Kyle Wiltjer's trip to China is off to a good start.

The rising junior UK forward is playing for the Canadian Development Men's National Team this week in the Four Nations' International Invitational Tournament and the Canadians secured a pair of wins over the weekend. Team Canada took down host nation China on Saturday before facing the United States on Sunday. Canada built a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but Team USA rallied to tie the game at 73 in the final minute.

Enter Wiltjer.

He was fouled with five seconds left and drilled a pair of free throws to give the Canadians an exhibition win over their across-the-border rivals. Wiltjer had a team-high 17 points in the victory.

"It was a great team effort tonight," Wiltjer said. "For me, it is always fun to play against the USA since I live there. The guards did a good job of making good passes down the stretch and finding me when I was open. We got some good calls down the stretch which also helped."

Team Canada moved to 3-0 on Monday by defeating Latvia.

After a travel day on Tuesday, Team Canada will finish off the tournament with three games in three days beginning on Wednesday including a Thursday rematch with Team USA. During the exhibition tournament, Wiltjer is making his case to be included on the 12-man roster Team Canada will bring to the World University Games (July 6-17 in Kazan, Russia).

Before then, Wiltjer is enjoying his trip to China. He is regularly posting updates on Twitter, Instagram and Vine, so make sure you are following him. He might just run into another former Kentucky star.

Within hours of landing in Ethiopia, Avery Williamson began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

After a 13-hour flight, Williamson and his two UK teammates landed in Bole Bulbula, a village in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city. They stepped off the plane, immediately distributing water filters to residents without clean water.

Williamson was excited about the athletic department-sponsored service trip before he left, but amid wholly unfamiliar surroundings, anxiety began to set in. By the end of his week in Ethiopia, however, it disappeared.

"The first day I got there I was really homesick, honestly," Williamson said. "I was ready to come back. But after being over there for a week, I wasn't ready to come back home."

In spite of some initial nervousness, Williamson embraced everything the trip had to offer. He allowed his perception of poverty to change when he saw the conditions in the leper colony of Korah. He didn't try to avoid seeing children as young as five years old begged for spare change or food.

"I was really surprised but the living conditions and stuff," Williamson said. "You see it on TV but until you really see it in person it starts to hit you. You start thinking about it and like, 'I could not live like this.' That is how those people live out their lives and they are accustomed to it."

By the time it was all over, he wasn't thinking about sleeping in his warm bed, changing into clean clothes or raiding a stocked refrigerator. Instead, he was trying to figure out how he could do more. Williamson, Jonathan George and Kevin Mitchell spent much of the flight home to the United States thinking about finding their way back to the country that had so deeply affected them.

"I was really glad to go over there and be able to help," George said. "In the future, I would really like to go back and do some more stuff for the people in Ethiopia."

But before they can make a return trip, Williamson, George and Mitchell have to resume their normal lives as Kentucky football players.

All three will be seniors on new head coach Mark Stoops' first UK team. Summer workouts are already underway and they are all expected to play important leadership roles in 2013. That, in fact, is a major reason why their coaches tabbed them to make the trip.

"It is more people that are working hard and being leaders on the team that get selected," Williamson said. "I thought it was a big honor for me to get chosen because there have been some great guys that have went on this trip in the past and I was very humbled by it."

Danny Trevathan and Stuart Hines went on the inaugural trip in 2011 and Mikie Benton, Matt Smith and Larry Warford followed last May. All five brought their changed perspectives home and used them to help guide their teammates. Williamson, George and Mitchell will now look to do the same.

Though his thoughts won't be far from the people with whom he built relationships in Ethiopia, George believes an increased awareness of how blessed he and his teammates are to have so many opportunities will make them even hungrier to capitalize.

"One of the things I took from this trip was being thankful and being appreciative for the things I do have," George said. "I've always felt that way about things being appreciative of what you have because there is always somebody that has it worse, but I feel like this opened up my eyes even more to that topic because some of the things I saw and experienced it was real rough to see people going through those types of things."

On Thursday, Avery Williamson, Kevin Mitchell and Jonathan George - the three Kentucky football players who made a service trip to Ethiopia in late May - spoke to the media about the week they spent in the East African nation. See what they had to say in the video below.


I'll have a story a little later this afternoon about the trio hoping to return to Ethiopia soon to continue their service. Before then, here are links to the three travel logs we posted with Williamson, Mitchell and George in case you missed them.

Mitchell embracing experience
George, Cats visit local prisons
Williamson thinking about the people as trip ends

With the summer session about to begin, freshmen from numerous UK teams are beginning to arrive on campus for the first time. Included among them is football's highly touted incoming class. Take a look at this video from their move-in.

Over the last five years, distance runner Luis Orta has been a mainstay for the Kentucky track and field team. Orta, a senior, will compete in his final event this week for the Wildcats with a chance to leave one final mark.

Orta is going to do everything in his power to advance to the finals and go out with a bang this week. No matter what, he knows he has laid everything on the line every day and has given his best effort day in and day out. He couldn't ask for anything more.

"Whatever happens if I make it to the final or break the school record again or not I will be very pleased with my college career," Orta said. "It's been five beautiful years. I've met awesome people and have had incredible experiences here. I wouldn't choose another school if I could go back, UK has been awesome to me and I'm happy with whatever happens this weekend."

Kentucky travels to Eugene, Ore., this week to compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. UK, which had just three athletes compete in last season's nationals, will send 10 this year, including Orta.

The Caracas, Venezuela native will race in a 3,000-meter steeplechase semifinal on Wednesday at 9:45 p.m. ET. The semifinals consist of two 12-person races with the top-five finishers from each advancing to the final, along with the next four fastest times. The 14-athlete final will take place on Friday at 8:40 p.m.

Orta qualified for nationals by breaking the school record in the steeplechase at the NCAA East Preliminary Championship. He crossed the finish line with a time of 8:42.22, good enough for seventh place in the event and an automatic bid to Eugene.

With the days dwindling in his illustrious UK career, Orta is after that record once more.

"I want to try to break the record again and try to run under 8:40 and make it to the final," Orta said. "If I am able to do that then hopefully I can run in the low 8:30s in the final."

In his first season at UK, Orta broke the freshman school record in the steeplechase at the Southeastern Conference Championships with a time of 8:52.39. After finally reaching his goal at regionals by surpassing the overall school record, he had assistant coach Hakon DeVries go over and double-check the final result following the race to ensure the time was correct. From there, Orta has turned to Jason Dunn - the coach with whom he's primarily worked all season - to help him make a run at breaking the record again.

Orta has been a strong distance runner for UK in several events, but the steeplechase is his best. He finished second at SECs as a freshman, sophomore and junior and has qualified for nationals for the second consecutive year.

He finished 22nd at nationals last year, falling short of the finals. Orta will be the first to say he didn't have a good race last season. He was nervous and just wasn't comfortable during the event - something any coach will tell you is very common amongst first-time competitors at nationals. This week could prove to be different as the new coaches have implemented different training methods and, having already competed in one national competition, he thinks he will be more at ease when he steps up to the starting line.

"The training has been so much different," Orta said. "We are actually training for the steeplechase whereas last year was more of a middle-distance type of training. I've been hurdling a lot and working on my mobility and doing a lot of workouts in hurdles and over the water jumps which is important. I think I'm more comfortable when I'm racing which helps a lot."

With 10 athletes making the trip northwest, Kentucky has improved immensely from last season. With so many teammates with him on the trip, Orta hopes to draw inspiration from his fellow Wildcats.

"If they do good I feel like I have to do something good," Orta said. "I don't want to go home and feel like I didn't do as good as them. It definitely helps to see my teammates do well because it helps me get focused for the race."

In just one year, head coach Edrick Floreal has helped UK's track and field program make remarkable strides. Not only are the Cats sending additional athletes to nationals this year, but the team showed progress with its finish at the SEC meet. The men and women each finished seventh at the conference championships, jumping several spots from last season's performance.

There is no doubt in Orta's mind that Floreal is taking the program in the right direction and UK will be among the elite in the coming years. Even though he will no longer be competing as a collegian as the program develops, Orta has played a role in building a foundation that will allow that to happen.

"With Coach Floreal, it's different. He wants to move this program forward and he's working for it right now," Orta said. "I'm sure it's going to get better and better and in four years from now or even less than that. We are definitely going to be a top-five program in the nation. No doubt in my mind it's going to improve a lot."

Orta is currently working on a master's degree in sports leadership. After one more year of school, he would like to stay involved in sports once he's done running for UK and wants to work in the administrative side of sports.

However, he will not give up on his true love of running. Orta will continue training and hopes to try to make it to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 Olympics, while also competing in marathons along the way.

He attributes much of his success to his time at UK and says he would not be the man he is today had he not attended school at Kentucky.

"I think this has prepared me for life because it shows you that if you work hard for something then you are eventually going to get it if you really want something and you work really hard for it," Orta said. "It teaches you that life is not easy and there are going to be people that are faster than you and there is nothing you can do about it, but keep trying and keep going. It's going to be hard to train, going to school and working but life is hard you have to man up and do it."

Last season, three UK student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. This year, 10 are in Eugene, Ore., to participate in college track and field's top event.

How's that for improvement under first-year head coach Edrick Floreal?

The meet lasts from Wednesday until Saturday and four Wildcats - Bradley Szypka, Chelsea Oswald, Keilah Tyson and Luis Orta - will compete today. Pac-12.com will broadcast all of Wednesday's events from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, while ESPN3.com and ESPNU will show much of the competition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For complete broadcast information and a meet schedule, check out the release on UKathletics.com.

Cory Weigel will have a story on Orta's final collegiate meet later, but in the meantime here are a few links to stories written this week about UK track and field's trip northwest.

UK track and field program on the rise after Floreal's first season as head coach (Jon Hale, KyForward.com)

Six men -- Andrew Evans (discus), Raymond Dykstra (javelin), Bradley Szypka (shot put), Luis Orta (3,000-meter steeplechase), Matt Hillenbrand (1,500 meters) and Keith Hayes (110-meter hurdles) -- will participate in the NCAA Championships for UK this week. They will be joined by UK women Chelsea Oswald (5,000 meters and 10,000 meters), Rebecca Famurewa (discus), Keilah Tyson (100 meters) and Kayla Parker (100-meter hurdles).

One year after sending just three athletes to the NCAA National Championships, UK team members credit the new coaching staff for much of the improvement.

"It's completely different," Orta said. "Now it's all about winning, performing well, doing good, running fast, running more. You can see the change now. We're all doing way better than last year. We're doing more miles, we're working harder, we're training twice a day and stuff like that, things that we were not doing last year."

Chelsea Oswald aiming high again at NCAA track meet (Leigh Dannhauser, Lexington Herald-Leader)

This week marks Oswald's first time at the outdoor national meet but she is not new to the national stage. She is a three-time All-American in cross country and indoor track and field.

Both she and Floreal have said that the goal is for her to finish in the top eight in both of her events. But Oswald has set her goals even higher.

"I'm hoping I can get a qualifying time for (the USA National Championships)," Oswald said. She does not think that her current times are fast enough to gain entry into the meet in either event.

10 Kentucky Wildcats heading to NCAA track championship (Kyle Tucker, Louisville Courier-Journal)

Still, in Year One under Floreal, the Wildcats have doubled their number of NCAA-qualifying men (six) and gone from no female qualifiers to four, including junior Chelsea Oswald, who won the Southeastern Conference 10,000 meters in league-record time. She qualified for nationals in that and the 5,000 and is ranked top 16 among the 24 qualifiers in both events.

UK has top-16 athletes in seven events: Rebecca Famurewa (No. 3 in women's discus), Andrew Evans (No. 5 in men's discus), Oswald (No. 10 in 5,000, No. 16 in 10,000), Raymond Dykstra (No. 12 in men's javelin), Keith Hayes (No. 13 in men's 100 hurdles) and Luis Orta (No. 14 in men's steeplechase). At the NCAA Championships, the top eight finishers in each event are first-team All-Americans, and the next eight earn second-team honors.

"With the new coaches, everything is different now," Orta said. "Now we're there to win, to get All-American, to make it to the finals. ... You can see the change now. We're all doing way better than last year. We're doing more miles, we're working harder, we're training twice a day, things we were not doing last year."

Photo gallery: Cats train in Eugene

Former University of Kentucky men's golfer, Russ Cochran won his fourth Champions Tour event on Sunday after clipping Jay Don Blake by one shot at the Principal Charity Classic on Sunday. Cochran finished the 54-hole tournament at 11-under-par, 205 after firing back-to-back 5-under-par, 67s in the final two rounds. The tournament was played at the Wokonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa.

Cochran lost the lead after missing a 4-foot par putt on the 16th hole but regained first after Blake bogeyed the 17th. The two parred the final hole to give Cochran the victory.

"I feel for Jay Don," Cochran said in a televised interview. "He's a great player and I feel like I dodged a bullet."

Cochran, a southpaw from Paducah, Ky., was a two-time first team All-Southeastern Conference selection (1978 and 1979) at UK. Cochran turned pro in 1979 before joining the Professional Golf Association in 1982. He became the first lefty to win at the Charity Classic.

Kyle Wiltjer will be following in his father's footsteps this summer.

The soon-to-be-junior is currently attending training camp in hopes of making the Canadian Development Men's National Team. He and 15 fellow collegians are currently in Portland, Ore. - Wiltjer's hometown - as Canada prepares for World University Games (July 6 to 17 in Kazan, Russia). Among those also participating are Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga), Melvin Ejim (Iowa State) and Brady Heslip (Baylor).

Wiltjer, even though he was raised in America, is able to compete internationally for Canada because his father, Greg, is a native of the country. The elder Wiltjer played for the Canadian national team in multiple events, including the 1984 Olympics. Participating in training camp, an exhibition series in China and the World University Games - if he makes the cut - could provide Wiltjer quite the springboard as he looks to assume a leadership role on UK's 2013-14 team.

While Wiltjer trains for international competition, his UK teammates will be on campus for an eight-week summer session beginning early this month. Many of them were eligible for the Under-19 United States team, but opted to come to Lexington instead. Check out this story from Mike DeCourcy to read why.