UK track to host Rod McCravy Memorial meet
January 23, 2015
By Leslie Hobbs
UK track will be back in Nutter Field House this weekend as it hosts its second meet of the 2015 season.
The Rod McCravy Memorial meet will have events beginning on Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. and will end with the last event at 4:25 p.m. Saturday.
However, one Cat who will not join the team to compete is senior sprinter Dezerea Bryant. After her world-leading and school record-breaking 23.12 time performance in the 200m dash last weekend at the Kentucky Invitational, head coach Edrick Floreal said that Bryant will likely not compete this weekend after experiencing some cramping during the week.
Bryant also set the fifth-fastest collegiate time in the 60m dash last weekend with a 7.18 finish, just .06 seconds off her previous best that she set last year in her debut as a UK sprinter.
After starting the season off on a high note, Floreal expanded on the team’s ultimate goal this season.
“The meet last weekend showed us we’re on the right track and what direction we’re heading,” Floreal said. “We will try and move ourselves up on the NCAA rankings as a team and try to be one of the top three team finishes.”
Floreal added that in order for the team to move forward, each athlete must be on the same page in preparing for and competing in an event.
“The success for any team is based on how much they come together and how much energy they have in practice and competitions,” Floreal said.
Floreal said the biggest obstacle this season is having good leadership.
”(We) need people who are going to hold each other accountable,” Floreal said. “Once the team does that, it will be a lot easier to move forward.”
But with any exceptionally talented team comes tough competition, Floreal said.
However, Floreal added that practice is not a good indicator of how well this team is progressing. “Even though you can see improvement in practice, you need to see it on the weekends against competition,” he said.
The Rod McCravy Memorial will be the last chance to see the Cats in action at home until the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-28.
