCAA outdoor pole vault silver medalist and Peare as the regining SEC indoor champion.
In addition to Steiner, the Wildcats will return a strong sprint group composed of 2020 Olympians Dwight St. Hillaire and Megan Moss, All-Americans Tai Brown, Kenroy Williams, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner, Dajour Miles and Masai Russell.
Brown ran in the 110m hurdles final at outdoor NCAAs while teammate St. Hillaire ran for fifth in the 400m dash finals at the same meet and eighth at indoor NCAAs.
Lang also ran in indoor finals in his best event, the 200m dash, finishing sixth.
The Kentucky men’s 4x400m relay shined at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets. At the indoor championship, a team of Smith, Lang, Lightner and St. Hillaire earned the silver medal in the event in school-record time (3:03.61). At NCAA Outdoor Championships the team composed of Williams, Lang, Lightner and St. Hillaire finished eighth overall, scoring points for Kentucky.
Masai Russell was UK’s top female finisher at NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing fourth in the 400m hurdles and sixth in the 100m hurdles.
Moss and Miles were members of the women’s 4x400m relay at both indoor and outdoor championships that placed fifth and eighth overall, respectively. Joining them for fifth at the indoor NCAA meet were Russell and Steiner.
The 2021 SEC outdoor shotput bronze medalist, Josh Sobota, will be returning for his senior season as well, after finishing fifth in the same event at NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Alexis Holmes, the 2020 SEC 400m champion, will also be returning to the track.
Tori Herman has been leading UK all cross country season and will continue to be a standout on the track after earning second-team All-American in the mile at indoor NCAAs in 2021.
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