Women's Track & Field
Masai Russell, Faith Ross, Celera Barnes and 4x400 Relay Advance to Finals at NCAA Track and Field Championships

Masai Russell, Faith Ross, Celera Barnes and 4x400 Relay Advance to Finals at NCAA Track and Field Championships

by Tony Neely and Jake Most

EUGENE, Oregon – Masai Russell, Faith Ross, Celera Barnes and the 4×400 relay of the Kentucky women’s track and field team qualified for finals during semifinal action Thursday at the 2021 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.  Those finals will run Saturday.
 
Russell was the first female Wildcat to punch her ticket to the finals when she clocked 12.93 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing seventh in the semifinals. Faith Ross narrowly missed qualifying in a heartbreaker, as her 12.94 time was a mere .01 away from advancing.
 
Ross didn’t let the disappointment slow her down, however.  In the 400m hurdles, she bounced back with a personal-best time of 56.68 seconds that is No. 5 in school history and qualified her for Saturday.  She will be joined by Russell, who advanced by winning her heat in 57.06 seconds and will be in both hurdles finals. 
 
Barnes also advanced in the 100m semi by finishing seventh with a time of 11.39 seconds.
 
The 4x400m relay closed the evening in fine form, as Ross, Megan Moss, Barnes and Dajour Miles went through with a solid mark of 3:32.69.
 
Meanwhile, in the field events, Molly Leppelmeier tied her own school record in the hammer throw, slinging the weight 212’0″/64.62m.  She placed 18th overall.
 
Faith Ross
Faith Ross

 
On Friday, the Kentucky men return to the stadium with five entries. Charles Lenford Jr. and Josh Sobota will compete in the discus throw, followed by the finals of the track events – Tai Brown in the 110m hurdles, Dwight St. Hillaire in the 400m dash and the 4×400 relay.
 
The Wildcats enter the final day of men’s competition in fourth place. On Wednesday, Keaton Daniel earned the silver medal in the pole vault and Josh Sobota was fifth in the shot put, combining for 12 team points. 
 
The meet wraps up Saturday with the finals of the women’s competition.  Russell, Ross, Barnes and the 4×400 relay will be joined by Annika Williams in the high jump. 
 
Celera Barnes
Celera Barnes

 
Schedule: https://goducks.com/documents/2021/5/21/Meet_Schedule_NCAA_Championships.pdf
 
Live results: https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/Outdoor/2021/index.htm
 
Men’s start lists: http://rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor21/men_start.htm
 
Women’s start lists: http://rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor21/women_start.htm
 
Watch Friday: ESPN2
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=116de509-6e71-4596-b5dc-46b4220bbdca
 
Watch Saturday: ESPNU
 https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=48db631a-91dc-419e-a132-881bb3ec8d88
 
Here is the meet schedule with Kentucky entries, listed in Pacific time:

 

Wednesday Events

Round

Start List

Men 4×100 M Relay

Semifinals

18. UK: (Rodney Heath Jr.,

Dwight St. Hillaire, Jacob Smith, Kennedy Lightner): 39.56

Men Pole Vault

Finals

2. Keaton Daniel: 18’2.5″/5.55m — 8 points | First men’s pole vault medal in UK history

Men 110 M Hurdles

Semifinals

9. Tai Brown: 13.68q (+0.2)

Men 100 M

Semifinals

22. Lance Lang: 10.51 (+0.9)

Men Long Jump

Finals

24. Trey Causey III: 22’8.5″/6.92m

Men 400 M

Semifinals

6. Dwight St. Hillaire: 45.68Q

Men 400 M Hurdles

Semifinals

15. Kenroy Williams: 50.62

Men Shot Put

Finals

5. Josh Sobota 65’0.5″/19.82m – 4 points | PB, No. 3 on UK all-time list

19. Charles Lenford Jr.: 59’2.75″/18.05m

Men 200 M

Semifinals

11. Lance Lang: 20.62 (+1.3)

Men 4×400 M Relay

Semifinals

3. UK (Kenroy Williams, Lance Lang, Dwight St. Hillaire, Kennedy Lightner): 3:04.42Q

 

Thursday Events

Round

Start List

Women Hammer

Finals

18. Molly Leppelmeier: 212’0″/64.62m | Ties her own school record

Women 4×100 M Relay

Semifinals

13. UK (Shadajah Ballard, Celera Barnes, Dajour Miles, Megan Moss): 44.11

Women 1500 M

Semifinals

21.  Tori Herman: 4:19.56

Women 100 M Hurdles

Semifinals

7. Masai Russell: 12.93q (-0.5)

9. Faith Ross” 12.94 (+1.1)

Women 100 M

Semifinals

7. Celera Barnes: 11.39q (+0.5)

Women 400 M

Semifinals

22. Megan Moss: 53.26

Women 400 M Hurdles

Semifinals

4. Faith Ross: 56.68q | PB, improves No. 5 time on UK all-time list

6. Masai Russell:57.06Q

Women 4×400 M Relay

Semifinals

9. UK (Faith Ross, Megan Moss, Celera Barnes, Dajour Miles): 3:32.69q

 

Start (PT)

Friday Events

Round

Start List

4:30 PM

Men High Jump

Finals

4:35 PM

Men Discus

Finals

Fl. 1 of 2, #6: Charles Lenford Jr., #12: Josh Sobota

5:02 PM

Men 4×100 M Relay

Final

5:11 PM

Men 1500 M

Final

5:20 PM

Men Triple Jump

Finals

5:24 PM

Men 3000 M Steeplechase

Final

5:42 PM

Men 110 M Hurdles

Final

Ln. 1 Tai Brown

5:52 PM

Men 100 M

Final

6:02 PM

Men 400 M

Final

Ln. 4 Dwight St. Hillaire

6:14 PM

Men 800 M

Final

6:27 PM

Men 400 M Hurdles

Final

6:37 PM

Men 200 M

Final

6:55 PM

Men 5000 M

Final

7:21 PM

Men 4×400 M Relay

Final

Ln. 8 UK

 

Start (PT)

Saturday Events

Round

Start List

2:30 PM

Women High Jump

Finals

Annika Williams

2:35 PM

Women Discus

Finals

3:02 PM

Women 4×100 M Relay

Final

3:11 PM

Women 1500 M

Final

3:20 PM

Women Triple Jump

Finals

3:24 PM

Women 3000 M Steeplechase

Final

3:42 PM

Women 100 M Hurdles

Final

Masai Russell

3:52 PM

Women 100 M

Final

Celera Barnes

4:02 PM

Women 400 M

Final

4:14 PM

Women 800 M

Final

4:27 PM

Women 400 M Hurdles

Final

Faith Ross, Masai Russell

4:37 PM

Women 200 M

Final

4:55 PM

Women 5000 M

Final

5:21 PM

Women 4×400 M Relay

Final

UK

Follow along with the Cats on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.

 


 

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