Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Three teams from Kentucky are among the top 10 ranked cross country squads in the Southeast Region, both on the men’s and women’s lists compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Cory Thorne

The top ranking among state schools came from the Louisville men at No. 4. William & Mary is No. 1, followed by North Carolina State, Virginia and Louisville.

The Cardinals, who will host the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 14, are coming off a fourth-place finish in the Big East Conference championships. Cory Thorne, a senior, became U of L’s first-ever Big East cross country individual champion.

After Louisville comes No. 5 Duke, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Eastern Kentucky and, at No. 10, Kentucky.

Wesley Ruttoh

EKU, led by individual champion Wesley Ruttoh, captured its fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference championship last weekend.

UK, paced by Luis Orta in 13th place, finished seventh at the Southeastern Conference championships.

Ranked women’s teams from the Bluegrass are Western Kentucky, Kentucky and Louisville at 7-8-9.

Duke leads the women’s rankings, trailed by Virginia, N.C. State, North Carolina, William & Mary, James Madison and the three Kentucky teams. Charlotte completes the top 10.

Janet Jesang

Chelsea Oswald

Western got a 1-2 finish from Janet Jesang and Marion Kandie to run away with its fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference title.

UK, led by freshman Chelsea Oswald in 14th place, took eighth in the SEC meet.

Sixth-place individual Tarah McKay helped U of L’s team take seventh at the Big East meet.

Astros add pair of former Legends to 40-man roster

The Houston Astros announced Thursday that they have purchased the contracts of left-handed pitcher Fernando Abad and infielder Wladimir Sutil, and added the pair to the 40-man roster.

Fernando Abad

Wladimir Sutil

Both former Lexington Legends were eligible to become minor-league free agents if they had not been added to the 40-man roster by Monday.

Abad, 23, has been in the Astros system for seven seasons. The Dominican spent most of the 2009 campaign with High-A Lancaster, where he was 4-6 with a 4.14 ERA over 41 relief appearances. He struck out 79 and walked only eight. He also made three starts for Double-A Corpus Christi, where he was 0-1 with a 3.21 ERA, 13 strikeouts and three walks.

With the 2008 Legends, Abad was 2-7 with a 3.30 ERA over 45 relief outings. He struck out 94 and walked 13 over 76 1/3 innings. Over his seven seasons in the minors, spanning 410 2/3 innings, Abad has struck out 437 and walked only 59.

Sutil, a Venezuelan who played 66 games over parts of two seasons with the Legends, earned Texas League post-season all-star honors with Corpus Christi in 2009. The shortstop hit .273 over 125 games, with a homer, 37 RBI, 77 runs scored and a club-best 19 stolen bases. He had more walks (44) than strikeouts (42).

Sutil played six games for Lexington in 2005, going 6-for-23 (.261) and driving in three runs. In 2006, he played 60 games with the team before being promoted to High-A. He hit .272 for the Legends, with 12 RBI, 31 runs and 20 stolen bases. Over seven seasons in the Astros system, Sutil has 161 stolen bases.

Lexington's Tyson Gay

Lexington native Tyson Gay has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week for a second time this season.

Gay’s 9.69 ties Bolt’s winning time from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, matching the second-fastest “legal” time ever. Gay’s race Sunday had the maximum allowable wind, 2 meters per second (about 4 1/2 mph).

Former University of Kentucky standout and reigning world champion Dwight Phillips had the best long jump by an American during the week, 27 feet, 5 1/4 inches.

Dwight Phillips

LaShawn Merritt

Allyson Felix

Wurth-Thomas

 

 

 

 

 

Best American marks for the week ending Sept. 20. X — Sunday at Shanghai, China; Y — Tuesday at Szczecin, Poland; Z — Sunday at Talence, France.

MEN

100 — 9.69, Tyson Gay (adidas) X                        American record
200 — 20.21, Tyson Gay (adidas) Y
400 — 45.28, LaShawn Merritt (Nike) X
800 — 1:46.33, Nick Symmonds (Oregon TC Elite) Y
110 hurdles — 13.15, Terrence Trammell (TSA) X
High jump — 7-5 1/4, Andra Manson (Nike) X
Long jump — 27-5 1/4, Dwight Phillips (Nike) X
Shot put — 70-6 1/4, Christian Cantwell (Nike) Y
Decathlon — 8,189, Tom Pappas (Nike) Z

WOMEN

Photos courtesy of USA Track & Field

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Asheville Tourists

What: Three-game series

When: Tuesday through Thurday (7:05 each night)

Where: McCormick Field (Asheville, N.C.)

Robert Bono

Legends RHP Ross Seaton is set to start Wednesday. (Staff photo/Mark Cornelison)

David Duncan

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Tuesday, RH Robert Bono (8-8, 3.41) vs. RH Alan DeRatt (2-3, 4.91); Wednesday, RH Ross Seaton (8-10, 3.31) vs. RH Carlos Luna (0-0, 7.56); Thursday, LH David Duncan (4-3, 4.24) vs. RH Juan Nicasio (8-3, 2.41).

Tourist to watch: Switch-hitting CF Delta Cleary Jr. (6-foot-3, 180 pounds, from Jonesboro, Ark.) entered the season as the 11th-best prospect in the Rockies system, according to Baseball America. Through Sunday, he is hitting .258 with seven homers and 43 RBI over 100 games. He has stolen 31 bases in 42 attempts and scored 50 runs. He had three hits in each game, Saturday and Sunday, at Bowling Green. Rated by Baseball America as “best athlete” in the Rockies system, Cleary is a cousin of NBA pro Shawn Marion. Cleary, a guard, averaged 13 points a game to help his high school to the Arkansas Class 6A state title. He also quarterbacked the football team. Cleary then led his junior-college baseball team to the Division II national championship. Selected by Colorado in the 37th round of the 2008 draft, out of Louisiana State-Eunice JC, Cleary broke in to pro ball last year with Casper of the Pioneer League. There, he hit .276 with three homers, nine RBI and four stolen bases in 27 games.

Michael Hacker

Legend to watch: LHP Michael Hacker (5-9, 175, from Folsom, Calif.) struck out two Saturday in a scoreless inning of relief against the Hickory Crawdads. That was his first appearance since July 16 and bodes well after a horrendous season up to that point. His numbers: 0-1, 2.69 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 15 walks. Selected by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 2008 draft, out of Cosumnes River (Calif.) Junior College, Hacker played for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League last year. Over 23 appearances, all in relief, Hacker went 1-3 with five saves and a 2.73 ERA. He worked 26 1/3 innings, striking out 27 and walking 17. He held opposing batters to a .187 average and did not allow an earned run in his first 17 games. He was especially tough on the road, with an ERA of 1.08.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

MVP Jordan Pacheco

Derek Norris, top prospect

Also of note: Former Lafayette High School and University of Kentucky standout Michael Bertram is the Eastern League Player of the Week. Bertram, a third baseman for the Double-A Erie (Pa.) SeaWolves, went 9-for-26 (.346) with two doubles, two triples and two homers. He drove in 11 runs, scored eight times, walked three times and finished with an .808 slugging percentage for six games. … No Legends were on the annual list of SAL all-stars revealed Monday. The Charleston RiverDogs led the way with three selections: RHP David Phelps, 3B Corban Joseph and Melky Mesa (utility OF). West Virginia’s Rudy Owens was named Most Outstanding Pitcher, going 10-1 with a 1.70 ERA over 19 games before being promoted to Lynchburg of the Carolina League. Hagerstown Suns catcher Derek Norris, batting .288 with 122 hits and 23 homers in 121 games, was tabbed Most Outstanding Major League Prospect. Asheville catcher Jordan Pacheco, batting .325 with 139 hits and 13 homers through 111 games, was named MVP. Selections came from a vote of SAL field managers, general managers, sportswriters and broadcasters. Lakewood’s Dusty Wathan was selected as manager, Greenville’s Bob Kipper as coach. Other players picked: Asheville’s Scott Robinson (OF); Hagerstown’s Stephen Lombardozzi (2B); Augusta’s Josh Mazzola (1B); Bowling Green’s Tim Beckham (SS); Delmarva’s Ronnie Welty (OF); Hickory’s Erik Morrison (utility IF), and Lakewood’s Anthony Gose (OF).

The United States Olympic Committee announced Tuesday its Athletes of the Month for July.

And the winners are …

Women – USA Softball shortstop Natasha Watley;

Men — USA Swimming’s Ryan Lochte;

Team — USA Swimming’s men’s 4-by-100 freestyle relay swimmers.

Runner-up in the team category was the USA Basketball men’s under-19 team that won its age-group World Championships. That team included Darius Miller (Mason County H.S., Univ. Kentucky) and Shelvin Mack (Bryan Station H.S., Butler Univ.).

Natasha Watley

For the first time, 10 percent of the vote was determined by followers of the USOC’s Twitter site (@USOlympic). A panel of U.S. Olympic family members accounted for the other 90 percent of the vote.

Watley helped Team USA to gold-medal finishes in the Canada Cup and KFC World Cup of Softball (at Oklahoma City). Starting a team-high 18 games, Watley went 25-for-47 (.702) at the plate, knocking in 20 runs and going 8-for-8 in the stolen-base department. She hit two doubles and two homers, including a grand slam against Canada in the World Cup.

At the FINA World Championships in Rome, Lochte set a world record in winning the 200-meter individual medley and swam on the world-record 800-meter freestyle relay team, as well as the championship-record 400-meter freestyle relay. Lochte also won a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke.

The USOC team honor, the men’s 400 free relay, went to Michael Phelps, Lochte, Matt Grevers and Nathan Adrian. Their World Championships time of 3:09.21 edged the Russians by 31 hundredths of a second and beat the favored French team by more than half a second.

The top three in the Athlete of the Month categories:

WOMEN — 1. Natasha Watley; 2. Kelly Rulon, swimming; 3. (tie) Tina Charles, basketball; Rebecca Soni, swimming; Serena Williams, tennis.

MEN — 1. Ryan Lochte; 2. Troy Dumais, diving; 3. Andy Roddick, tennis.

TEAM — 1. U.S. men’s 400-meter freestyle relay swim team; 2. U.S. men’s U-19 basketball team; 3. U.S. women’s senior water polo team.

University of Kentucky shortstop Chris Wade, an 11th-round pick in last month’s Major League Baseball draft, announced Monday that he has signed with the Florida Marlins.

Wade, out of Lexington Christian Academy, is the third Wildcat in the 2009 draft group to sign. LHP Chris Rusin, a fourth-round selection, signed with the Chicago Cubs. RHP Clint Tilford, a 31st-round pick, signed with the Colorado Rockies.

CHRIS WADE

The 6-foot, 160-pounder is the first UK shortstop to earn first- or second-team all-SEC recognition since Dickie Parsons in 1961, and one of only four such Wildcat shortstops in the program’s 105-year history.

After redshirting his freshman year, Wade opened the 2008 season as the starting shortstop. He started all 63 games, batting .296 (67-for-226) with five homers and 51 RBI. He also led the SEC with 24 doubles and was named to the SEC’s all-freshman team.

Wade started 50 games last season, missing four because of a hamstring injury. He hit .313 (56-for-179) with six homers and 42 RBI. He also had 10 doubles, a triple and stole 14 bases in 17 attempts. He totaled 14 multi-hit games, nine multi-RBI games and finished the season on a 13-game hitting streak. He also had a 13-game streak as a freshman.

His career totals with the Wildcats include a .304 average (123-for-405), 11 homers, 93 RBI, 77 runs, 34 doubles and 20 stolen bases in 25 attempts. Perhaps more noteworthy is his defensive prowess. His career fielding percentage of .951 includes a .962 effort as a sophomore.

Wade’s season highlights include a 4-for-5, five-RBI game in his final home game, against Morehead State. He also belted a grand slam homer to give the Wildcats a walkoff victory and series sweep of Indiana State, and hit an 11th-inning homer to knock off New Orleans.

A tip of the cap to Brent Ingram of UK media relations for the details.

First Jodie Meeks. Now Clint Tilford.

Clint Tilford

A day after Meeks announced that he won’t be returning to the University of Kentucky for his senior season, comes word that Tilford also won’t be back, having agreed to terms with the Colorado Rockies.

Of course, we’re talking apples and oranges here. Meeks is pursuing professional basketball, Tilford pro baseball.

And, Kentucky basketball being what it is, you no doubt know all about Meeks. Tilford, for most, not so much.

Nevertheless, the loss of Tilford will have impact the baseball Wildcats, who graduated weekend starters James Paxton and Chris Rusin.

A right-handed pitcher from West Paducah and Heath High School, Tilford was selected by the Rockies in the 31st round (931 overall) of last week’s Major League draft. The 6-foot, 195-pounder was one of four Cats drafted, along with seven players signed by UK for next season.

The Rockies have assigned Tilford to their rookie-league team in the Pioneer League, the Casper (Wyo.) Ghosts. Casper opens its season in one week, June 23, with a seven-game road trip. 

“First, I want to thank Coach Brad Bohannon and Coach Gary Henderson for recruiting me and giving me an opportunity to play at Kentucky,” Tilford said in a statement released by UK. “I really enjoyed my time at Kentucky and wouldn’t change anything about my time there. I learned a lot about the game of baseball during my three years and hope to do my best to represent the program in the future.”

Tilford pitched in 23 games this season, including eight starts. He was used mostly in late-inning relief against Southeastern Conference teams, and as a mid-week starter in non-conference play. He wound up 1-4 with a 7.05 ERA over 52 1/3 innings. He walked 24 and struck out 34, and opposing teams hit .332 against him. But he showed enough flashes to indicate that, with maturity and more work, he may have what it takes to pitch at a higher level. Through his first nine appearances, Tilford had an ERA of 3.16.

He got the start April 28 against in-state rival Louisville. Tilford worked 5 1/3 innings that day, holding the Cardinals to one earned run on seven hits. He struck out five and did not issue a walk. Perhaps his best outing came against Indiana State on March 8, when he fired five innings of two-hit, shutout relief, striking out three.

Tilford’s three-year totals include 50 games, 19 starts, a 5-4 record and 5.85 ERA. He struck out 76 and walked 58 over 112 1/3 innings.

Clint Tilford’s statistics with Kentucky
Year      ERA   W-L   G   GS   CG   SHO   Sv     IP        H     R     ER   BB   SO   2B   3B   HR    BF   Avg.   WP   HB   Bk   SFA   SHA
2007      5.21   1-0  11      3      0       0       0    19.0        31    13     11      7    13      5      0     1     98   .356       3      1     0       1        2
2008      4.61   3-0  16      8      0       0       0    41.0        42    26     21    27    29      5      1      3  187   .271       5      1     0       0        4
2009      7.05   1-4  23      8      0       0       0    52.1        75    48     41    24    34    13      0      6  265   .332       8      7     1       3        5
Totals    5.85  5-4  50    19      0       0       0  112.1      148     87    73    58    76     23      1   10  550   .316     16      9     1       4      11

UK shortstop Molly Johnson will represent the United States in this summer's Japan Cup. (Photos by Mark Cornelison)

With a season to go, Molly Johnson already is among UK's top 10 in career batting average, hits, runs, homers, RBI, steals and other categories.

University of Kentucky shortstop Molly Johnson has been named to the USA Softball women’s team that will compete in the Japan Cup, July 31-Aug. 2, at Sendai, Japan.

Johnson, who as a junior this year became UK’s first softball All-American, tried out for the National Team last week at Chula Vista, Calif. Although not named to the national team, she was added to the roster for the Japan Cup.

Team USA, which returns eight players from the 2008 Olympic silver-medal team, opens play in the Canada Cup, July 4-12, at Surrey, British Columbia, as well as the World Cup, July 16-20, at Oklahoma City. Nine of the 18 National Team members will supplement the Japan Cup roster. Seven National Team members are included on the squad that will play in the Pan American Qualifier Tournament,  July 31-Aug. 9, at Maracay, Venezuela.

This season, Johnson set school records for runs (53), hits (81) and on-base percentage (.498) to help UK to its first Southeastern Conference Tournament appearance since 2001. The Wildcats notched their first-ever post-season victory, as well as their first NCAA Tournament bid.

After graduating from high school in Arizona, and once enrolled at UK Johnson and parents Don and Teri relocated to Lexington. Johnson, who says she considers Kentucky her home now, has started all 164 games since joining the program.

With a season to go, Johnson already blankets UK’s career top 10 lists: first in batting (.395) and slugging (.648); second in doubles (45), homers (22) and runs (113); fourth in total bases (320); fifth in RBI (110), stolen bases (46) and defensive assists (379); and sixth in triples (7) and hits (195).

National Team roster

Head coach: Jay Miller (Starkville, Miss.). Assistants: Gordon Eakin (Sandy, Utah); Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.), Barbara Jordan (Northridge, Calif.).
Players — Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.); Chelsea Bramlett (Cordova, Tenn.); Katie Burkhart (San Luis Obispo, Calif.); Ashey Charters (Beaverton, Ore.); Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif.); Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.); Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.); Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif.); Alissa Haber (Newark, Calif.); Ashley Hansen (Chandler, Ariz.); Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga.); Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, Calif.); Jenae Leles (Fair Oaks, Calif.); Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.); Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.); Cat Osterman (Houston); Brittany Rogers (Dacula, Ga.); Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.).

USA Softball’s Japan Cup team

Head coach: Miller; Assistants: Suzy Brazney (Buena Park, Calif.); Chuck D’Arcy (Sacramento, Calif.); Jordan.
Players — Valorie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.); Courtney Bures (Haymarket, Va.); Burkhart; Stacie Chambers (Glendale, Ariz.); Charters; Finch; Haber; Molly Johnson (Lexington); Lappin; Brittany Lastrapes (Laguna Niguel, Calif.); Leles; Nelson; Amber Patton (Forsyth, Ill.); Rogers; Taylor Schlopy (West Hills, Calif.); Watley.

Pan American Qualifier Team

Head coach: Miller. Assistants: Karen Johns (Whippany, N.J.); Mike Larabee (Dayton, Ohio); Pat Murphy (Northport, Ala.).
Players – Abbott; K’Lee Arredondo (Tempe, Ariz.); Brandice Balschmiter (Newark, N.Y.); Bramlett; Cochran; Duran; Galindo; Hansen; Holcombe; Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif.); Lowe; Nikki Nemitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich.); Melissa Roth (Long Beach, Calif.); Katie Schroeder (Yorba Linda, Calif.); Angela Tincher (Eagle Rock, Va.); Maggie Viefhaus (Pacific, Mo.); Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo.).

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.

Chase Madison

Rashaud Scott

Scott, the defending champion, had the fourth-best mark among 12 finalists, 193-8. Fellow senior Madison ranked 10th at 187-9.

Martin Maric of California was the furthest throw of the day, 201-10.

Louisville’s Andrew Harding claimed the last qualifying spot, throwing 184-8. The Cardinals’ Josh Greenwald did not advance, finishing 17th at 179-11.

UK’s 4-by-400 relay men had one of their poorer results of the year and failed to advance to the finals. Western Kentucky also was knocked out.

The UK quartet of Kwasi Obeng, Stephan Smith, Brandon Austin and Jose Acevedo placed fifth in the third heat and 16th overall with a time of 3:08.15. First-place Florida State had the fastest time of the three heats, 3:03.13.

Gavin Smellie

Western’s Gavin Smellie, Terrill McCombs, Alexander Larin and Romaine McKay also placed fifth in their heat, 13th overall, in 3:06.35.

Rondel Sorrillo

However, Smellie advanced through two rounds of the 200 meters to reach Saturday’s finals, as did UK’s Rondel Sorrillo.

Smellie had the fastest time in the first round, 20.65. Sorrillo won his heat and ranked fifth overall in 20.87.

Chris Dykes of Texas A&M paced the semifinals in 20.40. Sorrillo stepped up to second, winning his heat in a school-record 20.45. Smellie, running the same heat as Sorrillo, took fourth in the race and seventh overall in 20.57.

U of L’s Summers leads qualifying in women’s discus

Jere' Summers

Louisville’s Jere’ Summers led qualifying in the women’s discus with a throw of 183-2.

Ashley Muffet

Emilee Strot

Both UK throwers failed to advance. Ashley Muffet wound up 17th at 161-2 and Emilee Strot was 22nd at 153-1.

UK’s Ashley Trimble is in 19th place with 3,240 points after the first four disciplines in the heptathlon. The long jump, javelin and 800 meters will decide the final outcome Friday.

Southern Cal’s Nia Ali leads with 3,663 points.

Trimble’s best result Thursday came in the 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 13.67 was sixth-best and worth 1,026 points.

Ashley Trimble

She avoided a no-height disaster in the high jump, but didn’t make it past her opening height. She cleared 5-0 1/2 on her final try to score 666.

Trimble followed that with a 38-0 (633 points) in the shot put and 24.69 (915 points) in the 200 meters.

Louisville’s Tarah McKay finished 27th (last) in preliminaries of the 1,500 meters, 4:27.01.

Western’s Miaie Williams eked through the first round of the 200, getting the 18th and final qualifying spot in 23.85.

In the semifinals, though, her 23.84 still ranked her 18th and eliminated her.