UK Track & Field’s Saunders & Famurewa Score 10 on NCAA Day One

Sha’Keela Saunders claimed her third NCAA Long Jump Silver Medal and Rebecca Famurewa finished seventh in the weight throw as Kentucky’s captains combined to score 10 points on Friday at the NCAA Championships.
Saunders jostled up and down for position around the middle of the scoring places with jumps of 20 feet and 21 feet and change through the first five rounds. She moved into second with her final jump, a mark measured at 21’6.25″/6.56 meters.
She claimed the NCAA Silver Medal for the third time, and second year in a row indoors.
Famurewa put UK on the board with a seventh-place finish in the weight throw. Her mark was 68’5.75″/20.87m.
Kentucky is in fifth place after day one. Georgia leads on 27 points, Arkansas is second on 19, Notre Dame has 18 and Michigan has 13 – good for fourth place.
Javianne Oliver ran a personal best time by .06 seconds to advance as a time qualifier to Saturday’s 5:55 p.m. ET final. She placed fifth in the lighting-fast second heat with a time of 7.20. All four of the time qualifiers were in heat two.
Tim Duckworth in in 15th place after four events in the men’s heptathlon with 2397 points.
UK’s women’s 4x400m relay of Jasmine Mitchell, Kiah Seymour, Destiny Carter and Ariah Graham, which ran 3:31.50 – the second fastest time in school history during a Bronze Medal Performance at the SEC Championships – will conclude the meet as the No. 6 seed.
ESPN3 will stream the meet starting at 4:55 p.m. A re-air of the championship will take place on Sunday, March 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and Wednesday, March 23 at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.
How the NCAA Championships work
The top-16 athletes and top-12 relay teams that declared for the Championships in their particular events, based on performances recorded this season, qualified for the Championships.
Athletes earn points for their teams at the NCAA Championships based on top-8 finishes on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
UK at NCAA Indoors Recent history
Last season the Kentucky women’s team finished in fifth place with 35 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The placement and points were school-records.
The UK men’s team finished 38th on five points in 2015.
Last year Kentucky qualified 11 entries from the women’s team and two from the men’s team.
Saturday Schedule
1 p.m. – till – Hept – Tim Duckworth
6:55 p.m. – Women’s 60m – Javianne Oliver
7 p.m. – Women’s TJ – Sha’Keela Saunders
7:55 p.m. – Women’s 4x400m Relay — Kentucky
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The most up-to-date coverage of the UK track and field program is available via @KentuckyTrack handles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
by Jake Most