Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Rondel Sorrillo

Kentucky junior Rondel Sorrillo finished a strong second place in Saturday’s 200-meter dash for men at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Sorrillo came up big after UK discus throwers Rashaud Scott and Chase Madison failed to score at Fayetteville, Ark.

Texas A&M, under Coach Pat Henry, swept the men’s and women’s team championships. LSU, then coached by Henry, is the only other school to sweep the men’s and women’s crowns, in 1989 and 1990.

Sorrillo, a junior who competed for Trinidad and Tobago at last year’s Beijing Olympics, finished in 20.70 seconds. Florida State junior Charles Clark won in 20.55.

Sorrillo’s eight points pushed the Wildcats’ total to 15, moving the team from 30th place to 15th. Sorrillo was involved in all 15 points, placing fifth in Friday’s 100-meter dash and anchoring UK’s 4-by-100-meter relay to a sixth-place finish.

Gavin Smellie

In the 200, after Sorrillo came Auburn freshman Marcus Rowland in 20.82, Texas A&M’s Gerald Phiri in 20.83 and Western Kentucky senior Gavin Smellie in 20.96. Smellie’s four points put the Hilltoppers in a tie for 46th place with Louisville, 4-4.

In the discus, seniors Scott and Madison both have career bests of more than 200 feet. They didn’t come close to that distance at the University of Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field.

Chase Madison

Martin Maric, a senior from Cal, came through on the final throw of the competion – 196 feet, 3 inches — to nip Arizona State’s Ryan Whiting by an inch.

Scott, the defending champion, was coming off a school-record and NCAA-leading 216-2 regional victory. He was eliminated after three attempts Saturday. After opening at 179-3, Scott fouled his last two tries to wind up in 10th.

Rashaud Scott

Madison made it in on his third throw overall, 182-0, but was unable to improve. He fouled on four of his six attempts and finished ninth.

Louisville’s Andrew Hackney came in 12th at 177-2.

U of L’s Jere’ Summers, who qualified first in the women’s discus with a mark of 183-2, fouled on all three attempts in Saturday’s finals. That left her 12th overall. D’Andra Carter of Texas Tech won wth a throw of 182-6.

Texas A&M secured the men’s team title by placing second to Florida State in the final event, the 4-by-400 relay. The Aggies wound up with 48 points. Florida State, Florida and Oregon tied for second place with 46 each.

Southeastern Conference teams bagged eight of the top 17 spots. In addition to Florida’s second-place tie, the SEC had LSU in fifth, South Carolina sixth, Arkansas ninth, Georgia 11th, Auburn 12, UK 15th and Mississippi State 17th.

A&M’s women totaled 50 points. Second-ranked Oregon edged Arizona State for second place, 43-41. Western Kentucky tied for 52nd place with four points.

The SEC had three teams in the women’s top 10: No. 6 LSU, No. 9 Florida and No. 10 Tennessee.

Rondel Sorrillo was Kentucky’s top performer Friday, the rain-delayed third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Fayetteville, Ark.

Sorrillo ran the third-fastest 100 meters in UK history to place fifth in the country, timed in 10.22 seconds. LSU’s Trindon Holliday won in 10.00.

Sorrillo, a junior who competed for Trinidad and Tobago in the 200-meter dash at last summer’s Beijing Olympics, also anchored the Wildcats’ 4-by-100 relay Friday.

Rondel Sorrillo

The foursome of Gordon McKenzie, Jose Acevedo, Kwasi Obeng and Sorrillo clocked 39.27, good for sixth place. The time ranks fourth-best in school history.

Sorrillo is set to run the 200-meter finals Saturday, to be televised live by CBS. Also in the finals is Gavin Smellie of Western Kentucky.

The Southeastern Conference dominated the relay, placing 1-2-4-5-6-7. Clemson, from the Atlantic Coast Conference, broke up the pack by finishing third.

Florida won in 38.58. Holliday anchored LSU to second place in 38.67. After Clemson came Mississippi State, South Carolina, UK and Auburn.

Corey Thorne

Tone Belt

Louisville had two finalists Friday, both placing seventh.

Tone Belt cleared 7-1 1/2 in the high jump. Scott Sellers of Kansas State won at 7-5.

Cardinals steeplechaser Corey Thorne finished the 3,000-meter event in 8:45.86. Kyle Perry of Brigham Young took top honors in 8:29.24.

Janet Jesang

In women’s action, Western Kentucky’s Janet Jesang, a junior from Uganda, placed fifth in 16:32.59. Illinois junior Angela Bizzarri snared first place in 16:17.94. Runner-up Nicole Blood of Oregon was more than 8 1/2 seconds back in 16:26.58.

UK heptathlete Ashley Trimble began Friday in 19th place. She rallied to finish 14th with 5,459 points. Oregon’s Brianne Theisen was the only competitor to break 6,000 points, scoring 6,086.

Ashley Trimble

Trimble scored 680 points in the long jump (17-9 3/4), then finished with career bests in the final two events. Her javelin throw of 118-8 was worth 594 points, and her 800-meter time of 2:11.32 scored 945 more.

U of L’s Seidre Forde fell 8 1/4 inches shy of qualifying for finals of the women’s triple jump. Needing a top-12 finish, she finished 21st at 41-10.