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UK track and field men throw themselves into third at NCAAs

LOUISVILLE — Discus throwers Rashaud Scott and Chase Madison punctuated a grand weekend for Kentucky's 20th-ranked track and field men, placing 1-3 Saturday in the NCAA Mideast Regional at Cardinal Park. That earned 16 points for the Wildcats, who finished third in the team standings with 46 points.

No. 6 Arkansas won with 90 points, followed by No. 8 Louisiana State with 83. UK finished a point ahead of 10th-ranked Auburn. Louisville, led by steeplechase champion Corey Thorne, placed ninth with 33. Western Kentucky was 11th with 22, and Eastern Kentucky 36th with 2.

LSU's third-ranked women's team won with 851/2 points, followed by No. 7 Tennessee with 69 and No. 10 Michigan with 48. Louisville placed eighth with 29, UK 19th with 14 and Western Kentucky 26th with 9.

After winning Friday's shot put, Scott reached a meet- and stadium-record 216 feet, 2 inches in the discus. That also breaks the UK record of 214-5, set in 1985 by two-time Olympian Mike Buncic. At the time, Buncic's mark was a collegiate record.

Greg Pilling of Central Michigan threw 197-2, two feet ahead of Madison.

"I'm starting to do what I do in practice, and it's starting to show," said Scott, who won region and national titles as a junior in 2008.

Scott compiled the best series of his career: 198-7, 203-7, 203-5, 206-111/2, 212-91/2 and 216-2. He says he thinks he can add "another meter or two" at the NCAA Championships, June 10-13 at Arkansas.

Madison, who has overcome multiple foot surgeries but still competes in pain, says he has "a lot" left.

"If I can manage the pain like I have been, especially today, taking the right things and doing the right things mentally, we're gonna make a run at the nationals," the senior said. "So it could be 1-2 Kentucky. You never know."

The top five individuals and the top three relays in the regional automatically go on to Fayetteville. Individuals among the regional top 12 and relays in the top eight are eligible for at-large bids.

UK qualified both men's relays. The 4-by-100 unit of Gordon McKenzie, Jose Acevedo, Kwasi Obeng and Ronel Sorrillo ran second to LSU. Obeng, Stephan Smith, Brandon Austin and Acevedo took third in the 4-by-400, behind Mississippi State and Western Kentucky.

"Considering the way we've been for most of the outdoor season, especially our sprint group — hurt and banged up as much as we have been — it's a great day," UK Coach Don Weber said. "Especially for those guys."

Acevedo competed on a bad foot. Sorrillo was running for the second time outdoors, having missed most of the season with a variety of injuries from his buttocks down to his calves, both legs.

UK led the 4-by-100 through three legs. But a sub-par handoff from Obeng to Sorrillo gave LSU's Trindon Holliday the momentum. The Tigers finished in 39.13, the Wildcats in 39.29.

"To the outside public, it looked like (Sorrillo) left Kwasi early," said Erin Tucker, UK's sprints/hurdles coach. "But he finally got out, which he hadn't been doing in practice. ... He finally accelerated through the zone, and that's why it looked like a little bit of a stretch. That's something we can work on. We can fix that and we can go faster."

Sorrillo also placed third in his Olympic event, the 200. Western's Gavin Smellie won that event in 20.45.

"Better than SEC, but it still hurts," Sorrillo said of his aches. "It hurts, but I'm back."

Smellie also led off the Hilltoppers' runner-up 4-by-400 relay and anchored the eighth-place 4-by-100.

"I just wanted to come in here, try to get a win to go to nationals," Smellie said of the 200. "I said to myself going in, 'Just get a smooth run.' "

U of L's Thorne, the Big East champ,outkicked Eastern Michigan's Josh Karanja by 22 hundredths of a second, setting a Cardinal Park record of 8:36.98 in the steeple.

A senior from Portsmouth, N.H., Thorne said he was ready for a last-lap sprint.

"It's going to be just like that at nationals. Whether it goes fast or slow, it's going to come down to who has the best kick," Thorne said. "So coming out here, it's kind of like a trial."

The U of L women had two automatic qualifiers.

Tarah McKay finished fourth at 1,500 meters. Jeré Summers took second in the shot put.

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