Ole Miss defeats Kentucky 4-1 in SEC tourney

May 21, 2013

Ole Miss ended Kentucky’s season Tuesday, dealing the Wildcats a 4-1 loss in the opening game of the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament at Hoover, Ala.

Matt Reida and Zack Storm each had two of Kentucky’s eight hits.

Ole Miss had 11 hits, including two each by Austin Anderson and Stuart Turner

Here’s a scoring recap.

Ole Miss 1, Kentucky 0

Ole Miss struck for a run in the bottom of the first.

Anderson and Turner laced back-to-back one-out singles to right, with Anderson advancing to third on Turner’s hit. Andrew Mistone’s sacrifice fly to right scored Anderson.

Ole Miss 2, Kentucky 0

The Rebels added a run in the third.

Christian Helsel doubled to left and moved to third on Tanner Mathis’ sacrifice. Anderson doubled down the right-field line to drive in Helsel.

Ole Miss 2, Kentucky 1

The Wildcats broke through with an unearned run in the top of the fourth.

With one out, Zac Zellers doubled to right-center. He moved to third on A.J. Reed’s groundout to second.

Austin Cousino walked. Cousino then stole second, and Zellers came home on a throwing error by catcher Turner.

Ole Miss 4, Kentucky 1

The Rebels added a pair of runs in the sixth.

Mistone knocked a one-out double down the left-field line.

Austin Bousfield drove Mistone home with a single to right.

One out later, Austin Knight rapped a pinch-hit single, knocking out UK starter Jerad Grundy.

Chandler Shephard came in and yielded an RBI-single up the middle by Will Allen.

 

 

 

 

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Cats need to win or go home in SEC tourney

May 20, 2013

When Kentucky opens play Tuesday morning against Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament, the mission is clear.

logo-ukWin or go home. For the season.

The consensus opinion is that UK must at least make a deep run into the tournament, if not win the whole event, to advance to NCAA regional play.

How will Coach Gary Henderson deal with his players under such pressure?

“When you show up and you’re 11-and-19 (in SEC play), I think it’s pretty clear to everybody  that whether or not you’ve got to win it or you’ve got to win four or whatever it may be, (the assignment) is pretty clear,” Henderson said Monday during a coaches’ teleconference. “So I’m not sure I’ve got to manage a lot of that. I think it’s pretty clear to our guys.

“We’ll go about it the same way we always do. We need to win tomorrow morning and then we can worry about what we’re doing on Wednesday. If it goes down to sitting down and telling them that we’ve got to bite off four wins or five wins or whatever it is, I won’t do that.

“We need to play well. We need to pitch well. All of our coaching cliches are absolutely true. We need to do those tomorrow morning and, when that’s over, we’ll worry about it. But I would say we have to have a significant run.”

UK, 30-24 overall, is seeded 11th in the 12-team tournament at Hoover, Ala. Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. game against Ole Miss is an elimination game. The winner will go on to meet third-seeded Arkansas in the double-elimination portion of the tourney, Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

The Wildcats will start senior left-hander Jerad Grundy (6-5, 4.75 ERA) against Ole Miss. Grundy has made 13 starts. tossing 77.2 innings, walking just 20 and striking out 60. Over his last two starts, Grundy has a 1-0 record and a 1.64 ERA, allowing just nine hits and two walks in 11 innings. In two career starts against Ole Miss, Grundy is 0-2 with a 13.06 ERA.

Ole Miss (36-20, 15-15 SEC) is hitting .278, with a .369 slugging a .361 on-base percentage, belting 23 homers and stealing 43 bases. On the mound, Ole Miss has a strong 3.15 ERA, walking 202 and striking out 403 in 503 innings.

Kentucky has hit .256 as a team, slugging .363 and reaching base at a .361 clip. UK has belted 36 homers and stolen 56 bases. UK’s mound corps has a 3.56 ERA, allowing a .333 on-base percentage and a .363 slugging mark, striking out 370 and walking just 144 in 487.1 innings.

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Legends continue homestand vs. Drive

April 10, 2013
South Atlantic League baseball

sal-logo-greenvillelegends-logo-13Greenville Drive
at Lexington Legends

What: Four-game series

When: Thursday through Sunday (7:05 Thursday through Saturday nights, 1:35 Sunday afternoon)

Where: Whitaker Bank Ballpark

Major League affiliates: Kansas City Royals (Legends), Boston Red Sox (Drive)

Tickets: Call (859) 422-7867

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Thursday, RH Miguel Almonte (0-1, 5.79) vs. RH Pat Light (0-0, 9.00); Friday, RH Christian Binford (0-1, 7.20) vs. LH Brian Johnson (0-1, 2.25); Saturday, LH Colin Rodgers (0-0, 0.00) vs. RH Frank Montas (0-0, 3.18); Sunday, LH Daniel Stumpf (0-0, 0.00) vs. LH Cody Kukuk (1-0, 3.60).

Braden Kapteyn

Braden Kapteyn

Drive to watch: RHP Braden Kapteyn (6-foot-4, 225 pounds, from Lansing, Ill., age 23) is well known to fans of the University of Kentucky, where he was a two-way player on the mound and at first base. At UK, Kapteyn went 7-3 with eight saves and 91 strikeouts over 71 2/3 inning. He batted .300 in 2011, driving in 42 runs and scoring 42. A 15th round draft pick of the Red Sox in 2011, Kapteyn appeared in 12 games in 2011 and 19 games last year for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League, going a combined 0-1 with seven saves. In two relief outings this season, Kapteyn has yielded four runs over four innings, losing his only decision. He held opponents to a .176 batting average over 14 innings in 2011, .107 over 34 2/3 last year and .083 thus far this season.

Cameron Gallagher

Cameron Gallagher

Legend to watch: C Cameron Gallagher (6-2, 220, from Lancaster, Pa., 20, bats/throws right) is 9-for-23 (.391) through his first six games, with four doubles, an RBI and two runs. He also has gunned down four of seven runners trying to steal. A 2011 second-round draft pick of the Royals, out of Manheim Township (Pa.) High School, he batted .434 with four homers, 19 RBI, 29 runs and 10 stolen bases as a senior. In 2011, over 28 games with the Arizona League Royals and Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League, Gallagher hit .157 with two homers, nine RBI and eight runs. Last year, over 36 games with Burlington of the Appalachian League, he batted .276 with three homers, 15 RBI and 13 runs; he was rated the 20th-best prospect in the league. Gallagher’s father, Glenn, pitched in the Blue Jays organization after being selected in the third round of the 1981 draft. Cameron’s brother, Austin, was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 2007 draft.

Radio: WLXG-AM 1300

 

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Saluting 3rd annual UK track and field shoe drive

March 27, 2013

A salute to all involved with the UK Track & Field Shoe Drive, which is in the midst of its third annual effort to collect shoes for the needy.

The drive began March 1 and will continue until May 10.

“We are collecting ANY kind of shoes in ANY condition, ANY size and ANY gender!” former UK miler Josh Nadzam, who has headed all three drives, wrote in an email.

On-campus collection sites are at the Johnson Recreation Center, CATS (Center for Academic and Tutorial Services, located in Memorial Coliseum), Shively Training Center (adjacent to baseball’s Cliff Hagan Stadium) and the sixth floor of the Patterson Office Tower. Off campus, there is a collection site at the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government offices, 200 East Main Street.

For those unable to make it to a collection site, contact Nadzam (josh.nadzam@gmail) he will arrange to pick up shoes.

“This all started from an epiphany my teammate Luis Orta had when he realized we were wastefully discarding wearable shoes in the trash,” Nadzam wrote. ” As runners, we have to replace our shoes every 400-500 miles; we run anywhere from 60-80 miles a week so you can see this adds up quickly.  He came to me with the idea that, instead of throwing the shoes away, what if we collected them and sent them to developing countries with citizens who have never owned a pair of shoes.  Another teammate, Hiruni Wijayaratne, joined our efforts and as a trio we led our first shoe drive.

“During our first year we collected shoes in a haphazard fashion, flying by the seat of our pants.  We spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and any other form of communication we could think of.  Once the drive concluded we had collected 2,100 pairs of shoes in less than a month.  We partnered with Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization in Nashville that collects shoes and ships them to over 126 different countries.

“The next year we expanded our shoe drive to the entire Southeastern Conference. At UK we collected 2,900 pairs of shoes and over 13,000 pairs throughout the SEC.  This year we hope to make it our biggest shoe drive yet.  While this year is not SEC-wide, we are partnered again with Soles4Souls.  We are asking everyone to get their friends, families, schools, churches, and other organizations involved.  With the selfless help of many teammates, coaches, friends, and community members this has become a huge event.  Our athletic director, Mitch Barnhart, has provided us with the support and resources necessary to make this a success.  Coach (Edrick) Floreal has also supported us tremendously; even though in only his first year as head coach, he immediately emphasized the importance of our efforts and has been one of our strongest advocates to date.  The success of our shoe drive is truly a manifestation of the altruistic compassion that exists in our community in Lexington as well as the unconditional support of Big Blue Nation. ”

For more information, see the website:  www.uktrackandfieldshoedrive.com.

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Highlights from UK baseball/softball media day

February 4, 2013

Highlights from Monday’s baseball/softball media at the University of Kentucky’s Wildcat Den.

Pre-season All-America CF Austin Cousino fields questions during UK Baseball Media Day. (Mark Maloney photo)

Leading off with baseball, as high as No. 8 (Collegiate Baseball) in the pre-season rankings.

The Wildcats are coming off a school-record 45-18 season, 18-13 in the Southeastern Conference, and an NCAA regional berth.

“We’re excited to get the season going. We’ve got a great group of kids,” Coach Gary Henderson said. “Lots of energy in the program. Lots of excitement with returning kids that have done well here, had good summers, had impressive falls. It’s a good group of kids. They like each other. They like to practice. They like to play. So it’s an exciting time for us.”

The Cats’ weekend (SEC) rotation sets up with left-handers Jerad Grundy, A.J. Reed and Corey Littrell.

“We’ve got four guys in my mind that could easily be weekend starters but, obviously, it’s only going to be three. And because of what we’ve got in the bullpen, it seems to make sense to hold the right-hander back.”

The right-hander being Chandler Shepherd, a sophomore out of Lawrence County.

“We need what he has in the bullpen, so that’s what we’ll start,” Henderson said. “Sometimes things change, and sometimes they don’t. There’s been years here we’ve been the same three guys the entire year. We’ll see how it goes. But that’s three talented kids and they’ll do a very good job of competing and throwing strikes.”

Having lost the powerful tandem of Michael Williams and Luke Maile, catcher is the most notable void to be filled.

“We’ve got Micheal Thomas, who’s in front right now,” Henderson said. “We’ve got three other guys — Greg Fettes is a redshirt freshman; Zach Arnold and Casey Schroeder are freshman. All three of the kids have been drafted, so we’ve got some talented kids back there.

“I’m really happy with Micheal Thomas’ progression  and development, maturity and growth and all those things that you look for. He’s done a great job. If anybody who’s followed the program at all during my time here … you know that I’m a big advocate of two catchers. Doesn’t mean that you have to do it that way; I just like to do it that way, for a couple of reasons. That’s exactly what we’ll shoot for this year. Micheal Thomas right now is the guy that we’re going to run out there early, and see which one of those other three guys can grow into that position.”

The baseball Cats open the season Feb. 15, facing UNC-Asheville at Wofford. The home opener, against Murray State, is set for Feb. 26.

* UK softball opens Friday, taking on California — the first of six games the Cats will play at Tempe, Ariz.

UK’s first 20 games will be on the road while finishing touches are being put on UK’s renovated home complex.

After playing at Tempe, the Cats will play in tournaments at San Diego, Spartanburg (S.C.) and Tampa. The home opener, against Marshall, is set for March 6.

UK will be home to the Southeastern Conference tournament, May 8-11.

Coach Rachel Lawson said she focused on adding power and speed in what is viewed as an outstanding freshman class. She anticipates that four or five newcomers could land starting jobs.

The Cats made their fourth consecutive NCAA appearance last season, finishing 30-30.

 

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Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame adds 5

February 1, 2013

The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the names of
this year’s five inductees Friday during a press conference at the Brown Hotel in Louisville.

The five are Irv Goode, Coy Bacon, Otis Wilson, Chad Bratzke and Roman Oben.

In addition, the Kentucky Hall plans a new approach to the induction activities on Friday, June 28. Included will be a ring ceremony, Game Day Live Preview at Fourth Street Live – a free, public event on June 27 that will offer a taste of Game Day Spectacular, the official induction ceremony for this year’s honorees, to be held at the Louisville Palace. The induction ceremony will also feature a presentation of the Blanton Collier Award to brother/head coaches John (Baltimore Ravens) and Jim (San Francisco 49ers) Harbaugh, and their father Jack.

Tickets for the ceremony will cost $25, $50 and $75 and will be available online at a future date.

The Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville was chosen as this year’s beneficiary. Over the years, numerous football players have sustained spine and brain injuries, making the choice of the organization a natural fit as well as a personal one, according to Frank Minnifield, executive director of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This year, Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame member George McAfee will also be honored during the Game Day Spectacular induction ceremony. McAfee was born in Corbin and played college football at Duke. He played running back for the Chicago Bears (1940-1941, 1945-1950). Nicknamed “One-Play McAfee” he was known for explosive speed.  He died in 2009.

Louisville head football coach Charlie Strong and Kentucky counterpart Mark Stoops will serve as event co-chairs.

Also, the 2012 All Commonwealth Collegiate Team was announced at the press conference, including Defensive Player of the Year Zack Autenrieb, and Offensive Players of the Year Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, and Larry Warford of Kentucky.

The 2013 inductees to the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Irv Goode
Goode was born in Newport and played college football for Kentucky. Drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1962, he played guard for the St. Louis Cardinals (1962-1971), Buffalo Bills (1972) and the Miami Dolphins (1973-1974). He was a Super Bowl champion with the Dolphins in 1973.

Lander McCoy (Coy) Bacon
Bacon was born in Cadiz and played defensive line at Jackson State. Drafted into the NFL in 1968, he played for the Los Angeles Rams (1968-1975), San Diego Chargers (1973-1975), Cincinnati Bengals (1976-1977), Washington Redskins (1978-1981) and the USFL’s Washington Federals (1983). He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1972, 1976 and 1977.  Bacon was inducted into the American Football Association’s Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. He is being inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame posthumously.

Otis Wilson
Wilson played linebacker for Louisville after transferring from Syracuse. He was drafted in the first round of the 1980 NFL draft and played for the Chicago Bears (1980-1987) and Los Angeles Raiders (1989). He won a Super Bowl as a member of the 1985 Bears. That same year, he made the only Pro Bowl selection of his career, and was a featured soloist of the “Shuffling Crew” in the Bears video “The Super Bowl Shuffle.” He is the father of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Quincy Wilson. Otis Wilson was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Chad Bratzke  
Bratzke played for Eastern Kentucky University. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Kodak All-American.  Selected in the fifth round of the 1994 draft, he played 10 seasons in the NFL, five for the New York Giants (1994-1998) and five for the Indianapolis Colts (1999-2003). He signed as unrestricted free agent for the Giants on March 1, 1999. He was born in Waukegan, Ill.

Roman Dissake Oben
Oben played offensive tackle for Louisville, and was also a three-year letterman in track and field. He was picked in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft, and played for the New York Giants (1996-1999). He went on to play for the Cleveland Browns (2000-2003), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-2003) and San Diego Chargers (2004-2007). He was the starting left tackle on Tampa Bay’s 2002 Super Bowl  champion team. Oben has been inducted to the Athletic Hall of Fames at Gonzaga College High School, Fork Union Military Academy and the University of Louisville.

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NCAA Pre-National cross-country is Saturday at Louisville

October 10, 2012

Kentucky’s Cally Macumber, left, placed second in last month’s Greater Louisville Invitational at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park. (Photo: Mark Maloney)

The highly competitive field that boasts 15 nationally ranked teams for Saturday’s NCAA Division I Pre-National Cross Country meet, hosted by the University of Louisville at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, is set.

Four races will be held, with the men’s red seeded race starting the day at 9:30 a.m. The women’s red race is at 10:15 a.m. Following that is a pair of unseeded races: the men’s black race at 10:45 a.m. and the women’s black at 11:30 a.m.

The Louisville and Kentucky men’s squads will take part in the first morning race, competing against No. 3-ranked Brigham Young, No. 7 Colorado, No. 9 Tulsa, No. 14 Florida State and No. 15 Oregon. Last time out, Louisville finished sixth at the Greater Louisville Classic against a field that consisted of numerous ranked teams, including Iona, Texas and Arizona.

The Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky women’s squads are set to participate in the 10:15 a.m. race.

Box assignments for the men’s red division: 1. Montana State; 2. Florida; 3. Wichita State; 4. Butler; 5. Florida State; 6. Davidson; 7. Lamar; 8. William and Mary; 9. Brigham Young; 10. Loyola (Ill.); 11. Central Michigan; 12. Kennesaw State; 13. Miami (Ohio); 14. Lehigh; 15. Weber State; 16. Texas at El Paso; 17. Eastern Michigan; 18. Georgetown (D.C.); 19. McNeese State; 20. Tulsa; 21. Louisville; 22. Oregon; 23. Cincinnati; 24. Boise State; 25. California Santa Barbara; 26. Duke; 27. Air Force; 28. Utah State; 29. Villanova; 30. Southern Utah; 31. Kentucky; 32. Bucknell; 33. Duquesne; 34. North Carolina Greensboro; 35. Indiana State; 36. Colorado; 37. Virginia Tech; 38. Utah Valley. 39. Iowa; 40. Rice.

Box assignments for the women’s red division: 1. Duquesne; 2. West Virginia; 3. Illinois; 4. California-Davis; 5. Michigan; 6. East Carolina; 7. Xavier (Ohio); 8. Loyola (Ill.); 9. Oregon State; 10. Southern Utah; 11. Baylor; 12. Kentucky; 13. Florida State; 14. William and Mary; 15. Georgetown (D.C.); 16. Appalachian State; 17. Clemson; 18. Kansas Satate; 19. New Hampshire; 20. Oregon; 21. Boise State; 22. Eastern Michigan; 23. Villanova; 24. California Santa Barbara; 25. Tulsa; 26. Texas-El Paso; 27. Elon; 28. Air Force; 29. Butler; 30. Colorado; 31. Florida; 32. Montana State; 33. Miami (Ohio); 34. Utah; 35. Texas; 36. Wichita State; 37. Ohio; 38. Virginia Tech; 39. Eastern Kentucky.

Box assignments for the men’s black division: 1. Eastern Michigan/Florida State; 2. Virginia Tech/Boise State; 3. Florida/Georgetown (D.C.)/Loyola (Ill.); 4. Duquesne/Kentucky; 5. Furman; 6. Eastern Kentucky; 7. Memphis; 8. Florida A&M; 9. Xavier (Ohio); 10. Idaho; 11. Wright State; 12. Norfolk State; 13. Campbell; 14. Akron; 15. Dayton; 16. New Hampshire; 17. Southeast Missouri State; 18. Drake; 19. Toledo; 20. Youngstown State; 21. Elon/Iowa; 22. Missouri-Kansas City; 23. East Carolina; 24. Western Kentucky; 25. Indiana; 26. Clemson; 27. North Carolina Asheville; 28. Kent State; 29. North Florida; 30. Kansas State; 31. Ohio; 32. Mercer; 33. Albany; 34. Davidson/McNeese State; 35. Louisville/Brigham Young; 36. Indiana State/Montana State; 37. Utah State/Miami (Ohio); 38. Wichita State/Villanova; 39. Air Force/Southern Utah; 40. Colorado/Bucknell; 41. Butler/Duke; 42. William and Mary/Tulsa; 43. Cincinnati/Oregon; 44. Lehigh/Central Michigan; 45. California Santa Barbara/North Carolina Greensboro/individuals.
*  Bolded teams will be scored in the unseeded race. Unbolded schools signify additional runners from teams competing in seeded race or incomplete teams.
Box assignments for women’s black division: 1. Kentucky/Georgetown (D.C.); 2. Elon/West Virginia; 3. Tulsa/Ohio; 4. Boise State/Miami (Ohio); 5. Lamar; 6. Central Michigan; 7. Utah State; 8. Utah Valley; 9. Cincinnati; 10. Akron; 11. Furman; 12. Dayton; 13. North Carolina Greensboro; 14. Mercer; 15. Youngstown State; 16. Louisville; 17. North Carolina Asheville; 18. Albany; 19. Toledo; 20. Idaho; 21. Murray State; 22. Indiana State; 23. Kent State; 24. Missouri-Kansas City; 25. Memphis; 26. Southeast Missouri State; 27. South Carolina; 28. Indiana; 29. Bucknell; 30. Appalachian State/Xavier (Ohio); 31. Florida State/Illinois; 32. Clemson/Loyola (Ill.); 33. Air Force/Michigan; 34. Wichita State/Colorado; 35. Montana State/Villanova; 36. California-Davis/Bucknell; 37. Oregon/Duquesne; 38. Kansas State/Southern Utah; 39. Utah/Virginia Tech; 40. Baylor/William and Mary; 41. Florida/Eastern Kentucky; 42. Butler/Eastern Michigan; 43. New Hampshire/Texas; 44. California-Santa Barbara/Orgegon State; 45. Individuals.

 

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Louisville has nation’s largest college XC meet

September 28, 2012

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.

 

 

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Here’s a look at UK’s new track and field facility

September 22, 2012

All the lane markings are down at the University of Kentucky’s new track and field facility. Only a few cosmetics remain to be completed, including a  few railings to be secured in the seating area.

Here’s a look as of Saturday, Sept. 22. (All photos by your blogger.)

Most races of one lap or more will head into this curve first.

The long jump/triple jump runways are separated by a “Kentucky” logo.

The pole vault runways have a blue “UK” emblazoned between them.

The 100-meter dash and high hurdles starting area.

A long look down the final straightaway.

The finish line.

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EKU cross country men up to No. 27 in nation

September 14, 2012

An on-the-rise Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team will travel to Nashville for Saturday’s Vanderbilt Commodore Classic.

The Colonels improved two spots to No. 27 in this week’s national poll, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. EKU, No. 2 in the Southeast Region, is the only team from Kentucky or the Ohio Valley Conference to crack the national rankings.

EKU’s improvement in the ratings comes after a dominant showing at the Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic. The Colonels defeated 21 teams at Memphis, including regionally-ranked Ole Miss and Memphis. Soufiane Bouchikhi, a junior from Belgium, won the race on a muddy, four-mile course in 20 minutes, 43.95 seconds. Thijs Nijhuis and Ben Toroitich completed a 1-2-3 sweep for EKU, while freshman Amos Kosgey and sophomore Ole Hesselbjerg also placed in the top 10. In all, 13 of the first 22 finishers were Colonels.

EKU and Kentucky have both men’s and women’s teams among the top 15 in the Southeast Region rankings.

The Colonels are second in the men’s region, trailing only North Carolina State. EKU’s women are ranked No. 13 in the Southeast

Other state teams in the men’s regional rankings are Louisville at No. 7, Western Kentucky at 10 and UK at No. 15.

UK has the top-rated women’s team in the state, ranking 10th in the Southeast.

Western will join EKU in Nashville this week, while Louisville will travel to the Winthrop Invitational. UK has a weekend off before heading to Virginia on Sept. 22.

Nationally, the top 10 men’s teams are, in order: Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Brigham Young, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Portland, Iona, Stanford and Florida State. The top team from the Southeastern Conference is No. 15 Texas A&M. The Big East is led by No. 12 Syracuse.

The top 10 women’s teams are: Washington, Oregon, Florida State, Georgetown, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Providence, Stanford, Arkansas and Villanova.

* Centre College has both of its teams ranked in the Division III South/Southeast Region. The Colonels are No. 3 in the men’s rankings, No. 4 on the women’s side.

Centre’s teams will be off for two weeks, competing next on Sept. 29 in the Greater Louisville Classic.

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