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.

Olympic rings.

Jose Acevedo

First-place finishes by Jose Acevedo and Mikel Thomas, both veterans of the Beijing Olympics, led Kentucky. Chase Madison made it a UK hat trick, winning the shot put.

Top female performer at UK’s Nutter Fieldhouse was double-winner Hyleas Fountain, the Olympic silver-medalist in the heptathlon from Dayton, Ohio.

The meet was the second and last home competition for UK before it plays host to the Southeastern Conference Championships, Feb. 27-March 1.
Acevedo, who competed at 200 meters for in the Olympics, tied the Venezuelan national record for 60 meters in Saturday’s finals, placing third. He later won the 200 in 21.22, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

In all, 20 collegiate performances met NCAA provisional standards. Twelve non-collegians also reached provisional standards and four hit automatic qualifing marks.

“It was good. The 60, I opened with my PR (personal record). I was impressed about that - 6.79,” Acevedo said. “It was awesome. And I was trying to do better in the finals. My start wasn’t as good as the prelims, so that cost me a chance to run under 6.70. That was the goal, but I still feel really good about 6.76.”

Rondel Sorillo

His 6.76 matched the Venezuelan record set by Victor Castillo, who placed 15th in the long jump at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

D’Angelo Cherry, who set a national high school record for 55 meters last year, won the 60 in 6.64. UK senior Gordon McKenzie took second, with a personal-best and NCAA provisional mark of 6.68. Acevedo was among three runners timed in 6.76. Going to ten-thousands of a second, Acevedo’s 6.7511 edged unattached David Dickens’ 6.7547 and Eastern Kentucky’s Shannon Davis’ 6.7575.

UK freshman Justin Austin ran a provisional-qualifying 6.74 preliminary, but did not test a sore leg in the finals.

In the 200, Acevedo topped UK newcomer Rondel Sorillo, 21.22 to 21.33. EKU’s Davis took third in 21.55.

“I was feeling a little bit tight just because of the 60,” Acevedo said. “That (60) is not my event; I’m not used to it. … But I tried to do my best. I got out with Rondel. He’s a really good competitor. He’s a really good runner.

“I was just trying to run with him more than run my race, and I think that was my mistake in the 200. But 21.22 is a provisional mark. It’s a pretty good day.”

Sorillo, from Trinidad and Tobago, competed in the same Olympic qualifying heat as Acevedo. That August day, Sorillo won in 20.58; Acevedo was fifth in 21.06. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, the eventual gold-medal winner and world record-setter, ran second in the heat.

Mikel Thomas

Sorillo, who has two years of college in Trinidad under his belt, ran unattached as he is not yet eligible for UK.

Thomas, also a Trinidad Olympian last summer, met the NCAA provisional standard by winning the 60-meter hurdles in 7.80. Runner-up Terence Somerville of Cincinnati matched the provisional cut of 7.91.

“In the trials, I didn’t really get out of the blocks,” Thomas said of his 7.95 prelim. “I got out better (in the finals). This one was cleaner, but in between (hurdles) it’s not really where I need to be. A little tight. A little slow.”
UK’s Madison, a senior, won the shot put by more than four feet over Louisville’s Steve Hnat. Madison’s mark of 61 feet, 7 3/4 inches is an NCAA provisional qualifier.

“That’s definitely the best series of my life,” said Madison, who had efforts of 59-6 3/4, 59-0 1/4, foul, 60-2, 59-10 1/4 and 61-7 3/4. “Building consistencey now through SECs and through the national meet, that’s what I want.”

Chase Madison

Madison beat his previous best (59-2 3/4) four times.

“A lot more technical work,” he said in explaining his improvement. “A lot more quality work. Not just quantity, but quality.

“Focus on technique, not distance. … Let the distance come in competition, not practice.”

UK’s Colin Boevers placed eighth in the shot. Teammate Rashaud Scott, the NCAA discus champion and a provisional qualifier in Friday’s weight throw, fouled twice and passed his third turn.

Fountain, who won SEC titles for Georgia in the high jump, long jump and pentathlon (collegiate-record 4,417 points) here in 2004, was the Saturday’s quality performer among the women.

Hyleas Fountain

Fountain set a meet record of 21-5 1/2 in the long jump, then beat the meet and fieldhouse record with an 8.02 in the 60-meter hurdles.

“Right now, training for USAs (championships) and just trying to retain my title in the long jump there,” Fountain said of her 2009 goals. “The biggest meet, of course, is the World Championships in Berlin.”

A timing malfunction made it necessary to re-run Fountain’s preliminary heat of the hurdles. She won both times, 8.13 in the one that counted.
“I just kind of looked at it as a good warmup,” she said.

Furman’s Patrick Morgan, a former standout for Boyle County High School, came off the final turn to kick past Middle Tennessee State’s Festus Chemaoi and win the men’s mile in a personal-best and school-record 4:05.90. Chemaoi, timed in 4:065.29, caught Morgan by surprise and surged to a big lead with about two laps left.

Patrick Morgan

“He made a really good move there,” Morgan said. “I didn’t think I could catch him. I started to kick with about 300 to go, and he just slowly came closer, so I knew I had to (catch him).”

Eastern Kentucky’s Joseph Maina edged UK’s Luis Orta by three-hundredths of a second for third place, finishing in 4:10.59.
Former EKU all-American Jacob Korir, like Maina a Kenyan, used similar tactics to win the 3,000 meters in a meet-record 8:07.09. Mississippi State’s Matt Cameron, competing unattached, led until the final 200 meters.

Western Kentucky swept the 4-by-400 relays for men (3:12.90) and women (NCAA-provisional 3:37.97). Janet Jesang (9:26.68) and Eimear O’Brien gave the Hilltoppers a 1-2 finish in the women’s 3,000, and Valerie Brown snared the 400 (53.58). Jesang and Brown both met NCAA provisional standards.

Janet Jesang

Jesang, a junior from Uganda, hopes to qualify for NCAAs at 5,000 meters next week.

Kelly McNeice, from Northern Ireland, swept the women’s 800 (2:09.45) and mile (4:45.71), followed each time by Zamzam Sangau, a Middle Tennessee State junior from Uganda.

Saravia Richardson gave Louisville its lone win with a provisional qualifying time of 7.44 in the women’s 60.

Other female winners included Chandra Brewer in the shot (55-5 1/2), Chelsea Taylor in the high jump (5-11 1/2) and Trish Bartholomew in the 200 (23.64).

Brewer, a South Florida graduate, placed fourth at last summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.

Taylor, a top-20 ranked jumper and multi-eventer, is scheduled to return here in three weeks, competing for Alabama.

Jeff Chakouian

Ohio Northern’s James O’Brien scored one for the smaller schools, taking the lead with 50 meters left en route to winning the men’s 800 in a provisional qualifying time of 1:49.70.

Elvis Forde

Carl Morgan upheld Middle Tennessee’s reputation as a perennial power in the jumps, taking the long jump (24-3 3/4).

Other winners were unattached Jamil Hubbard in the 400 (46.58) and Cincinnati’s Shane Shockey in the pole vault (16-0 3/4).

In the “timing is everything” department Wednesday comes an e-mail notice from the Cincinnati Reds which reads in part:

“The Reds are welcoming fans to choose their seats in person at the annual Select-Your-Seat event Saturday, Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“Stop by Great American Ball Park and get an exclusive tour of the press box, where you can take in a view of the ballpark and select your seats for 2009. You’ll even have a chance to head out into the stadium and check out your seats up close.

Great American Ball Park

Saturday is also the last day to guarantee your seats for Opening Day at the best prices of the year with a Reds ticket plan. Save up to 22 percent on 2009 pricing if you buy before Feb. 1.”

As snow-laden trees, with a thick undercoat of ice, continue to fall around much of Central Kentucky, you’ve got to admire the Reds’ optimism for a Saturday promotion.

Admission is free. For more information and parking details, call the Reds at 513 765-7500. Or check on the web: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ticketing/selectaseat.jsp.

Notes on the run

Former Murray State and University of Louisville standout Wesley Korir earned $2,500 last weekend by winning a half-marathon at Carlsbad, Calif.

Korir, a Kenyan now living in Oakland, Calif., netted $1,500 for first place and a $1,000 bonus for his sub-1:04 time of 1 hour, 2 minutes, 45 seconds, the fastest time at Carlsbad since Jenko Bensa ran 1:02:38 in 2000. Runner-up to Korir, Sergio Reyes of California, clocked in at 1:04:17.

Korir missed out on a $15,000 payday in October, when he finished fourth in the Chicago Marathon. Because he was not seeded with elite runners at the front, he was ineligible for prize money in that race.

* USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week is German Fernandez of Oklahoma State, who ran the fastest indoor mile ever by a junior athlete. Competing in the Razorback Invitational at Arkansas, Fernandez was timed in 3:56.50. That broke the world junior best of 3:58.34, set last year by Boaz Lalang of Kenya.

Other noteworthy performances included:

* Derek Miles, Olympic pole-vaulter, clearing a world-leading 19 feet, 1 inch at Vermillion, S.D.;

* Christian Cantwell, Olympic silver-medalist, with a world-leading shot put of 70-5.25 at Nordhausen, Germany;

* And Porscha Lucas, Texas A&M, sweeping the 60 (7.30) and 200 (world-leading 23.39) in the Texas-Texas A&M Dual.

The Ice Man cometh

Mark Johnson has been named head coach of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team that will compete at Vancouver. He is in his seventh season as coach at Wisconsin, where his winning percentage of .802 coming into the season leads active coaches in NCAA Division I.

Mark Johnson

Johnson also will coach Team USA at this year’s World Championships, April 4-12, at Hameenlinna, Finland, and also during other pre-Olympic competitions.

Many remember Johnson as the leading scorer (11 points) on the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” men’s gold-medal team at the Lake Placid Olympics. He scored two goals in the “Miracle” win over the Soviet Union. The son of Hall of Fame coach Bob Johnson, he went on to score 508 points over 669 games in the National Hockey League.

Since women’s hockey was added to the Olympic program, Team USA has won gold (1998, Nagano), silver (2002, Salt Lake City) and bronze (2006, Torino). All three teams were coached by Ben Smith.