Current, former Kentucky Wildcats set to compete at USA Track & Field Championships

The USA Track & Field Championships start today in Eugene, Oregon, and Kentucky Blue definitely got in. Seven current athletes, nine former Cats, and a volunteer assistant coach will be in action at Hayward Field this weekend. The top three finishers in each event will qualify to compete for Team USA at the World Athletics Championships July 15-24.

Here’s the list of current and former Cats participating. Sydney McLaughlin, Keni Harrison, and Abby Steiner are the obvious stars.

Men

• Keaton Daniel – pole vault 
• Brian Faust – 400m 
• Josh Sobota – shot put 
• Christian Coleman (UK volunteer coach, UT alum) – 100m, 200m 
• Daniel Roberts (UK Class of 2019) – 110m hurdles 

Women

• Jade Gates – hammer throw 
• Alexis Holmes – 400m 
• Masai Russell – 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles 
• Abby Steiner – 200m 
• Chloe Abbott (UKTF 2018-2020) – 400m  
• Celera Barnes (UK Class of 2021) – 100m  
• Dezerea Bryant (UK Class of 2015) – 100m, 200m 
• Olivia Gruver (UKTF 2015-2018) – pole vault 
• Keni Harrison (UK Class of 2015) – 100m hurdles 
• Sydney McLaughlin (UKTF 2017-2018) – 400m hurdles 
• Javianne Oliver (UK Class of 2017) – 100m  
• Sha’Keela Saunders (UK Class of 2017) – long jump 

The meet begins on Thursday at 7:50 PM ET for the Wildcats with the 400m hurdles first round and concludes Sunday with the men’s 110m hurdles final at 5:54 PM. It will be streamed live on USATF.tv each day. On Friday, the meet will also air on CNBC from 10 PM to midnight ET, on NBC from 4 PM to 6 PM ET on Saturday, on NBC from 4 PM to 5 PM ET, and on USA from 5 PM to 6 PM ET on Sunday.

UK at the USATF Championships schedule

All times are in eastern standard time. Competitors are in pacific daylight time. 

Thursday

Events	Time	Round	UK entry
Women’s 400m Hurdles	7:50 p.m. ET	1st Round	Sydney McLaughlin, Masai Russell
Women’s Hammer Throw	8 p.m.	Final	Jade Gates
Women’s Long Jump	8:15 p.m.	Final	Sha’Keela Saunders
Women’s 100m	8:15 p.m.	1st Round	Javianne Oliver, Dezerea Bryant, Celera Barnes
Men’s 100m	8:40 p.m.	1st Round	Christian Coleman
Women’s 400m	10:26 p.m.	1st Round	Alexis Holmes, Chloe Abbott
Men’s 400m	10:52 p.m.	1st Round	Brian Faust

Friday

Events	Time	Round	Status
Women’s 100m Hurdles	8:10 p.m.	1st Round	Masai Russell, Keni Harrison
Women’s 100m	8:35 p.m.	Semis	Javianne Oliver, Dezerea Bryant, Celera Barnes
Men’s 100m	8:50 p.m.	Semis	Christian Coleman
Women’s Pole Vault	8:55 p.m.	Final	Olivia Gruver
Men’s Shot Put	9:42 p.m.	Final	Josh Sobota
Women’s 400m Hurdles	10:04 p.m.	Semis	Masai Russell, Sydney McLaughlin
Women’s 100m	10:21 p.m.	Final	Javianne Oliver, Dezerea Bryant, Celera Barnes
Men’s 100m	10:30 p.m.	Final	Christian Coleman
Women’s 400m	11:25 p.m.	Semis	Alexis Holmes, Chloe Abbott
Men’s 400m	11:46 p.m.	Semis	Brian Faust

Saturday

Events	Time	Round	Status
Men’s 200m	2:45 p.m.	1st Round	Christian Coleman
Men’s Pole Vault	3 p.m.	Final	Keaton Daniel
Women’s 200m	3:10 p.m.	1st Round	Abby Steiner, Dezerea Bryant
Men’s 110m Hurdles	3:35 p.m.	1st Round	Daniel Roberts
Women’s 100m Hurdles	4:04 p.m.	Semis	Masai Russell, Keni Harrison
Women’s 400m	5:21 p.m.	Final	Alexis Holmes, Chloe Abbott
Men’s 400m	5:31 p.m.	Final	Brian Faust
Women’s 100m Hurdles	5:41 p.m.	Final	Masai Russell, Keni Harrison
Women’s 400m Hurdles	5:51 p.m.	Final	Masai Russell, Sydney McLaughlin

Sunday

Sunday Events	Time	Round	Status
Men’s 200m	3:30 p.m.	Semis	Christian Coleman
Women’s 200m	3:46 p.m.	Semis	Abby Steiner, Dezerea Bryant
Men’s 110m Hurdles	4:04 p.m.	Semis	Daniel Roberts
Men’s 200m	5:38 p.m.	Final	Christian Coleman
Women’s 200m	5:46 p.m.	Final	Abby Steiner, Dezerea Bryant
Men’s 110m Hurdles	5:54 p.m.	Final	Daniel Roberts

More Wildcats competing internationally

Abroad, even more Wildcats will compete for spots at Worlds in their respective countries. Current UKTF student-athletes Megan Moss (400m) and Dwight St. Hillaire (200m, 400m) will compete at the Bahamas National Championships and Trinidad & Tobago National Championships this weekend, respectively. Volunteer assistant coach Devynne Charlton will also compete in the Bahamas National Championships.

Abby Steiner ready to carry momentum from NCAA Championships

Abby Steiner had to miss last year’s Olympic Trials due to an Achilles injury. This year, she’s determined to carry the momentum from a record-setting performance at the NCAA Championships back to Eugene to advance to Worlds.

“We are heading to USA Championships,” Steiner said last week. “We’ll leave for that on Monday. So, really just kind of having that in mind and looking to make my first World meet. In order to do that, I will need to place in the top three in that meet. I’m running the 200m there. That’s the main focus right now and seeing what happens there and hopefully competing at Worlds in a few weeks.”

Steiner set the collegiate record, 21.80 seconds, in the 200m on the same track at the NCAA Championships earlier this month. That’s a full second faster than the qualifying standard time of 22.80 and the fastest time of any runner in the world this year. In the past week, she won the Honda Sport Award for track and field and was named National Women’s Track of the Year Athlete of the Year (indoor and outdoor seasons) and a semifinalist for the Bowerman Award. The finalists for the Bowerman Award will be announced on Monday, June 27. In her press conference last week, Steiner lit up when asked about it.

“Oh my gosh. I would love to go and at least be a top-three finalist and go to that ceremony. I think that’s something that every person who runs track dreams about. That would be amazing, just to be there and hopefully bring all the people that have helped me along the way to celebrate that. I would love to go.”

Secure a spot in Worlds on Sunday and be named a Bowerman Finalist on Monday. Sounds like a great plan.