UK track and field breaks a handful of school records
UK Freshman Ibn Short competes in the long jump during the Kentucky Track and Field Invitational at Nutter Fieldhouse in Lexington , Ky.,on Saturday, January 18, 2014. Photo by Ben Rickard
January 21, 2014
By Kevin Erpenbeck
UK track and field rang in the new year over the weekend by breaking old school records at the Kentucky Invitational.
While hosting the event, UK competed with 22 other squads in the Nutter Field House for the two-day meet. The Kentucky Invitational served as the school’s home opener of the season, previously competing at the Hoosier Open at the University of Indiana on Dec. 17.
Going into the event, the Cats’ women’s track and field team was ranked sixth in the nation according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. This is the highest ranking the school has ever had, with the previous best being No. 15 in 2008.
Head coach Edrick Floreal said the ranking does not prove anything by itself.
“It’s a good pat on the back,” Floreal said. “The ranking says we’ve got talent, but it doesn’t say we’re going to win. In the end, if you don’t get to the NCAA (Tournament) and do it there, then nobody cares.”
The women’s team displayed their high level of talent on Saturday’s schedule of events by shattering school records in the 60-meter and 200-meter races.
Junior sprinter Dezerea Bryant first broke the 60-meter record with a nation-leading time of 7.19. The school’s previous record was set by former Olympic Bronze Medalist Passion Richardson 18 years ago with a time of 7.34.
Bryant then broke the 200-meter record with a time of 23.04. The previous record was 23.32, set by Michelle Brown in 1997.
The Kentucky Invitational was also Bryant’s debut in a UK uniform, as she transferred over from Clemson University.
“It felt good,” Bryant said. “My first time in a Kentucky uniform… I was pretty happy with my 200M. But I’d say both of them went pretty good.”
Floreal gave the nod to Bryant for the performance of the weekend.
“You have to give it to Dez,” Floreal said. “Shattering two school records and then having two national leader (times), that’s pretty special.”
UK had a third school record broken on Saturday by another Clemson transfer. Junior sprinter/hurdler Kendra Harrison broke the old 60M hurdles record of 8.24, which was set only a month ago by senior Kayla Parker, with an 8.19. Harrison’s time also leads the nation in that event.
Floreal said he would be remiss if he forgot about Harrison’s day as well.
“When you think about the whole country right now, we’ve got two girls who hold the best performances in the country. That’s pretty unique,” Floreal said.
On the men’s side, the Cats sport a young team comprised of 23 freshmen and 33 underclassmen in total. The men came away from the Kentucky Invitational with two individual victories: the one mile event by junior middle distance runner Keffri Neal and the shot put by junior thrower Bradley Szypka.
Neal, who also won the 1000-meter race at the Hoosier Open, said the rigorous training he put himself through during the winter break helped him achieve the victory.
“To come here after the win in December and training by myself during winter break… it was a lot of tough training, but obviously I’m seeing the results now. I’m looking forward to see what I can do in the future,” Neal said.
In total, the Cats won eight events at the Kentucky Invitational – five for the women’s team and three for the men’s team.
UK will also host the next scheduled event, the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet, next weekend. 15 teams are scheduled to compete while seven of them are ranked inside the national top-25 of the USTFCCA polls (both men’s and women’s), including the UK women’s team.
