Kentucky track and field earned three personal bests at the Camel City Elite Invitational and the Doc Hale Elite Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C. and Blacksburg, VA. on Saturday, February 5.  

Jenna Gearing had a career performance in the mile, while Dalton Shepler and Jacob Sobota earned personal bests in the pole vault competition.

Gearing, a grad transfer, earned a personal best in the mile (4:41.01), which is the fifth-fastest time in the history of Kentucky’s track and field program.

Since UK’s three runners ran on a flat 200-Meter track, NCAA ruling converts their times by shaving an amount of time off their final run for qualifying purposes. With this conversion applied, Gearing ran a final time of 4:38.26. 

Sophomore Tori Herman placed 10th in the same race with a time of 4:42.64 and a converted time of 4:39.88. Her time was .36 seconds off her personal best, which she set at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships with a time of 4:39.52, which made her the third-fastest mile runner in UK history. 

Dylan Allen also competed well in the mile, placing second with a time of 4:04.06. His converted time is 4:00.99. 

As for pole vault in Blacksburg, the pole vaulters finished with three top-10 finishers. 

Senior Matthew Peare led Kentucky with a fifth-place finish (16’11”/5.16m), followed by grad student Jacob Sobota in seventh (16’5.25”/5.01m). 

Dalton Shepler finished 10th, clearing the same height as Sobota for a personal best. 

Sobota and Shepler are now tied for fifth all-time in UK history in the indoor pole vault. 

Siobhan Szerencsits placed seventh in the women’s pole vault (13’5”/4.09m), clearing the second-highest height among the field of competitors. 

Kentucky track and field will compete next between Friday, Feb. 11-Saturday, Feb. 12 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.