Joshua Sobota Wins Shot Put at Virginia Tech Challenge

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senior thrower Joshua Sobota of Kentucky track & field won the men’s shot put at the Virginia Tech Challenge with a season-high put of 63’5’/19.33-meters on Saturday afternoon to conclude Kentucky’s regular season. 

Sobota, an All-American and two-time Southeastern Conference medalist, is now ranked 19th in the shot put in the NCAA this season. 

This was his fourth win in the event this season with his next best put coming from his win (62’11.5″/19.19m) at the Jim Green Invitational. 

The women’s DMR of Jenna Gearing, Jenna Schwinghamer, Tori Herman and Dajour Miles also ran this weekend, finishing fourth overall in the elite DMR in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a time of 11:05.86.  

It was the Wildcats’ second fastest DMR of the season behind the 11:01.81 time from the Rod McCravy Memorial meet which ranks sixth collegiately this season. 

Two more throwers also competed in Blacksburg: Molly Leppelmeier and Jade Gates. They finished third (68’2.25″/20.78m) and fourth (68’0.5″/20.74m) in the weight throw, respectively. 

Leppelmeier is currently ranked 22nd in the NCAA this season in the weight throw from her 69’11″/21.31m throw at the McCravy, which made her the second best in the event in UKTF history. 

Gates is currently ranked 26th this season in the NCAA in the weight throw and holds the third best weight throw in Kentucky from her personal best throw of 68’11.75″/21.02m. 

Kentucky track & field will begin their postseason with SEC Championships from Friday, February 25 to Saturday, February 26 in College Station, Texas at Texas A&M University. 

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