The UK track and field team rewrote the record books at the McCravy Memorial on Saturday, setting 10 provisional marks at the E.J. Nutter Field House.

In his final home meet of his career, senior John Richardson became the second UK runner to break the four-minute mile barrier. Richardson finished the mile run with a time of 3:59.35.

Richardson’s performance earned him an automatic bid to compete at the National Championships, the first of the season for the Cats. The senior’s personal-best mark ranks second all-time at UK behind Bob Whelan’s time of 3:58.77.

“John’s run a lot of great races,” head coach Don Weber said. “He might have better races with a tactical race, but sub-four minutes in the mile is a standard that is recognized worldwide.

“To join that club is pretty special and to get the automatic qualifying out of the way to compete at the National Championships — it was a big, big day for him,” Weber said.

Several other Cats set school records, including Mikel Thomas. The junior broke the oldest mark in the school record books with a time of 7.93 in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday,

“Mikel has got a lot of heart,” Weber said. “He is a very competitive guy. When he first got here last year you could see him progress, and by the end of the outdoor season he was really getting with it. It is really inspiring to watch him race.”

Compiled from UK AthleticsRichardson breaks 4-minute mile barrier