Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Keep track, and in swim, of Olympic Trials

Here’s how Kentucky connections have fared so far in the U.S. Olympic Trials, Track and Field … and in the U.S. Olympic Trials, Swimming.

Check back here for updates as the Trials continue. (q = qualify; dnq = did not qualify; OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS IN CAPS)

Bonus coverage from Canada, Trinidad

Jenna Martin

Friday, June 29, at the Canadian Olympic Track and Field Trials, JENNA MARTIN (Kentucky) repeats as champion in the women’s 400 meters, and does so in Olympic “A” standard qualifying time, 51.53. … GAVIN SMELLIE (Western Kentucky) makes the Canadian team in the 4-by-100 relay. … Earlier this month, UK alums MIKEL THOMAS and RONDEL SORRILLO qualified for their second straight Olympic Games, representing Trinidad and Tobabo. Thomas placed third in the T&T 100-meter hurdles finals. Sorrillo won the 200 meters and placed third in the 100.

Track and field

Sunday, July 1

Women’s javelin finals – Dana Pounds-Lyon (Lexington) 180-11 (6th).

Friday, June 29

Mikel Thomas

Women’s 200-meter semifinals – Alexis Love (Murray State) 23.10 (dnq, 16th).

Women’s javelin prelims — Dana Pounds-Lyon (Lexington) 170-0 (q, 10th).

Thursday, June 28

Women’s shot put prelims — Ashley Muffet-Duncan  (Kentucky) 5-11 (dnq, 19th).

Men’s discus finals — Chase Madison (Kentucky) 178-9 (12th).

Women’s 200-meter prelims — Alexis Love (Murray State) 23.15 (q, 18th).

Rondel Sorrillo

Monday, June 25

Men’s discus prelims — Chase Madison (Kentucky) 195-4 (q, 10th).

Sunday, June 24

Men’s 100 meters semifinals — Tyson Gay (Lexington/Lafayette) 10.04 (q, 2nd).

Women’s discus finals – Jere’ Summers (U of L) 183-4 (10th); Mary Angell (Kentucky) 174-4 (11th).

Reese Hoffa

Men’s shot put finals — REESE HOFFA (Louisville) 72-2 1/4 (1st).

Men’s 100 meters finals — TYSON GAY (Lexington/Lafayette) 9.86 (2nd).

Saturday, June 23

Men’s shot put prelims — Reese Hoffa (Louisville) 69-7 1/2 (q, 1st)

Women’s 100-meter hurdles semifinals — Danielle Carruthers (Paducah Tilghman) 13.09 (dnq, 16th).

Tyson Gay

Women’s 100 meters semifinals — Alexis Love (Murray State) 11.88 (dnq, 21st).

Men’s 100 meters prelims — Tyson Gay (Lexington/Lafayette) 10.00 (q, 2nd).

Friday, June 22

Women’s discus prelims — Jere’ Summers (U of L) 178-8 (q, 9th); Mary Angell (Kentucky) 176-11 (q, 12th).

Women’s 100-meter hurdles prelims — Danielle Carruthers (Paducah Tilghman) 12.88 (q, 4th).

Women’s 100 meters prelims — Alexis Love (Murray State) 11.49 (q, 21st).

Men’s 10,000-meter finals — Bobby Curtis (St. Xavier) 27:58.48 (10th).

Thursday, June 21

Women’s hammer throw prelims, finals — Kristin Smith (Kentucky) 215-2 (12th).

Men’s hammer throw prelims, finals — Andy Fryman (Mason County/Kentucky) 238-3 (6th).

Swimming

Sunday, July 1

Women’s 50 freestyle heats – Jennifer Bradford (Wildcat Aquatics) 25.65 (dnq, 22nd); Kristen Wilson (Wildcat Aquatics) 26.53 (dnq, tie 96th); Megan Eppler (Wildcat Aquatics) 26.68 (dnq, tie 120th); Aileen Cole (U of L) 26.86 (dnq, 132nd).

Saturday, June 30

Men’s 50 freestyle heats — Wyatt Ubellocker (unattached/Nebraska/Scott County H.S) 22.78 (dnq, 21st); Tyler Reed (Southern Ky./UK) 22.91 (dnq, tie 31st); Eric Bruck (Lexington/Dunbar H.S.) 23.23 (dnq, tie 58th); Matthew Schlytter (U of L) 24.04 (dnq, 159th); Colin Faris (Lexington/Beaumont YMCA/Henry Clay H.S. coach) 24.32 (dnq, 165th).

Women’s 800 freestyle semifinals — Emily Brunemann (Notre Dame Academy) 8:38.70 (dnq, 11th);  Leah Stevens (Lakeside Swim Club) 8:44.24 (dnq, 20th).

Men’s 100 butterfly heats — Maclin Simpson (Wildcat Aquatics) 55.44 (dnq, 96th).

Women’s 200 backstroke heats — Alexandrea Van Oost (Western Kentucky) 2:17.36 (dnq, 67th); Heidi Hatteberg (Lakeside Swim Club) 2:17.46 (dnq, 71st); Chatham Penrod (Wildcat Aquatics) 2:17.60 (dnq, 78th); Caitlyn Forman (Northern Ky. Clippers) 2:19.42 (dnq, tie 124th); Hilary Mishler (Western Kentucky) 2:23.43 (dnq, 182nd).

Friday, June 29

Women’s 100 freestyle heats — Kristen Wilson  (Wildcats Aquatics/Dunbar) 57.48 (dnq, 97th); Megan Eppler (Wildcat Aquatics) 57.75 (dnq, 110th).

Men’s 200 backstroke heats – David Duggans (Wildcat Aquatics) 2:09.05 (dnq, 102nd).

Women’s 200 breaststroke heats — Gisselle Kohoyda (U of L) 2:30.28 (dnq, tie 17th); Stephanie Martin (Western Kentucky) 2:37.46 (dnq, tie 78th). In swim-off to determine 17th place as top alternate to semifinals, Kohoyda finishes second in 2:30.72, behind Allie Szekely’s 2:30.03.

Clark Burckle

Men’s 200 individual medley heats — Michael Pryor (U of L) 2:04.59 (dnq, 33rd); Max Williamson (Northern Ky. Clippers) 2:07.62 (dnq, 93rd); Alex Burtch (U of L) 2:07.87 (dnq, 97th).

Men’s 200 breaststroke finals — CLARK BURCKLE (St. Xavier) 2:09.97 (2nd).

Women’s 200 butterly finals — Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 2:10.52 (8th)

Thursday, June 28

Men’s 100 freestyle heats – Tyler Reed  (Southern Ky./Kentucky) 49.90 (dnq, 19th); Wyatt Ubellacker (unattached/Nebraska/Scott County) 51.39 (dnq, 102nd); Eric Bruck (Clemson Aquatics/Lexington/Dunbar) 52.19 (dnq, 151st).

Women’s 200 butterfly heats — Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 2:09.02 (q, 3rd); Elaine Breeden (Lexington/Trinity Christian) 2:12.85 (dnq, 17th); Claire Donahue (Western Kentucky) 2:13.01 (dnq, 19th); Sharlene Brady (Northern Ky. Clippers) 2:18.22 (dnq, 83rd).

Men’s 200 breaststroke heats — Clark Burckle (Tucson Ford/St. Xavier) 2:10.30 (q, 1st); Addison Bray (U of L) 2:17.19 (dnq, tie 40th); Max Williamson (Northern Ky. Clippers) 2:18.55 (dnq, 55th); Kameron Chastain (U of L) 2:21.30 (dnq, 92nd).

Women’s 200 butterfly semifinals – Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 2:09.82 (q, 5th).

Men’s 200 breaststroke semifinals — Clark Burckle (Tucson Ford/St. Xavier) 2:10.01 (q, 1st).

Wednesday, June 27

Women’s 200 freestyle heats – Kelsey Floyd  (Lexington/Tates Creek) did not start.

Men’s 200 butterfly heats — Riley Martin (U of L) 2:02.55 (dnq, 58th); Maclin Simpson (Wildcat Aquatics) 2:05.41 (dnq, 110th); Kevin Bandy (U of L) 2:05.93 (dnq, 116th).

Women’s 200 individual medley heats — Hannah Runyon-Hass (Western Kentucky) 2:18.38 (dnq, 42nd); Abigail Chin (U of L) 2:21.22 (dnq, 84th).

Tuesday, June 26

Women’s 100 backstroke heats – Caitlyn Forman (Northern Kentucky Clippers) 1:03.84 (dnq, 72nd); Chatham Penrod (Wildcat Aquatics) 1:04.03 (dnq, 83rd); Heidi Hatteberg (Lakeside) 1:04.28 (dnq, 96th); Hilary Mishler (Western Kentucky) 1:04.39 (dnq, 100th); Kirsten Nitz (Thorobred Nautic) 1:05.54 (dnq, 144th); Kristina Brandenburg (U of L) 1:05.62 (dnq, 148th).

Men’s 200 freestyle heats — Tyler Reed (Southern Ky./Kentucky) 1:51.86 (dnq, 59th); Riley Martin (U of L) 1:56.62 (dnq, 124th).

Women’s 100 breaststroke heats — Gisselle Kohoyda (U of L) 1:11.58 (dnq, 58th); Kaylin Burchell (Madison Central) 11:11.73 (dnq, 63rd).

Men’s 100 backstroke heats — Lee Duggans (Wildcat Aquatics) 58.08 (dnq, 99th).

Claire Donahue

Women’s 400 freestyle heats — Leah Stevens (Lakeside) 4:15.44 (dnq, 29th); Emily Brunemann (Notre Dame Academy) 4:16.38 (dnq, 37th).

Women’s  100 butterfly finals — CLAIRE DONAHUE  (Western Kentucky) :57.57 (2nd); Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 58.22 (4th); Elaine Breeden (Lexington/Trinity Christian) 58.43 (5th).

Men’s 100 breaststroke finals — Clark Burckle (St. Xavier) 1:00.81 (7th).

Monday, June 25

Men’s 400 individual medley heats — Max Williamson (Northern Kentucky Clippers) 4:30.64 (dnq, 66th).

Women’s 100 butterfly heats — Claire Donahue (Western Kentucky) 57.82 (q, 2nd); Elaine Breeden (Lexington/Trinity Christian) 58.38 (q, 3rd);  Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 58.67 (q, 6th); Emily Conway (U of L)1:03.10  (dnq, 139); Kirsten Nitz (Thorobred Nautic) 1:03.47 (dnq, 147) .

Men’s 400 freestyle heats — Riley Martin (U of L) 4:02.39 (dnq, 83rd).

400 individual medley heats – Emily Brunemann (Notre Dame Academy) 4:50.03 (dnq, 20th); Hannah Runyon-Hass (Western Kentucky) 4:52.01 (dnq, 37th); Leah Stevens (Lakeside Swim Team) 4:53.28 (dnq, 42nd); Sharlene Brady (Northern Kentucky Clippers) 4:57.23 (dnq, 73rd); Abigail Chin (U of L) 5:01.15 (dnq, 104th).

Men’s 100 breaststroke heats — Clark Burckle (St. Xavier) 1:01.23 (q, 8th); Kameron Chastain (U of L) 1:03.30 (dnq, 42nd); Addison Bray (U of L) 1:04.32 (dnq, 75th); Luke Musser (Western Kentucky) 1:04.60 (dnq, 85th); Kenneth Crapse (Cardinal Aquatics/U of L) 10:4.74 (dnq, 89th); Michael Haefner (U of L) 1:05.73 (dnq, 125th).

Women’s 100 butterfly semifinals — Elaine Breeden (Lexington/Trinity Christian) 58.18 (q, 2nd); Kelsey Floyd (Lexington/Tates Creek) 58.53 (q, tie 6th); Claire Donahue (Western Kentucky) 58.53 (q, tie 6th).

Men’s 100 breaststroke semifinals — Clark Burckle (St. Xavier) 1:00.83 (q, 8th).

Of course, I’m talking about the indoor track and field season kicking into gear.

The University of Kentucky Invitational is set for Friday and Saturday inside Nutter Field House.

Along with UK, men’s and women’s teams from Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky State, Louisville, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Michigan State, Western Carolina and Alabama will compete. Florida A&M will compete in men’s events only. Central Florida, Marshall and Vanderbilt will send only women’s teams.

Friday’s competition, limited to the weight throws and triple jumps for men and women, plus men’s high jump and women’s pole vault, begins at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule starts at 10:30 a.m. with the women’s high jump and long jump. The first track event, semifinals of the women’s 60-meter hurdles, is set for 12:30 p.m. The final event, the men’s 4-by-400-meter relay, is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

First Bowerman Watch List released

The Bowerman Men’s Watch Committee, in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, released its first crop of candidates for collegiate track and field’s most prestigious award. All three of last season’s finalists have graduated.

The list of possible successors includes 2009 finalist German Fernandez and three sophomores. Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson is on the list for a record ninth time.

One, Alabama’s Kirani James, is scheduled to compete at UK this weekend.

The preliminary watch list, in alphabetical order, with athlete, year, school, event(s) and hometown:

Jeshua Anderson, sr., Washington State, hurdles, Woodlands, Calif.
Robby Andrews, soph., Virginia, distance, Englishtown, N.J.
Sam Chelanga, sr., Liberty, distance, Nairobi, Kenya
Charles Clark, sr., Florida State, sprints, Virginia Beach, Va.
Jeff Demps, soph./jr., Florida, sprints, Winter Garden, Fla.
German Fernandez, jr./soph., Oklahoma State, distance, Riverbank, Calif.
Mason Finley, soph., Kansas, throws, Salida, Colo.
Walter Henning, sr., LSU, throws, Kings Park, N.Y.
Kirani James, soph., Alabama, sprints, Gouyave, Grenada
Christian Taylor, jr., Florida, jumps, Fayetteville, Ga.

Kentucky connections on T&FN annual list

Tyson Gay at the Beijing Olympics.

Track & Field News magazine’s annual lists of Top 40 performers in the nation for the 2010 season is loaded with Kentucky connections. In addition to the top 40 nationals, T&FN tacks on a list of foreign collegians.

Event leaders included Lexington’s Tyson Gay in the men’s 100 and former UK competitor Dwight Phillips in the men’s long jump. Gay had six of the 10 fastest times by an American in 2010, including the top three. Phillips had the top 11 best jumps by an American last season, ranging from 27-9 1/4 to 27-2.

Here are the Kentucky connections listed.

WOMEN
100-meter hurdles — 5. Danielle Carruthers (Paducah Tilghman) 12.68.
Mile — (foreign collegian) Janet Jesang (WKU) 4:41.57.
3,000 — (foreign collegian) Janet Jesang (WKU) 9:11.09.
5,000 — 24. Allison Grace (UK) 15:49.10.
10,000 – 11. Allison Grace (UK) 32:54.99.
Half-marathon — 22. Allison Grace (UK) 74:20.
4-by-200 relay — 18. UK 1:35.23.
4-by-400 relay — 32. UK 3:35.14.
Shot put — 8. Ashley Muffet (UK) 57-3 1/2; 17. Jere’ Summers (Lvl.) 55-9 1/4; 36. Chinwe Okoro (Russell, Lvl.) 52-7 1/4.
Discus — 8. Jere’ Summers (Lvl.) 188-1; 13. Ashley Muffet (UK) 181-10; 32. Mary Angell (UK) 173-0; 37. D’Ana McCarty (Lvl.) 171-5.
Hammer throw — 11. Kristin Smith (UK) 212-7; 19. Jere’ Summers (Lvl.) 207-4; 29. D’Ana McCarty (Lvl.) 204-2; 40. Lindsey Cook (Lvl.) 195-9.
Javelin — 10. Dana Pounds Lyon (Lexington) 172-6.
Heptathlon — 22. Precious Nwokey (UK) 5,543.

MEN
100 — 1. Tyson Gay (Lafayette) 9.78; (foreign collegian) Rondel Sorrillo (UK) 10.19 (10.05 wind-aided).
200 — 1. (tie with Walter Dix) Tyson Gay (Lafayette) 20.29; (foreign collegians) Rondel Sorrillo (UK) 20.29; Gavin Smellie (WKU) 20:46.
400 — 7. Tyson Gay (Lafayette) 44.89.
800 — 36. Sharif Webb (UK) 1:47.64.
3,000 — 29. Bobby Curtis (St. Xavier) 7:57.28; (foreign collegian) Soufiani Bouchikhi (EKU) 7:59.20.
5,000 — 10. Bobby Curtis (St. Xavier) 13:18.97.
10,000 — 4. Bobby Curtis (St. Xavier) 27:33.38.
20K walk — 15. Ray Sharp (Ballard) 1:46:24.
50K walk — 4. Ray Sharp (Ballard) 4:31:04
3,000 steeplechase — (foreign collegian) Matt Hughes (Lvl.) 8:34.18.
4-by-100 relay — UK 39.62.
4-by-200 relay — 18. WKU 1:24.36; 21. UK 1:24.72.
4-by-400 relay — 34. WKU 3:06.99.
Triple jump — 19. Andre Black (Lvl.) 53-4 1/4.
Long jump — 1. Dwight Phillips (UK) 27-9 1/4; 23. Wesley Smith (Lvl.) 25-8; 28. Tone Belt (Lvl.) 25-6 1/4; (foreign collegian) Rudon Bastian (Lvl.) 25-10.
Discus — 10. Chase Madison (UK) 201-0; 22. Rashaud Scott (UK) 193-8; 28. Colin Boevers (UK) 192-1.
Shot put — 2. Reese Hoffa (Lvl. native) 72-8 1/2; 11. Jeff Chakouian (UK) 65-11; 29. Steve Hnat (Lvl.) 62-6 3/4.
High jump — 30. Grant Lindsey (UK) 7-2 1/2.

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.

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.