UK Women’s 4x4 Breaks Collegiate Record, Keaton Daniel Defends Gold Saturday at SEC Outdoors

OXFORD, Miss. – The Kentucky track and field program’s women’s 4×400-meter relay team broke the collegiate record en route to a Southeastern Conference gold medal, to go along with sophomore pole vaulter Keaton Daniel’s successful defense of his men’s pole vault crown, as the biggest highlights of Saturday’s conclusion to the SEC Outdoor Championships. 
 
The UK women’s team finished the team competition fourth with 85 points. The women improved their SEC outdoor team finish by seven spots from a year ago, and fourth place was their best SEC outdoor team finish since placing third in 2019. The 85 points were the UK women’s team’s most since scoring 99 in a third-place finish in 2015. The men’s team finished the team competition eighth with 47 points. 
 
Karimah Davis, Dajour Miles, Abby Steiner and Alexis Holmes comprised the fastest mile relay team in collegiate history, running 3:21.93 to score 10 points. 
 
“The biggest thing for me was just to take it out hard,” Holmes, who ran a strong anchor leg, said. “Try to get as much space between me and the other runners as I could. And then just coming across the last turn, just bring it home, run strong, lift the knees and do the best I could.” 
 
Each of the top three teams broke the previous NCAA record, which was run last spring by Texas A&M, anchored by Athing Mu – who would go on to win two Olympic golds in Tokyo, including in the 4×4 for Team USA. 
 
“I told these ladies before this relay that I was gonna run my heart out for them,” Steiner, who ran a 48.772 third leg to put the Wildcats in the lead, said. “We really wanted this win. Collegiate record is just a bonus on top of that.” 
 
Keaton Daniel defended his SEC gold medal in the men’s pole vault, clearing a season best 18’2.5″/5.55m to earn 10 points. Matt Peare took bronze and six points, going over the bar at 17’4.5″/5.30m, while Dalton Shepler gave the Wildcats a 17-point total across three scorers in the event with a season-best, eighth-place clearance 16’4.75″/5m. 
 
Peare has earned a medal in each of the last four SEC Championships he has competed in, winning the SEC Indoor Championships in 2020 and 2021 and taking silver indoors this year. Peare entered this season coming off a leg injury suffered when going for what would have been a record-setting height after having clinched the victory at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships.  
 
Steiner earned two individual silvers (plus a 4×1 silver) in the lightning fast 100m and 200m dashes. Steiner’s 100m time was 11.02 (-0.7) to LSU’s Favour Ofili’s 10.93. Ofili edged Steiner in the 200m 22.04-22.07 (+0.2) with Steiner’s time .02 off her PB. Both Ofili and Steiner’s 200m times were inside the all-time collegiate top-10. 
 
UK’s women’s 4x100m relay of Shadajah Ballard, Steiner, Masai Russell and Davis earned silver with a time of 42.63, fourth fastest in program history to begin Saturday’s on-track action. 
 
Holmes claimed bronze in the 400m running a personal best 50.74 to gain the World Championships standard, move to No. 2 on UK all-time list only behind Sydney McLaughlin and to score six valuable points for the team. Her time is one of the top five fastest in the world so far this year.  
 
UK’s men’s 4x400m relay of Dwight St. Hillaire, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner and Brian Faust broke three minutes for the first time in school history running 2:59.93, more than two seconds better than the previous school record to earn SEC silver.  
 
Both UK and the race winners Florida broke the previous SEC Championships record. 
 
Kentucky’s time made UK the seventh fastest outdoor mile relay school in collegiate history and earned eight points. Both Lightner and Faust ran sub-45-second splits with Faust going 44.49 in the anchor leg. The school record they broke was recorded in the SEC outdoor final last year in college station with three of the legs of the relay the same and Faust slotting into anchor leg. 
 
Masai Russell earned bronze in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. She repeated as SEC 400m bronze medalist with a time of 55.44. Her 100H time was 12.78w (+2.1). She also earned a SEC bronze in the 60H indoors earlier this year. 
 
Steiner claimed 4×4 gold and silvers in the 4×1, 100m and 200m for the meet. Holmes earned 4×4 gold and a 400m bronze and Russell claimed the two bronzes. 
 
Senior Josh Sobota earned fourth place and five points (188’2″/57.37m) in the men’s discus, to go along with the five he scored with a fourth place in the shot put earlier in the meet. 
 
Jenna Schwinghamer broke the women’s 800m school record with a time of 2:03.18 en route to a fifth-place finish and four points. Jenna Gearing placed seventh to score two points in a PB 2:03.81, which is third fastest in school history and all the more impressive considering she also qualified for the final of the 1,500m earlier in the day. 
 
Tori Herman earned two points in the women’s 1,500m with a time of 4:16.11. Gearing just missed a scoring place, finishing ninth. 
 
Molly Leppelmeier scored two points in the women’s discus with a personal best for seventh place, 169’2″/51.56m that improved her No. 9 mark on the UK all-time list. 
 
Lance Lang scored two points in the men’s 200m with a seventh-place time of 20.59. 
 
Siobhan Szerencsits earned seventh place in the women’s pole vault, clearing 13’7.25″/4.15m 
 
Day Two 

Bockrath stole the show for Kentucky on a rainy day two, earning a silver medal in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase in school record time (9:52.48). It was also below Ole Miss’s facility record, an eight second personal best and the 14th fastest in the NCAA this season. 
 
UKTF had eight finals qualifiers on day two, bringing Kentucky’s finals count to 16 for all races with both a preliminary and finals rounds. 
 
The UK throwers had another impressive day with both Leppelmeier and Sobota placing fourth in the shot put. 
 
Leppelmeier’s throw was a personal best by over a foot and moved her up to second all-time for UK in the event outdoors. 
 
Sobota’s shot put was among his top five throws of his career and only a couple inches short of his season best from the Joe May Invitational. 
 
Abby Steiner led the Wildcats’ sprinters on day two with the top qualifying time of the 100m prelims (11.25). 
 
Tori Herman ran the third fastest time in the 1,500m prelim (4:17.92) and the fastest in her heat, automatically qualifying for Saturday’s final alongside teammate Jenna Gearing who also automatically qualified with a third-place finish in their heat (4:18.42), the ninth fastest time overall. 
 
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Masai Russell ran the fourth fastest time (12.96) to secure a lane in Saturday’s final. 
 
Dwight St. Hillaire and Brian Faust both qualified for the 400m final with the fifth (45.96) and eighth (46.03) fastest times among the field in prelims. Faust’s time was season best and St. Hillaire was his heat’s winner. 
 
Alexis Holmes, the reigning SEC 400m champion, also earned a spot in the 400m final, running 51.92 for the sixth fastest mark. 
 
The last Wildcat to qualify for finals on day two was Rodney Heath, running 10.39 in the 100m, which was the seventh fastest time of the field. 

Day One 

Jade Gates was the star of day one for UKTF, earning silver in the hammer throw with a school record mark of 219’11″/67.05m. The previous school record, which also belonged to Gates, was 219’1″/ from the Kentucky Invitational. 

The senior from St. Louis is now ranked 14th in the NCAA this season and will make the trip to NCAA regionals in Bloomington in two weeks’ time. 

Steiner took the second fastest time in the 200m prelims with a time of 22.38Q, running under the then-facility record of 22.41, and will compete in Saturday’s final. 

Russell took the third fastest time in the 400m hurdles prelim (56.32Q) and second fastest in her heat. She will return to the event final on Saturday after earning bronze at last year’s SEC Outdoor Championships. 

Reigning SEC indoor 200m gold medalist Lance Lang ran the fourth fastest time in the 200m prelims (20.55) and won his heat to automatically qualify for Saturday’s final. He will be joined by teammate Jacob Smith, who ran a personal best 20.65 for the final qualifying spot. 

Three Wildcats are set to compete in 800m finals on Saturday after running impressive times in prelims. Jenna Schwinghamer was the sixth fastest qualifier with a time of 2:04.93, Gearing was seventh (2:05.03) and Deanna Martin was the final qualifier in ninth (2:05.56). 

Kenroy Williams will run to the 400m hurdles final for the second year in a row, automatically qualifying with a second-place finish in his heat (50.59). Williams finished fifth in the event last year. 

Junior Michael Browning made it to finals in the hammer throw and finished ninth (197’9″/60.28m), tying his personal best. 

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