Kentucky Track and Field wraps up NCAA Outdoor Championships

The Kentucky Track and Field program had quite a weekend at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Several Wildcats won medals while one broke a collegiate record.

Women’s team finishes big

The women’s team finished in third place with 50 points thanks to a record-breaking individual title for senior star Abby Steiner and a win in the 4x400m relay. Last year, the team won just 13 points and finished in 21st place.

Steiner won the 200m title in a collegiate-record 21.80 seconds. The previous record (21.96) was set by LSU Tiger Favour Ofili, who finished right on Steiner’s heels during Saturday’s event. Ofili beat Steiner last month at the SEC Championships.

COLLEGIATE RECORD @abbysteiner1 wins the @NCAATrackField 200m 🥇 in 21.80 (+1.3)!#SteinerSpeed x #UKTF x #BBN 😼💙
📺 @espn https://t.co/rxCE17UQzI pic.twitter.com/Gufln0Q8u2

— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) June 11, 2022

Steiner also helped the ‘Cats bring home the 4x400m relay. She, along with Karimah Davis, Dajour Miles and Alexis Holmes won the event with a time of 3:22:55. Steiner made up a sizable deficit in her third leg of the race, coming in at 48.92 before passing the baton to Holmes. Holmes put up a strong final leg for the ‘Cats, pushing them to victory. It was their first victory in the event in program history.

The @KentuckyTrack team finished things off with a BANG
winning the 4×400 with a time of 3:22.55 ‼️#NCAATF pic.twitter.com/mJLxr6RZpU

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 11, 2022

Following the victory, Kentucky head coach Lonnie Greene said that the 4×400 win was particularly special to him. “That’s one of the individual events I’ve been chasing for 30 years,” Greene said. “That was a heck of a feeling as a coach.”

The women’s 4x100m relay will bring home some hardware, too. Steiner, Davis, Shadajah Ballard and Masai Russel claimed the silver in that event with a time of 42.55. Massai Russel also earned an individual bronze medal in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.81.

Alexis Holmes put up a valiant fight in the 400m. She held the lead at the final turn, but ended in fourth place. Regardless, she still posted a personal best of 50.71 — good enough to put her at No. 2 on the UK all-time list. She now sits behind only someone by the name of Sydney McLaughlin. Not bad company, right?

Men’s team can’t find same success

The Kentucky men’s team, unfortunately, did not fair as well. They earned just nine points on the weekend, finishing in a three-way tie for 36th place. The 4x400m relay team of Dwight St. Hillaire, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner and Brian Faust finished sixth to earn three points. Keaton Daniel racked up six with a third-place finish in pole vaulting.

Daniel is a two-time defending outdoor champion. He scored a season-best 18’6.5″/5.65 to earn the bronze medal.

The men’s team finished in a tie for 15th place last season — one of their best showings in recent memory.