Kentucky Track and Field qualifies 19 for NCAA Championships
The University of Kentucky track and field team will send 19 entries to next month’s NCAA championships in Oregon.
The UK men had nine qualifiers on days one and three of the event with the women adding 10 over the final two days of the competition. To qualify for the NCAA championships, athletes had to finish in the top 12 of their respective events.
The competition allowed Kentucky to set nine personal bests and multiple facility records for the host Indiana University.
Day One brought two Kentucky field qualifiers
The first day of the meet in Bloomington saw multiple entry races and two chances for the ‘Cats to move on in field events.
Both Keaton Daniel and Josh Sobota had strong performances to punch their ticket to Eugene.
Daniel, in the pole vault, jumped 7’4.25″ while Sobota, in the shot put, threw a personal-best of nearly 66 feet.
Matt Peare finished just one spot off of qualifications after losing in a jump-off in the pole vault.
Six Kentucky stars advance on day three
After day two saw the UK women send multiple entries into the next round at region, the men returned to the track looking to build on the first day.
Building upon previous success is exactly what they did — the ‘Cats would get six more entries to move on to Eugene.
In the 4×400 race, the team of Dwight St. Hillaire, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner, and Brian Faust combined to finish 4th overall with a blazing time of 3:03.
St. Hillaire and Faust also ran in the 400m dash and had times good enough to send them to next month’s championship.
St. Hillaire didn’t stop there as he combined to also qualify in the 4x100m alongside Lang, Rodney Heath Jr., and Jacob Smith.
Kenroy Williams also found himself moving on to Oregon with a mark in the 400m hurdles.
Kentucky’s Steiner dominates final day
Abby Steiner and the rest of the UK women’s track team had a dominating final day of the competition on Saturday.
Steiner, who breaks records left and right, went a perfect three-for-three in her events. The former soccer star came just seconds from breaking the 200m collegiate record while also getting to the next round in the 100m and 4x100m.
Maybe the strongest performance of the day from the UK women goes to the 4x400m group of Karimah Davis, Megan Moss, Dajour Miles, and Alexis Holmes. The quartet set a facility record of 3:26:90 to win the overall competition.
That was only the beginning for the ‘Cats as Masai Russell, Shadajah Ballard, Perro Bockrath, and Sophie Galloway all moved on in their respective events.
Galloway’s triple jump qualification deserves special recognition as she was the only freshman at the regional that will be heading to the championship.
Kentucky’s attention now turns toward the NCAA championships, which will be held from June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
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