Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

… And a clarification

However, a later check of UK’s meet notes, as well as the media guide listings of “top 10 marks” in each event, showed that Buncic threw 217-4.

And now …

You’ve got to love how the Kentucky men stepped up to take third place in the team standings. The top five in individual events, as well as the top three relays, automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, June 10-13, at Arkansas.

The 20th-ranked Wildcats have been snake-bitten with injuries for most of the outdoor season, particularly in the sprints.

But there was Rondel Sorrillo, who didn’t even compete outdoors until the Southeastern Conference meet because of injuries, taking third place in the 200 meters and anchoring the second-place 4-by-100-meter relay.

Rondel Sorrillo

“Better than SEC, but it still hurts,” said Sorrillo, who ran the 200 for Trinidad and Tobago at last summer’s Beijing Olympics — beating eventual gold-medal winner Usain Bolt in the first round. “It hurts, but I’m back.”

What hurts?

“My butt, my hamstrings, my calves,” he said. “Both legs.”

Jose Acevedo

There was Jose Acevedo, who also ran the 200 at Beijing, representing Venezuela.

He ran second on the 4-by-100 relay, then anchored the third-place 4-by-400 relay. That despite a foot injury that, Coach Don Weber said, would have kept a less-determined sprinter out of the meet.

When Justin Austin went down at the Penn Relays, the Cats had to plug holes on both relays.

Also missing was Mikel Thomas, a 2008 Olympian for Trinidad and Tobago in the 110-meter hurdles. He suffered a broken collarbone during practice, a week-and-a-half ago.

Kwasi Obeng

Stephan Smith

Saturday, Kwasi Obeng did the job on the relays, running the third leg on the quick relay and leading off the 4-by-4.

Stephan Smith, a half-miler, filled in on the second leg of the 4-by-4.

“Considering the way we’ve been for most of the outdoor season, especially in our sprint group — hurt and banged up as much as we have been — it’s a great day,” Weber said. “Especially for those guys.”

Now, being off next weekend, the Cats will try to “maintain” fitness and continue the healing process.

Erin Tucker

Don Weber

“We can get a little bit better,” Weber said, “so that’s encouraging.”

In the 4-by-100, UK led through three legs. Obeng’s handoff to Sorrillo didn’t go too well, though, allowing 100-meter champion Trindon Holliday of LSU to be first out of the final exchange zone.

“Trindon … had the baton first because (Sorrillo) had to wait on Kwasi to get the baton,” said Erin Tucker, UK’s sprints and hurdles coach. “Anytime, the four-by-one, when you have to wait a little bit, you lose that acceleration and then you’ve got to start back up from square one. … You want to get the baton going full speed.”

The good news is that the problem was due in part to Sorrillo accelerating, finally, through the zone. By his own admission, Sorrillo had been deficient in that area during practice. And now Obeng and Sorrillo have nearly two weeks to work on the final exchange.

Gordon McKenzie

Tucker said Gordon McKenzie “ran an awesome leadoff leg. … Jose built off it. … Kwasi just looked like a superstar because he’s out in front. And then we had the little thing with Rondel.”

As good as the sprint results were, UK came out best in the weights.

Rashaud Scott, who won the shot put on Friday, added the discus title Saturday. Having successfully defended his regional title, Scott will try to repeat as national champion at Arkansas.

And consider this: all six of his throws Saturday were better than second-place finisher Greg Pilling of Central Michigan.

Pilling threw 197-2, two feet ahead of UK’s Chase Madison.

Rashaud Scott

Madison, a senior who transferred in 2007 from Iowa State, can relate to UK’s sprinters.

At Iowa State, he broke a bone in his left foot. A titanium screw was inserted to fix the bone. It didn’t work.

Chase Madison

When he arrived at UK for his entrance physical, “they said, ‘well, you’re either going to have to have another surgery on that thing to fix it because they did it totally incorrect, or you’re never going to throw again,’” Madison said when interviewed before last winter’s SEC Indoor Championships.

He opted for surgery, which involved taking bone from his ankle and grafting the bone to his foot. Oh, and four screws and a plate.

He went from June 2006 until April 2008 without throwing a disc in competition.

Now, he throws in pain. Look at his foot and you can actually see the plate and a screw sticking out from the bone. Pain limits his practice time, but he’s a believer in quality workouts over quantity. When he does throw, he throws with purpose.

Saturday, he said his pain was controlled as well as could be expected: “I had quite a bit of Aleve in me.”

“It’s nice to be back to a national meet. I haven’t been since 2006, since I’ve been hurt,” he said. “It was a decent day, I guess. Could have expected a lot more, could have been a lot worse. So, regroup and get ready for two weeks.”

U of L: A crown of Thorne’s

Corey Thorne

Louisville’s highlight Saturday came from Corey Thorne, who outkicked Eastern Michigan’s Josh Karanja to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a stadium-record 8:36.98. Karanja finished in 8:37.20.

“It’s going to be just like that at nationals,” Thorne said. “Whether it goes fast or slow, it’s going to come down to who has the best kick. So coming out here, it’s kind of like a trial.”

Ron Mann

Head coach Ron Mann and distance coach Brice Allen prepared Thorne well.

“One of the things that Coach Allen and I have done over the last 10 days is doing a lot of speed work over the barriers, preparing for that last quarter,” Mann said. “Those barriers come up very quickly and you’ve got to be ready for it. He did a nice job of executing that.”

Tarah McKay

Jere' Summers

U of L also had two automatic qualifiers in women’s events.

Tarah McKay ran fourth at 1,500 meters. Jeré Summers, the surprise winner of Friday’s discus, took second in Saturday’s shot put.

McKay, a junior from St. Clements, Ontario, Canada, improved one spot from her regional finish of a year ago.

Summers, a junior from Oakland, Calif., is a two-time Most Outstanding Field Event Performer in the Big East.  She transferred to U of L after competing two indoor seasons and one outdoor season at Cal State Northridge.

WKU: Smellie is good

Gavin Smellie

Western Kentucky senior Gavin Smellie won the men’s 200 meters, tying the Cardinal Park record of 20.45 seconds. (Auburn freshman Marcus Rowland was runner-up, followed by Sorrillo. Earlier, Rowland false-started out of the 100 meters, an event in which he was ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 4 in the nation.) 

Smellie, a Canadian, also led off the Hilltoppers’ second-place 4-by-400 relay and anchored the eighth-place 4-by-100 relay. The first seven spots in the quick relay went to Southeastern Conference schools, led by LSU and Kentucky.

Western’s women placed third in the 4-by-100 relay.

EKU: I go, you go, we all go for Mugo

Stanley Mugo

Eastern Kentucky’s top finish of the day came from Stanley Mugo in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 

A junior from Kenya and the Ohio Valley Conference’s Co-Male Track Athlete of the Year, Mugo placed 10th.

By placing among the top 12 in the region, he still has a chance of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships (bids to be announced Tuesday). His time Saturday was 9:00.89. However, he ran 8:52.07 in April at the Penn Relays.

Regions and records

The Mideast, one of four regionals, is comprised of 167 teams from 12 states (Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin).

Cardinal Park records were set in 22 of Saturday’s 28 events. Two others were tied, and another was negated because it was wind-aided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK’s Scott was among five athletes setting regional records, and the only male.  

Phoebe Wright

Women’s meet records went to: 

* U.S. Olympic Trials champion Kara Patterson of Purdue, who won javelin for the fourth year in a row, this time at 192-1.

* Two-time defending NCAA champ Tiffany Ofili of Michigan, 12.96 in the 100-meter hurdles.

* Tennessee former walk-on and now top-ranked Phoebe Wright, 2:02.20 in the 800.

* Middle Tennessee State’s Sarah Nambawa, ranked second nationally, with a triple jump of 45-9.

Fort Campbell’s boys and Newport Central Catholic’s girls took the team championships Saturday in the KHSAA State Track & Field Meet at Louisville.

Fort Campbell totaled 83 points to top Bardstown (70). Ballard Memorial and St. Henry tied for third (46), two points ahead of Lexington Christian.

Will Mullett became LCA’s first-ever individual male champion, taking the 3,200 meters. The Eagles also won the 4-by-800 relay.

Fort Knox junior Courtney Edwards won four events: long and triple jump, plus both hurdles races.

NewCath’s girls scored 98 points. Runner-up St. Henry had 79.50, followed by Fort Campbell (65) and Bishop Brossart (59).

Sixth-place Danville had a double winner in Diamond Pace (triple jump, 300-meter hurdles), and teammate Candice Taylor took the long jump.

Earlier posts

With 13 of 18 events scored, Bardstown leads Fort Campbell 58-52 in the contest for KHSAA Class A Boys’ State Track & Field champion. Fort Knox is third with 30, a point ahead of Lexington Christian and Ballard Memorial.

Through 14 girls’ events, Newport Central Catholic leads with 73 points, followed by St. Henry (63.50), Bishop Brossart and Fort Campbell (49 each).

Some of the recent winners for the girls: Diamond Pace (Danville), 300 hurdles (47.36); Raegan Deaton (Green County), 800 (2:20.20); Candice Taylor (Danville), long jump (18-1.75); Katie Neiser (Bishop Brossart), 200 (26.15), and Annie Gruenschlaeger (Newport Central Catholic), shot (34-4 1/2).

Villa Madonna’s Corey Stoll outkicked Lexington Christian’s Nate Spain in the boys’ 800. Stoll finished in 1:56.12, Spain in 1:58.62.

Other recent boys’ winners: Damien Edelen (Bardstown), 400 (50.52); Courtney Edwards (Fort Knox), 300 hurdles (39.51), and Marc Speed (Kentucky Country Day), discus (142-4).

Initial post

Saturday’s first title in a boys’ track event goes to Lexington Christian’s 4-by-800 relay team.

Running on the Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park oval at the University of Louisville, LCA’s Nate Spain, Ben Boone, Will Mullett and Chris Elliott combined for a time of 8:10.73.

The Eagles led at each exchange, but Elliott was overtaken by Bardstown’s Adam Kaleifeh. Elliott maintained close contact, though, and blew past Kaleifeh with about 250 meters left. Andrew Linkugel got St. Henry up for second (8:14.15), followed by Bardstown (8:16.67).

St. Henry (9:50.23) and Newport Central Catholic (9:54.41) duplicated their 1-2 finish of a year ago in the girls’ relay.

Another repeat 1-2 finish came in the 100-meter hurdles, where Model’s Chelsea Harnack bested Russellville’s Chiquita Rose, 15.89 to 16.25.

A few minutes later, Harnack (12.54) ran second to Bishop Brossart’s Katie Neiser (12.47) in the 100-meter dash.

Frankfort’s Quan Weaver (11.13) held off Danville’s Lamont Key (11.20) in the boys’ 100.

Courtney Edwards of Fort Knox took the boys’ 110-meter hurdles (14.71). Paintsville’s Tyler Lemaster was runner-up (15.08).

Michael Burden of McClean County took honors in the shot (48-4.50), ahead of St. Henry’s Justin Ziegler (47-4).

The other field event completed early, the girls’ discus, went to Beechwood’s Brianna McCarty (106-10), who nipped Megan Hunter of Nicholas County by a mere five inches.

The 4-by-200 relay for boys was won by Mayfield (1:30.57), ahead of Fort Campbell (1:31.70).

The girls’ 4-by-200 went to Newport Central Catholic (1:46.61), followed by Fort Campbell (1:46.97).

Other girls’ winners: Catherine Claywell (Murray), high jump (5-6); Victoria Yocum (Bardstown), 400 (59.51); Newport Central Catholic, 4-by-100 relay (51.20); and Maria Frigo (St. Henry), 1,600 (5:13.41).

More boys’ winners: Fort Campbell, 4-by-100 relay (43.24), and Corey Stoll (Villa Madonna), 1,600 (4:23.43).