Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Saturday’s 11th annual Greater Louisville Classic likely will be the largest collegiate cross country meet contested in the nation this year.

The Louisville Sports Commission will host 115 colleges and universities from 24 states, featuring more than 2,400 athletes. Of those teams, 35 men’s squads and 41 women’s teams are nationally ranked by either the NCAA Division I, II or II, or the NAIA.

Action at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park begins with the men’s gold division at 9:30 a.m. Then, it will be women’s gold at 10:15, men’s blue division at 10:45, women’s blue at 11:30, men’s silver division at noon and women’s silver at 12:30. High school and middle school competition will follow, beginning at 1:15 p.m.

Top teams in the men’s gold include sixth-ranked Texas, No. 8 Iona and No. 28 Columbia. Regionally ranked teams include Georgia, Arizona, Penn State and Louisville. Others to watch include Michigan State and Division II powers Grand Valley State and Southern Indiana.

Premier individuals in the 8,000-meter race include Arizona teammates Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu. Lawang is the defending NCAA champion, and Sambu was NCAA runner-up in 2010. North Carolina-Greensboro’s Paul Chelimo was the 5,000-meter runner-up at the 2012 NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Louisville, ranked No. 6 in the Southeast Region, is led by Kenyan freshman Ernest Kibet. He won his collegiate debut two weeks ago, leading the Cardinals to a first-place finish in the Winthrop Invitational. Also placing in the top 20 in that meet for U of L were Gordon Dooley, Mattias Wolter, Evan Hibbs and Ryan Eaton.

Kentucky is led by senior Luis Orta, sophomore Mackay Wilson and junior Matt Hillenbrand.

No. 1-ranked Washington leads the women’s Gold teams. The field, competing over a 5,000-meter course, also includes No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Arizona, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 17 Penn State and No. 29 Wisconsin.

Washington is led by Katie Flood, who placed seventh in last year’s NCAA Championships, and Megan Goethals, the 5,000-meter runner-up in track last spring. Arizona boasts Jennifer Bergman, 26th in last year’s NCAA, and Elvin Kibet, seventh in the NCAA track 10,000. Vanderbilt’s contingent includes  Liz Anderson, out of Louisville’s Manual High School.

U of L is paced by sophomore Michelle Molodynia, a Canadian, who placed eighth at Winthrop. Maria Frigo and Leah Kiyohara are the Cards’ next-best threats.

Kentucky features Cally Macumber and the reigning Freshman of the Week in the Southeastern Conference, Mary Kate Ponder. Macumber won the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational and Ponder placed 32nd, helping the Wildcats to a second-place team finish. Chelsea Oswald and Allison Peare also placed in the top 10 at Virginia.

Eastern Kentucky men climb in poll

Eastern Kentucky’s men, who climbed one spot to No. 25 in the nation this week, opted to compete Friday in the Notre Dame Invitational.

The Colonels are led by junior Soufiane Bouchikhi, the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference Runner of the Year. A deep roster includes junior Wade Meddles, sophomore Ben Toroitich, Thijs Nijhuis and Ole Hesselbjerg, and freshman Amos Kosgey.

The EKU women will be competing Saturday at Louisville.

Cleaning up some post-vacation track and field notes …

Southeastern Conference rivals Alabama and Florida have plucked two assistant coaches from Don Weber’s staff at Kentucky.

Alabama hired throws coach Doug Reynolds in June, and Florida took sprints coach Erin Tucker this month.

Cory Young

While the search is on for Tucker’s replacement, Reynolds’ spot at UK has been taken by Cory Young.

Young, a 2005 University of Indianapolis graduate, was named Division II National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year this season at Grand Valley State. In five seasons with the Lakers, Young’s throwers totaled 33 all-America honors and four national championships.

Doug Reynolds

Erin Tucker

Reynolds spent six seasons at UK, where his throwers set seven school records and won nine SEC titles. A Pac-10 discus champion for Arizona, where he graduated in 1998, Reynolds was named Mideast Region Throws Coach of the Year in his first season at UK.

Tucker returns to his alma mater, where he was a four-time SEC champion and six-time all-American from 1994 through 1999. He spent eight seasons at UK and in 2006 was named Mideast Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. At UK, he coached 27 all-Americans, 26 all-SEC performers, 15 all-region athletes, six SEC champions, four Olympians, three NCAA runner-ups and one NCAA champion (Rondel Sorrillo, 2010, 200 meters).

And the ESPY goes to …

Tyson Gay

In case you missed it, the ESPY Awards included a winner from Lexington: Tyson Gay. The American record-holder in the 100 meters (9.69) and second-fastest ever in the world, the Lafayette High School graduate won the ESPY for Best Track and Field Athlete.

* One of Gay’s biggest rivals from his high school days, Owensboro’s Casey Combest, will be featured Saturday in a 90-minute documentary carried on ESPN Classic. The documentary, Lay It On The Line: The Casey Combest Story, is scheduled to air at 4 a.m. and again at 6:15 p.m.

Combest set national high school indoor records for 60 meters, 100 yards and 100 meters. The documentary follows his comeback in an attempt to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Finalists named for The Bowerman

The Bowerman Advisory Board, in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, has named The Bowerman finalists. The award is considered collegiate track and field’s top honor, on par with football’s Heisman Trophy.

Tina Sutej

Kimberlyn Duncan

Jessica Beard

Women’s finalists are Texas A&M senior sprinter Jessica Beard, LSU sophomore sprinter Kimberlyn Duncan and Arkansas junior pole-vaulter Tina Sutej.

Men’s finalists are Washington State senior hurdler Jeshua Anderson, Florida junior jumper Christian Taylor and Florida State junior sprinter/jumper Ngoni Makusha.

Ngoni Makusha

Jeshua Anderson

Christian Taylor

Finalists were chosen by the 10-person Bowerman Advisory Board, based on performances during the 2011 indoor and outdoor collegiate seasons. The award will be presented Dec. 14, during the USTFCCCA convention at San Antonio, Texas.

The winners will be determined by Bowerman Voters, who consist of: Bowerman Advisory Board; media; statisticians; collegiate administrators; and past winners Galen Rupp, Ashton Eaton, Jenny (Barringer) Simpson and Queen Harrison. Also, online voting (Aug. 1-16) by the public will constitute one collective vote, as will online voting by USTFCCCA members.

The Louisville Sports Commission will host 97 colleges and universities from 20 states Saturday in the ninth annual Greater Louisville Classic, the largest college meet in the South.

More than 2,000 athletes are expected to compete at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park. The field includes 29 men’s teams and 23 women’s squads that are ranked in either the NAIA, NCAA (Divisions I, II, III) or National Junior College Athletic Association polls. NCAA Division II teams will be returning to Louisville for the national championships, Dec. 4.

U of L, ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Southeast Region, is the defending men’s team champion. Expected challengers to the Cardinals include Eastern Kentucky (No. 6 in the Southeast Region) and Colorado School of Mines (No. 3 in NCAA II). Others include the 4-7-8 teams in NCAA Division II – Grand Valley State, Southern Indiana and Queens (N.C.); 5-6 teams in NCAA I South Region — Georgia and Ole Miss; the No. 9 team in the NCAA I Midwest, Southern Illinois; and No. 11 in the Southeast, Davidson.

Men’s individual leaders include Mississippi’s Barnabas Kirui (fourth in 2009 NCAA, first in 2007 NCAA steeplechase), Queens’ Michael Crouch (D-II 1,500-meter champion) and Daniel Kirwa (D-II cross country runner-up), U of L’s Matt Hughes (D-I steeplechase champion) and Michael Eaton (2008 D-I track all-American), and EKU freshman sensation Bouchikhi Soufiane.

Leading women’s teams include the Nos. 3-4 teams in the NCAA South Region — Vanderbilt and Georgia — and the Nos. 2-4 Division II squads — Grand Valley State and Shippensburg.

Individuals to watch include Shippensburg’s Neely Spence (D-II 2008 cross country runner-up and two-time 5,000-meter champion), Western Washington’s Sarah Porter (D-II 2009 cross country runner-up and 2010 10,000-meter runner-up), Western Kentucky’s Marion Kandie, Kentucky’s Chelsea Oswald, U of L’s Kim Grieshaber and EKU’s Picoty Leitich.

Competition will be split into three divisions.  The schedule — men’s gold race, 9:30 a.m.; women’s gold, 10:15; men’s blue, 11; women’s blue, 11:45; men’s silver, 12:30 p.m.; women’s silver, 1:15 p.m.

After the collegiate races, more than 1,200 high school and middle school athletes from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio will compete, starting at 2:30 p.m.