Sha’Keela Saunders claimed the long jump silver medal to pace the top-ranked Kentucky women’s team on Friday the penultimate day of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Alabama’s Sam Bailey Stadium.
Saunders struggled through the prelims, but squeaked into the final to earn three more attempts. There she moved into third place on her fifth attempt before leaping 21’8.25″/6.61m on her final attempt to earn silver. Alabama’s Quanesha Burks repeated as SEC Champion, this time competing on her home runway, with a mark of 22’2.5”/6.77m.
The Arkansas women lead the team standings with 44.0 total team points, while Texas A&M is second with 28 and Alabama is third with 27. Tennessee (4th, 26) and Kentucky (5th, 24) round out the women’s top-five through seven of 21 events scored.
Destiny Carter placed seventh with a mark of 20’6.5”/6.26m to earn two points to go along with the eight Saunders scored.
Katy Kunc and Caroline McCaslin placed seven-eighth in the steeplechase to combined to score three points. Kunc’s personal-best time 10:14.66 broke McCaslin’s school record.
Beckie Famurewa scored a point in the shot put with an eighth-place mark of 50’4.75″/15.36m. She scored 10 points by winning the hammer throw on Friday, and is entered as the No. 2 seed in the discus.
Men’s Friday Scorers
The Georgia men lead the team standings with 46 total team points, while Arkansas is second with 45 and Texas A&M is third with 34. Alabama (4th, 30) and Kentucky (5th, 27) round out the men’s top-five through seven of 21 events scored.
Tim Duckworth & Cameron Short combined for nine points in the decathlon. Duckworth placed fourth with a 124-point PR: 7709, while Short turned in a 128-point PR 7588
Duckworth tied Georgia’s Maicel Uibo with the top pole vault clearances in the decathlon – 16’6.75″/5.05m to score 926 points. Duckworth also won the decathlon long jump and high jump on day one.
Nik Huffman placed sixth to score three points in the shot put. His threw his best mark 60’3.75″/18.38m on his final throw.
Fred Dorsey placed sixth in the long jump as his mark was 24’6.5″/7.48m on his opening jump. He scored three points.
Elijah Marta placed seventh in his first SEC javelin championship as he improved his mark to 211’7″/64.49m on final attempt. He earned two points.
How to watch Championship Saturday
Saturday action will be broadcast on SEC Network+ at will 3:55 p.m. ET.
ESPN2 will air a comprehensive broadcast of the meet on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
The championships continue with the final day on Saturday beginning at noon ET. Adult single day tickets are $10, while student single day tickets are $5. VIP adult tickets are $15 and VIP student single day tickets are $10.
Friday qualifiers
The Kentucky women’s team sent eight Wildcats to preliminary heats on Friday. Three advanced.
Freshman Jasmine Quinn was the top qualifier into the 100m hurdles final with a wind-legal PR 12.80. Jacklyn Howell was the No. 3 qualifier in 13.09.
Jasmine Mitchell qualified for the 400m final with a PR 52.90q.
In total the UK women’s team qualified seven athletes into Saturday finals by virtue of performances in prelims over the past two days.
Of the 11 events to be contested on Saturday, the UK women’s team will have at least one entry in all but three of the events.
Nick Anderson qualified for the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.82.
UKTF SEC Outdoor Precedent
The Kentucky women’s team finished third behind Arkansas and Texas A&M at the SEC Outdoor Championships last year in Starkville, Mississippi.
Kentucky earned 99 points, its best finish since 1982 (third) when eight teams were in the league. UK’s best SEC outdoor finish was second place in 1981, the first year the meet was held.
The Kentucky men placed sixth with 58 points last season, equaling the team placement from the previous season, which was the best since 1996.
How the SEC Championships work
Athletes earn points for their teams at the SEC Championships based on top-8 finishes on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
The meet features 21 events per gender, and the team with the most points at the end wins.
The most up-to-date coverage of the UK track and field program is available via @KentuckyTrack handles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Friday, May 13 – Watch Replay
Field Events
| EVENT | UK RESULT |
| Women’s Long Jump | 2. Sha’Keela Saunders: 21’8.25”/6.61m (+0.6) – 8 points 7. Destiny Carter: 20’6.5”/6.26m (+1.3) – 2 points Foul – Marie-Josee Ebwea Bile |
| Women’s Javelin | 11. Sarah Blake: 156’1”/47.58m – PR – |
| Men’s Shot Put | 6. Nikolas Huffman: 60’3.75”/18.38m – 3 points |
| Men’s Long Jump | 6. Fred Dorsey: 24’6.5”/7.48m (+1.2) – 3 points |
| Women’s Shot Put | 8. Beckie Famurewa: 50’4.75”/15.36m – 1 point |
| Men’s Javelin | 7. Elijah Marta: 211’7”/64.49m – 2 points |
Running Events
| EVENT | FIELD EVENT | UK ENTRY |
| Women’s 110M Hurdles | Prelim | 1. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: 12.80Q (+0.4) – PR — 3. Jacklyn Howell: 13.09Q (+0.1) |
| Men’s 110M Hurdles | Prelim | 5. Nick Anderson: 13.82Q (-0.6) 11. Caleb Wilt: 14.23 (+0.7) – PR – |
| Men’s 1500M | Prelim | 29. Lou Styles: 3:57.80 |
| Women’s 400M | Prelim | 7. Jasmine Mitchell: 52.90q – PR – |
| Women’s 100M | Prelim | 9. Destiny Carter: 11.44 (+0.4) 11. Kianna Gray: 11.51 (+0.8) 14. Precious Hitchcock: 11.62 (+0.4) 17. Javianne Oliver: 11.69 (-0.1) 29. Donatella Asemota: 11.91 (-0.1) |
| Men’s 100M | Prelim | 15. Fred Dorsey: 10.59 (-0.2) |
| Women’s 3000M Steeplechase | Final | 7. Katy Kunc: 10:14.66 (School Record) – 2 points 8. Caroline McCaslin: 10:22.60 – 1 point |
| Men’s 3000M Steeplechase | Final | 11. Spencer Hrycay: 9:01.63 14. Gabe Harm: 9:12.90 |
Thursday, May 12
Decathlon
| EVENT | FIELD EVENT | UK Entry |
| Men’s Decathlon Score | Day One | 4. Cameron Short: 4125 5. Tim Duckworth: 4036 |
| Men’s 100M | Decathlon | 5. Duckworth: 10.85 (+0.6) – 894 points – PR – 8. Short: 11.12 (+0.9 – 834 points |
| Men’s Long Jump | Decathlon | 1. Duckworth: 24’5”/7.44m (+1.3) – 920 points 6. Short: 23’6.75”/7.18mw (+2.1) – 857 points |
| Men’s Shot Put | Decathlon | 3. Short: 47’1.75”/14.37m – 751 points 13. Duckworth: 36’7.75”/11.17m – 556 points |
| Men’s High Jump | Decathlon | 1. Duckworth: 6’11”/2.11m – 906 points 3. Short: 6’11”/2.11m – 906 points |
| Men’s 400M | Decathlon | 9. Short: 50.83 – 777 points 12. Duckworth: 51.21 – 760 points |
| Field Events | ||
| Women’s Hammer | Final | 1. Beckie Famurewa: 210’1”/64.05m – 10 pts Foul – Brandi Walker |
| Men’s Hammer | Final | 13. David Cline: 199’5”/60.79m 14. Logan Bryer: 198’7”/60.52m |
Running Events
| RUNNING EVENT | HEAT | UK Entry |
| Women’s 800M | Prelim | 2. Ariah Graham: 2:05.52Q |
| Women’s 200M | Prelim | 2. Destiny Carter: 22.41w q (+2.6) 8. Kianna Gray: 22.90q (+1.6) 11. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: 22.93 (+1.9) – PR – 18. Precious Hitchcock: 23.35 (+1.5) –PR- 19. Donatella Asemota: 23.51 (+1.5) –PR— |
| Men’s 200M | Prelim | 27. Ini-Oluwa Oye: 21.22w (+3.4) |
| Women’s 400M Hurdles | Prelim | 2. Kiah Seymour: 56.35Q 11. Daje Pugh: 57.85 – PR – |
| Men’s 10,000M | Final | 1. Jacob Thomson: 29:47.89 |
by Jake Most
