UKTF Set Two Freshman Records, Win Five Events On Opening Day of Jim Green Invitational
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Ed Bird and Kate Powers set new freshmen records on Friday as the University of Kentucky track and field program hosted the opening day of the Jim Green Invitational at the Outdoor Track & Field Complex.
While most of the hammer throw athletes were warming up, trying to pump blood into the frozen hands and feet of a wet and rainy mid-morning in the bluegrass, Powers arrived on the scene enflamed with only one thing on her mind, to win. On her first attempt in the hammer throw invitational, Powers launched a bomb of 210’1”/64.05 meters improving her freshman record by three whole feet for the win.
The mark ranks fourth on the UK all-time performers list and marks her second event win of the outdoor season.
While Powers got the day started for the Wildcats with her win, Ed Bird concluded it by doing the same thing, winning the men’s 1500 meters with a new freshman record of 3:43.38.
Bird’s time took down Martin Clark’s record of 3:44.50 which stood for over 40 years, since 1982. It also marks Bird’s third event win of the outdoor season.
The Wildcats also won three other events on the day with Lyric Olson and Alex Justus sweeping the 800 meters and Phoebe McCowan winning the 1500 meters on the women’s side.
Twenty-two Wildcats finished in the top 10 today from 15 events with eight personal bests. UKTF will conclude the Jim Green Invitational tomorrow with the senior day ceremony beginning at noon.
FINALS RECAP
SPRINTS & HURDLES
200m
WOMEN – Senior Jania Martin finished fourth with a time of 23.96 (+1.5) while senior Reynei Wallace finished 10th with a time of 24.33 (+2.0). It marks Martin’s first involvement in the event this outdoor season.
400mH
MEN – Senior Beck O’Daniel finished fifth with a time of 52.40. It marks his best finish in the event during this outdoor season.
DISTANCE
800M
WOMEN – Freshman Lyric Olson won in 2:09.15 while fellow freshman teammate Cha’iel Johnson was second in 2:09.30 and senior Bryanna Lucas was third in 2:09.94. It marks Olson’s first-ever event win for the Wildcats. It also marks Johnson’s and Lucas’s best finish in the event this outdoor season.
MEN – Junior Alex Justus won with a personal best time of 1:48.78 while junior Gabriel Robinson also set a personal best time of 1:55.93. It marks Justus’s second-ever event win for the Wildcats and his first of the outdoor season.
1500M
WOMEN – Junior Phoebe McCowan won with a personal best time of 4:20.41 while sophomore Ally Kruger was fourth in 4:24.91. It marks McCowan’s first event win of the outdoor season and fourth of her career.
MEN – Freshman Ed Bird set a new personal best and freshman record of 3:43.38 to win his third event of the outdoor season. Senior Jake Allen set a new personal best time of 3:43.54 to finish second while junior Jackson Watts set a new personal best time of 3:49.41 to finish fifth.
3000M STEEPLECHASE
WOMEN – Freshman Elly Heine finished ninth with a time of 11:35.27 in her debut in the event.
MULTIS
HEPTATHLON
WOMEN – After the first day of competition, junior Ariel Pedigo sits in third with 2,851 points with her best finish coming in both the high jump and shot put where she finished third. She collected a combined 1,397 points from the two events to hold onto a podium spot after the first day.
JUMPS
POLE VAULT
WOMEN – Graduate student Kristen Masucci finished third with a clearance of 12’3.50”/3.75 meters. It marks her best finish of the outdoor season.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Cain finished fifth in the invitational section with a clearance of 13’3.50”/4.05 meters. It ties her best finish in the event this outdoor season.
LONG JUMP
WOMEN – Freshman Morgan Davis was second but the highest finishing collegiate athlete with a jump of 19’3.25”/5.87 meters (+2.2). It marks her best finish of the outdoor season in the event.
MEN – Freshman Samuel Reagan finished seventh with a jump of 23’4”/7.11 meters (+1.8).
THROWS
HAMMER THROW
WOMEN – Freshman Kate Powers improved her freshman record in her win in the invitational section setting the new record distance to 210’1”/64.05 meters to rank fourth on the UK all-time performers list. It marks her second event win of the outdoor season.
Senior Simisola Akinrinsola finished fifth in her section with a personal best throw of 166’6”/50.76 meters. It marks her best finish of the outdoor season in the event.
MEN – Junior Logan Coles earned a fourth-place finish in the invitational section with a throw of 204’9”/62.41 meters. It marks his second top-five finish this outdoor season.
Senior Dennis Ohene-Adu also earned a fourth-place finish in his section throwing a personal best 190’7”/58.09 meters that ranks 10th on the UK all-time performers list. It also marks his best finish in the event in the outdoor season.
JAVELIN THROW
WOMEN – Senior Charity Hufnagel placed ninth with a throw of 103’2”/31.45 meters.
Event Results
| Jim Green Invitational: Friday, April 19: ALL TIMES IN EASTERN TIME | ||||
| Women’s Hept. 100mH | 12:30 p.m. | FINAL | 3. Julia Gunnell: 15.16 | 821 pts.
5. Ariel Pedigo: 15.33 | 799 pts. |
|
| Women’s Hept. High Jump | 1:10 p.m. | FINAL | 3. Ariel Pedigo: 5’1.75”/1.57m | 701 pts.
8. Julia Gunnell: 4’10.25”/1.48m | 599 pts. |
|
| Women’s Hept. Shot Put | 3:00 p.m. | FINAL | 3. Ariel Pedigo: 41’1.50”/12.53m | 696 pts.
6. Julia Gunnell: 34’4.50”/10.47m | 560 pts. |
|
| Women’s Hept. 200m | 4:00 p.m. | FINAL | 6. Julia Gunnell: 26.55 | 750 pts.
8. Ariel Pedigo: 27.69 | 655 pts. |
|
| Women’s Heptathlon Friday Standings | 3. Ariel Pedigo: 2851 pts.
8. Julia Gunnell: 2730 pts.
|
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| Jim Green Invitational: Friday, April 19: ALL TIMES IN EASTERN TIME | |||
| Women’s Hammer Throw Invitational | 12:30 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 1. Kate Powers: 210’1”/64.05m | Freshman Record | Ranks 4th on the UK all-time performers list |
| Men’s Hammer Throw Invitational | 1:30 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 4. Logan Coles: 204’9”/62.41m |
| Women’s Pole Vault | 2:00 p.m. | FINAL | 3. Kristen Masucci: 12’3.50”/3.75m |
| Women’s Javelin Throw | Prelim/FINAL | 9. Charity Hufnagel: 103’2”/31.45m | |
| Women’s Hammer Throw | 2:30 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 5. Simi Akinrinsola: 166’6”/50.76m | PR
13. Shelby Wingler: 153’3”/46.17m 21. Amaya Livingston: 131’2”/39.98m |
| Women’s Long Jump | 3:00 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 2. Morgan Davis: 19’3.25”/5.87m (+2.2)
13. Meg Wilson: 17’9.50”/5.42m (+1.2) |
| Men’s Long Jump | 3:00 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 7. Samuel Reagan: 23’4”/7.11m (+1.8) |
| Men’s Hammer Throw | 3:30 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | 4. Dennis Ohene-Adu: 190’7”/58.09m | PR | Ranks 10th on the UK all-time performers list
18. Ryan Avare: 155’1”/47.27m |
| Women’s 400mH | 4:30 p.m. | FINAL | 13. Aliyah Allen: 1:05.21 |
| Men’s 400mH | 4:45 p.m. | FINAL | 5. Beck O’Daniel: 52.40 |
| Women’s 200m | 5:00 p.m. | FINAL | 4. Jania Martin: 23.96 (+1.5)
10. Reynei Wallace: 24.33 (+2.0) 24. Seven Simms: 24.84 (+1.3) 25. Charity Hufnagel: 24.91 (+1.3) | PR 27. JahQueen McClellan: 25.02 (+2.0) | PR 48. Jaemari Allen: 25.70 (+1.8) 64. Patrice Cornelious: 26.51 (+0.5) |
| Men’s 200m | 5:25 p.m. | FINAL | 11. Brandon Miller: 21.43 (+0.6) |
| Women’s Pole Vault Invitational | 5:30 p.m. | FINAL | 5. Kaitlyn Cain: 13’3.50”/4.05m |
| Women’s 800m Invitational | 5:50 p.m. | FINAL | 1. Lyric Olson: 2:09.15
2. Cha’iel Johnson: 2:09.30 3. Bryanna Lucas: 2:09.94 12. Jenna Schwinghamer: 2:13.98 |
| Men’s 800m Invitational | 5:58 p.m. | FINAL | 1. Alex Justus: 1:48.78 | PR
14. Gabriel Robinson: 1:55.93 | PR |
| Women’s 3000m Steeplechase | 6:10 p.m. | FINAL | 9. Elly Heine: 11:35.27 |
| Women’s 1500m | 6:45 p.m. | FINAL | 1. Phoebe McCowan: 4:20.41 | PR
4. Ally Kruger: 4:24.91 36. Aubree Hay: 4:55.87 |
| Men’s 1500m | 7:15 p.m. | FINAL | 1. Ed Bird: 3:43.38 | PR | Freshman Record
2. Jake Allen: 3:43.54 | PR 5. Jackson Watts: 3:49.41 | PR |
Event Lineup (all info tentative and subject to change before the meet)
| Jim Green Invitational: Saturday, April 20: ALL TIMES IN EASTERN TIME | ||||
| Women’s Hept. Long Jump | 10:30 a.m. | FINAL | Julia Gunnell
Ariel Pedigo |
|
| Women’s Hept. Javelin Throw | 11:30 a.m. | FINAL | Julia Gunnell
Ariel Pedigo |
|
| Women’s Hept. 800m | 1:00 p.m. | FINAL | Julia Gunnell
Ariel Pedigo |
|
| Women’s Heptathlon Final Standings | ||||
| Jim Green Invitational: Saturday, April 20: ALL TIMES IN EASTERN TIME | |||
| Women’s Discus Throw | 10:30 a.m. | Prelim/FINAL | Kate Powers |
| Men’s Pole Vault | 11:00 a.m. | FINAL | Brayden Jackson |
| Men’s Shot Put | 11:00 a.m. | Prelim/FINAL | Dennis Ohene-Adu |
| Men’s Discus Throw | 11:30 a.m. | Prelim/FINAL | DaRoyce Flemons
John Kruzel Dennis Ohene-Adu |
| Women’s Triple Jump | 12:00 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | Asha Pierre-Antoine |
| Women’s Shot Put | 12:00 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | Simi Akinrinsola
Amaya Livingston Shelby Wingler |
| Women’s 4x100m Relay | 12:40 p.m. | FINAL | Kentucky “A” |
| Men’s 4x100m Relay | 12:50 p.m. | FINAL | Kentucky “A” |
| Men’s High Jump | 12:45 p.m. | Prelim/FINAL | Donsten Brown
Devin Sealey |
| Men’s 5000m | 1:30 p.m. | FINAL | Miles Brush
Blake Byer Cade Byer Sami Hattab Caden Miracle |
| Women’s 100mH | 1:55 p.m. | Prelim | Alexis Glasco
Charity Hufnagel |
| Men’s 110mH | 2:10 p.m. | Prelim | Alexander Chukwukelu |
| Women’s 100m | 2:25 p.m. | FINAL | Jaemari Allen
Victoria Perrow |
| Men’s Pole Vault Invitational | 2:30 p.m. | FINAL | Dalton Shepler
Keaton Daniel |
| Men’s 100m | 2:40 p.m. | FINAL | Luke Brown
Miles Jones Troy Lane Kennedy Lightner Clinton Muunga |
| Women’s 400m | 3:05 p.m. | FINAL | Alysia Johnson
Cha’iel Johnson Katelyn Hutchison Jania Martin Mahogany Mobley Oneika McAnnuff JahQueen McClellan Seven Simms Reynei Wallace |
| Men’s 400m | 3:30 p.m. | FINAL | Brandon Nyandoro |
| Women’s 100mH | 4:00 p.m. | FINAL | Alexis Glasco
Charity Hufnagel |
| Men’s 110mH | 4:05 p.m. | FINAL | Alexander Chukwukelu |
| Women’s 4x400m Relay | 4:50 p.m. | FINAL | Kentucky “A”
Kentucky “B” |
| Men’s 4x400m Relay | 5:00 p.m. | FINAL | Kentucky “A”
Kentucky “B” |
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