Track and field: Sha’Keela Saunders sets personal best in triple jump

Kentucky’s women, ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll for track and field, picked up three first-place finishes in the Kentucky Invitational on Saturday at Nutter Field House in Lexington.

Sophomore Katy Kunc won the mile in 4:56, freshman Kianna Gray took the 200-meter dash in 23.86, and junior Sha’Keela Saunders prevailed in the triple jump (13.20 meters).

Saunders’ triple jump was a personal best, and it ranks second in the nation this year. The jump was 4 inches better than her previous best.

Sophomore Jacklyn Howell started the day with a second-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.36 seconds. Teammate Destiny Carter, a junior, followed with a second-place finish in the 60-meter dash.

On the men’s side, Nick Anderson won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.92 seconds, and Jacob Thompson was second in the mile in 4:09. At 800 meters, the UK duo of Lou Styles and Shane Dillon finished second and third, respectively. Fred Dorsey took second in triple jump with 14.36-meter effort.

The meet got started on Friday night with a UK sweep in the distance medley relay. On the women’s side, the team of Michelle McKinney, Ariah Grahm, Precious Hitchcock and Caroline McCaslin edged Central Florida with a time of 11:32.35.

For the men, Dillon, Styles, Gabe Harm and Ian Jones ran a 9:57.85 to defeat Ohio State by two seconds.

Next up for the Cats is the Rod McCravy Memorial next weekend at Nutter Field House.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Track and field: Sha’Keela Saunders sets personal best in triple jump."