November 5, 2009
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.
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Baseball, Big East Conference, Charlotte, College of William & Mary, Corpus Christi Hooks, Duke University, Eastern Kentucky University, Houston Astros, James Madison University, Lancaster JetHawks, Lexington Legends, NCAA Southeast Regional, North Carolina State University, Ohio Valley Conference, Southeast Region, Southeastern Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Texas League, U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associ, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky University, cross country | Tagged: Chelsea Oswald, Cory Thorne, Fernando Abad, Janet Jesang, Luis Orta, Marion Kandie, Tarah McKay, Wesley Ruttoh, Wladimir Sutil | 
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Posted by Mark Maloney
June 9, 2009
The University of Kentucky men’s team jumped from 20th to No. 11 in the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll of the season. The NCAA Outdoor Championships open Wednesday at the University of Arkansas and continue through Saturday.
Texas A&M moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in the final poll. Oregon also moved up a spot to No. 2, followed by four Southeastern Conference squads — previously top-ranked Florida, Arkansas (up from 6), LSU (up from 8th) and South Carolina. In all, the SEC has eight of the top 20 teams.
Texas A&M also moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in the women’s poll, switching places with Oregon. Third is LSU, which leads five SEC teams in the top 20.
UK has the top-ranked women’s team from the state, improving from No. 34 to 32.
The UK men are led by Rashaud Scott, the Field Athlete of the Year in the Southeast Region (see below). He is coming off a sweep of regional shot put and discus titles and is defending NCAA champion in the latter event. He is ranked No. 1 in the discus and No. 8 in the shot. Teammate Chase Madison is No. 7 in the discus.
In addition, the Wildcats qualified in both the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 relays, ranking sixth and 12th, respectively.
Rondel Sorrillo, who anchors the 4-by-100 unit, also made it in the 100 (ranked No. 22) and 200 (No. 5).
Louisville’s men improved from 37th to 29th in the team rankings. The Cardinals are led by a pair of top 10-ranked athletes — Corey Thorne, No. 2 in the steeplecase, and Tone Belt, No. 6 in the high jump.
Western Kentucky jumped 14 spots to No. 37. The Hilltoppers are led by Gavin Smellie, ranked No. 2 in the 200, and Mandhla Mgijima, No. 7 in the long jump.
Eastern Kentucky moved from No. 163 to 137. The Colonels’ lone NCAA qualifier is 5,000-meter runner Joseph Maina (No. 27).
UK’s women have four NCAA qualifiers, all ranked 17th or better: Ashley Muffet (No. 4, discus), Kristin Smith (No. 7, hammer throw), Ashley Trimble (No. 11, heptathlon) and Emilee Strot (No. 17, discus).
Louisville is ranked No. 35, an improvement of 14 spots. The Cards are led by Jere’ Summers, who ranks sixth in the discus and 10th in the shot.
Western Kentucky jumped 19 spots to No. 53. Janet Jesang, No. 5 at 5,000 meters, leads the Hilltoppers.
The final team rankings:
WOMEN
1. Texas A&M
2. Oregon
3. LSU
4. Arizona State
5. Tennessee
6. Florida State; 7. Southern Cal; 8. Penn State; 9. Baylor; 10. Texas.
11. Michigan; 12. UCLA; 13. Miami (Fla.); 14. Florida; 15. Washington.
16. UTEP; 17. Oklahoma; 18. Arkansas; 19. Nebraska; 20. Auburn.
21. Illinois; 22. Virginia Tech; 23. Indiana; 24. BYU; 25. Stanford.
MEN
1. Texas A&M
2. Oregon
3. Florida
4. Arkansas
5. LSU
6. South Carolina; 7. So. Cal; 8. Stanford; 9. Nebraska; 10. Ariz. State.
11. KENTUCKY; 12. Fla. State; 13. Miss. State; 14. Texas; 15. Auburn.
16. Minnesota; 17. Kansas State; 18. Texas; 19. Baylor; 20. Georgia.
21. Wash.; 22. Arizona; 23. Cal; 24. Boise State; 25. Wash. State.
Division I regional athletes and coaches of the year
Rashaud Scott
Erik Jenkins
Kentucky shot put/discus ace Rashaud Scott has been named by the USTFCCCA as men’s Field Athlete of the Year in the Southeast Region.
Western Kentucky’s Erik Jenkins was named Women’s Head Coach of the Year in the Southeast Region.
The full list of award winners follows.
Name (school) region
Tiffany Ofili
Women’s track — Tiffany Ofili (Michigan) Great Lakes; Clara Grandt (West Virginia) Mid-Atlantic; Angela Bizzari (Illinois) Midwest; Jenny Barringer (Colorado) Mountain; Danette Doetzel (Providence) Northeast; Murielle Ahoure (Miami, Fla.) South; Porscha Lucas (Texas A&M) South Central; Francena McCorory (Hampton) Southeast; Charonda Williams (Arizona State) West.
Destinee Hooker
Women’s field — Kara Patterson (Purdue) Great Lakes; Gayle Hunter (Penn State) Mid-Atlantic; Liz Roehrig (Minnesota) Midwest; Blessing Okagbare (UTEP) Mountain; Tahari James (Boston U.) Northeast; Kim Williams (Florida State) South; Destinee Hooker (Texas) South Central; Dorotea Habazin (Virginia Tech); Southeast; Sarah Stevens (Arizona State) West.
Trindon Holliday
Men’s track — Adam Harris (Michigan) Great Lakes; Sean Tully (Villanova) Mid-Atlantic; German Fernandez (Oklahoma State) Midwest; Gil Roberts (Texas Tech) Mountain; Kyle Heath (Syracuse) Northeast; Calvin Smith (Florida) South; Trindon Holliday (LSU) South Central; Sam Chelanga (Liberty) Southeast; Galen Rupp (Oregon) West.
Aston Eaton
Men’s field — Derek Drouin (Indiana) Great Lakes; Clarence Smith (Penn State) Mid-Atlantic; Will Claye (Oklahoma) Midwest; Dimitrios Fylladitakis (UTEP) Mountain; Nico Weiler (Harvard) Northeast; Chris Hill (Georgia) South; Jason Colwick (Rice) South Central; RASHAUD SCOTT (KENTUCKY) Southeast; Ashton Eaton (Oregon) West.
T. Buford-Bailey
Women’s head coach — James Henry (Michigan) Great Lakes; Beth Alford-Sullivan (Penn State) Mid-Atlantic; Tonja Buford-Bailey (Illinois) Midwest; Wes Kittley (Texas Tech) Mountain; Bill Morgan (Connecticut) Northeast; Caryl Smith Gilbert (Central Florida) South; Jim Bevan (Rice) South Central; ERIC JENKINS (WESTERN KENTUCKY) Southeast; Dan Steele (Oregon) West.
Brian Forrester
Women’s assistant — Brian Forrester (Akron) Great Lakes; Chris Miltenberg (Georgetown U.) Mid-Atlantic; Marc Burns (Wichita State) Midwest; Scott Irving (U.S. Air Force Academy) Mountain; Clive Terrelong (Connecticut) Northeast; Karen Harvey (Florida State) South; Vince Anderson (Texas A&M) South Central; Carrie Lane (Virginia) Southeast; Robert Johnson (Oregon) West.
Chris Bucknam
Men’s head coach – Dennis Mitchell (Akron) Great Lakes; Joe Compagni (Monmouth) Mid-Atlantic; Gary Pepin (Nebraska) Midwest; Mark Robison (Brigham Young) Mountain; Nathan Taylor (Cornell) Northeast; Michael Holloway (Florida) South; Tie: Chris Bucknam (Arkansas) and Sean Brady (Southeastern Louisiana) South Central; Jason Vigilante (Virginia) Southeast; Ron Allice (Southern California) West.
Don Babbitt
Men’s assistant – Rodney Zuyderwyk (Purdue) Great Lakes; Sheila Burrell (Georgetown U.) Mid-Atlantic; Billy Maxwell (Nebraska) Midwest; Dion Miller (Texas Tech) Mountain; Michelle Eisenreich (Brown) Northeast; Don Babbit (Georgia) South; Dick Booth (Arkansas) South Central; Tim Hall (Clemson) Southeast; Mark MacDonald (Washington State) West.
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Posted by Mark Maloney
Ask me when I fell in love with sports and you may as well ask when I first registered a pulse. I can't recall ever being without either. 
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