An aerial view of the demolition process of UK's old track facility. The new track facility, which will begin construction at the end of the demolition process, is expected to be completed by next spring. (photo courtesy of Aerial Innovations)
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An aerial view of the demolition process of UK's old track facility. The new track facility, which will begin construction at the end of the demolition process, is expected to be completed by next spring. (photo courtesy of Aerial Innovations)
Softball
- Kentucky has clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament for a school-record third consecutive
season.
- UK had all five of its SEC games canceled last week due to weather-related incidents.
- The Blue and White wrap up regular-season action with a three-game series at home against Auburn. On Sunday, UK will host Senior Day for Meagan Aull, Samantha DeMartine, Annie Rowlands and Megan Yocke.
Baseball
- The baseball team completed a four-game week, highlighted by a sweep-clinching win over rival Louisville, before falling in a series sweep at six-time NCAA Champion LSU.
- Kentucky posted a 7-1 win over Louisville on Tuesday, clinching a series sweep over the
Cardinals, the first sweep in the series since UK won two in 2006.
- UK fell 9-5 Thursday night as LSU plated eight runs in the eighth inning to erase a 5-1
UK lead and post the series-opening win. UK junior Alex Meyer turned in another dominating
outing, striking out 10 and allowing only four hits, with two hits going as infield hits. On Saturday, LSU used big innings to secure a 12-4 series-clinching win. In the series finale, LSU got a three-run inning in the first and rode a strong pitching outing from Ben Alsup and
closer Matty Ott to a 8-4 win. Senior Neiko Johnson had the best weekend of his injury-shortened year, collecting four hits in five at-bats, including three doubles and four RBI.
- Kentucky has been led offensively by junior Chad Wright, who has hit .331 with 11 doubles,
two triples, four homers and 29 RBI. Senior shortstop Taylor Black has added a .324
average with 13 doubles, two homers and 31 RBI, while third sacker Thomas McCarthy has
added a .311 average with an SEC-leading 16 doubles, four homers and 23 RBI.
- On the mound, Meyer (4-5, 3.32 ERA) has established himself as one of the top starting
pitchers in college baseball, making 11 starts on the weekends and tossing seven quality outings and three complete games. He leads the SEC with 91 strikeouts in 78.2 innings, allowing only 11 extra-base hits in his 61 hits allowed.
Men's tennis
- Four men's tennis players were named All-SEC performers, setting a new school record for honors in a season.
- Junior Eric Quigley was named to the first team, while senior Alberto Gonzalez and junior
Alex Musialek were named to the second team. Freshman Tom Jomby was named to the freshman team.
- The first-team honor is the second consecutive for Quigley, while Musialek has been named
second team in back-to-back seasons. The All-SEC honor is the first for Gonzalez.
Track and field
- Senior Keenan Hall captured the Kentucky school record in the triple jump with an event-winning leap of 15.72m/51-07.00, surpassing current teammate David Banks who set the previous school record of 51-05.50 in Columbus, Ohio, last season.
- Junior Keith Hayes finished second at the Drake Relays with a career-best time of 13.76
in the 110m hurdles, shooting him to second in the SEC and on UK's all-time list.
- Senior Sharif Webb collected the top spot among his collegiate competitors in the 800m
run with a time of 1:48.48. The senior was the only collegiate athlete to run in the final, finishing sixth.
- Six underclassmen recorded personal bests Sunday at the Payton Jordan Invitational, including sophomore Cally Macumber who moved up to No. 4 on UK's all-time 5,000m
run list with at time of 16:19.13.
Women's golf
- The women's golf team will begin play Thursday in Daytona Beach, Fla., in the East
Regional of the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
- The Cats will field junior Ashlee Rose, sophomores Ashleigh Albrecht, Betsie Johnson and
Heather Lott, and freshman Liz Breed.
- Albrecht enters the East regional with the lowest scoring average on the team (75.40).
Upcoming schedule
Thursday, May 5
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Friday, May 6
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 6:30 p.m.
Softball hosts Auburn - 7 p.m.
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Track and field at Billy Hayes Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
Saturday, May 7
Softball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 6:30 p.m.
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Sunday, May 8
Softball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 1 p.m.
- Kentucky has clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament for a school-record third consecutive
season.
- UK had all five of its SEC games canceled last week due to weather-related incidents.
- The Blue and White wrap up regular-season action with a three-game series at home against Auburn. On Sunday, UK will host Senior Day for Meagan Aull, Samantha DeMartine, Annie Rowlands and Megan Yocke.
Baseball
- The baseball team completed a four-game week, highlighted by a sweep-clinching win over rival Louisville, before falling in a series sweep at six-time NCAA Champion LSU.
- Kentucky posted a 7-1 win over Louisville on Tuesday, clinching a series sweep over the
Cardinals, the first sweep in the series since UK won two in 2006.
- UK fell 9-5 Thursday night as LSU plated eight runs in the eighth inning to erase a 5-1
UK lead and post the series-opening win. UK junior Alex Meyer turned in another dominating
outing, striking out 10 and allowing only four hits, with two hits going as infield hits. On Saturday, LSU used big innings to secure a 12-4 series-clinching win. In the series finale, LSU got a three-run inning in the first and rode a strong pitching outing from Ben Alsup and
closer Matty Ott to a 8-4 win. Senior Neiko Johnson had the best weekend of his injury-shortened year, collecting four hits in five at-bats, including three doubles and four RBI.
- Kentucky has been led offensively by junior Chad Wright, who has hit .331 with 11 doubles,
two triples, four homers and 29 RBI. Senior shortstop Taylor Black has added a .324
average with 13 doubles, two homers and 31 RBI, while third sacker Thomas McCarthy has
added a .311 average with an SEC-leading 16 doubles, four homers and 23 RBI.
- On the mound, Meyer (4-5, 3.32 ERA) has established himself as one of the top starting
pitchers in college baseball, making 11 starts on the weekends and tossing seven quality outings and three complete games. He leads the SEC with 91 strikeouts in 78.2 innings, allowing only 11 extra-base hits in his 61 hits allowed.
Men's tennis
- Four men's tennis players were named All-SEC performers, setting a new school record for honors in a season.
- Junior Eric Quigley was named to the first team, while senior Alberto Gonzalez and junior
Alex Musialek were named to the second team. Freshman Tom Jomby was named to the freshman team.
- The first-team honor is the second consecutive for Quigley, while Musialek has been named
second team in back-to-back seasons. The All-SEC honor is the first for Gonzalez.
Track and field
- Senior Keenan Hall captured the Kentucky school record in the triple jump with an event-winning leap of 15.72m/51-07.00, surpassing current teammate David Banks who set the previous school record of 51-05.50 in Columbus, Ohio, last season.
- Junior Keith Hayes finished second at the Drake Relays with a career-best time of 13.76
in the 110m hurdles, shooting him to second in the SEC and on UK's all-time list.
- Senior Sharif Webb collected the top spot among his collegiate competitors in the 800m
run with a time of 1:48.48. The senior was the only collegiate athlete to run in the final, finishing sixth.
- Six underclassmen recorded personal bests Sunday at the Payton Jordan Invitational, including sophomore Cally Macumber who moved up to No. 4 on UK's all-time 5,000m
run list with at time of 16:19.13.
Women's golf
- The women's golf team will begin play Thursday in Daytona Beach, Fla., in the East
Regional of the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
- The Cats will field junior Ashlee Rose, sophomores Ashleigh Albrecht, Betsie Johnson and
Heather Lott, and freshman Liz Breed.
- Albrecht enters the East regional with the lowest scoring average on the team (75.40).
Upcoming schedule
Thursday, May 5
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Friday, May 6
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 6:30 p.m.
Softball hosts Auburn - 7 p.m.
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Track and field at Billy Hayes Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
Saturday, May 7
Softball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 6:30 p.m.
Women's golf at NCAA Regionals (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Sunday, May 8
Softball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Baseball hosts Vanderbilt - 1 p.m.
Luis Orta doesn't remember what he was thinking a few months ago during a typical 10-mile run for the Kentucky track and field team, but there are few times when he has thought more clearly.
When Orta discarded this pair of shoes into a nearby trash can, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Track and field athletes go through shoes like napkins, but Orta didn't feel right throwing away something that still had use to it.
Feeling at fault with himself, Orta went home and talked to his roommate and teammate Josh Nadzam about the shame he was feeling. Together, they came up with an idea.
Instead of just throwing away the shoes, what if they gathered them up and shipped them to developing countries and people in need, they thought. Sure, the shoes had been worn, but they were in perfectly good shape for anything outside of a track athlete's use.
In an impromptu meeting, Orta and Nadzam turned the idea into a plan. They were going to start a shoe drive on UK's campus and donate the footwear to Soles4Souls, an organization of Nashville, Tenn., that has found new homes for more than 13 million pairs of gently used shoes within the last six years.
"As runners we go through a lot of shoes throughout the season," Nadzam said. "Every 400 miles we get a new pair to prevent injury. We realized that instead of throwing these shoes away, we could round them up and given them to people in desperate need. We then thought, 'Why stop at the track team? Let's make it campus-wide and city-wide.' "
The two went to work that day. They texted, called, emailed, "Facebooked" and "Tweeted" anyone they knew, including UK student-athletes. They also sought help from Kentucky's media relations department and got the word out through the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Kentucky Kernel.
After the first day of the drive, they had collected 100 pairs of shoes. By the 10th day, they'd amassed more than 400 pairs.
Nadzam, as the male winner of the Community Service Award at Monday night's CATSPY Awards, had a chance to plug the shoe drive on stage and has received hundreds of pairs since. As of Wednesday, they've collected more than 1,000 pairs.
"The response we have gotten is tremendous," Nadzam said. "So many people have offered to help. Many people have told me that they are doing their own small shoe drive and will bring us the shows they collect at their church, work, fraternity, sorority or other organization. It's incredible."
The two are hoping UK's student-athletes realize the impact they can have on people and how they can make a difference around the world.
"We are so thankful and appreciative of our opportunities as athletes here at UK," Nadzam said. "We want to do as much as we can to give back to those who are not as fortunate."
The shoe drive will continue through next week and conclude May 6. Those interested in donating to the drive can drop off shoes at UK's Center for Academics and Tutorial Services, which is located at the front of Memorial Coliseum.
Orta and Nadzam are so driven to collect as many shoes as they can that they've offered to come get them and pick them up. Contact Orta and Nadzam at ortaluis15@hotmail.com and jmnadz2@uky.edu to schedule a pickup time.
When Orta discarded this pair of shoes into a nearby trash can, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Track and field athletes go through shoes like napkins, but Orta didn't feel right throwing away something that still had use to it.
Feeling at fault with himself, Orta went home and talked to his roommate and teammate Josh Nadzam about the shame he was feeling. Together, they came up with an idea.
Instead of just throwing away the shoes, what if they gathered them up and shipped them to developing countries and people in need, they thought. Sure, the shoes had been worn, but they were in perfectly good shape for anything outside of a track athlete's use.
In an impromptu meeting, Orta and Nadzam turned the idea into a plan. They were going to start a shoe drive on UK's campus and donate the footwear to Soles4Souls, an organization of Nashville, Tenn., that has found new homes for more than 13 million pairs of gently used shoes within the last six years.
"As runners we go through a lot of shoes throughout the season," Nadzam said. "Every 400 miles we get a new pair to prevent injury. We realized that instead of throwing these shoes away, we could round them up and given them to people in desperate need. We then thought, 'Why stop at the track team? Let's make it campus-wide and city-wide.' "
The two went to work that day. They texted, called, emailed, "Facebooked" and "Tweeted" anyone they knew, including UK student-athletes. They also sought help from Kentucky's media relations department and got the word out through the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Kentucky Kernel.
After the first day of the drive, they had collected 100 pairs of shoes. By the 10th day, they'd amassed more than 400 pairs.
Nadzam, as the male winner of the Community Service Award at Monday night's CATSPY Awards, had a chance to plug the shoe drive on stage and has received hundreds of pairs since. As of Wednesday, they've collected more than 1,000 pairs.
"The response we have gotten is tremendous," Nadzam said. "So many people have offered to help. Many people have told me that they are doing their own small shoe drive and will bring us the shows they collect at their church, work, fraternity, sorority or other organization. It's incredible."
The two are hoping UK's student-athletes realize the impact they can have on people and how they can make a difference around the world.
"We are so thankful and appreciative of our opportunities as athletes here at UK," Nadzam said. "We want to do as much as we can to give back to those who are not as fortunate."
The shoe drive will continue through next week and conclude May 6. Those interested in donating to the drive can drop off shoes at UK's Center for Academics and Tutorial Services, which is located at the front of Memorial Coliseum.
Orta and Nadzam are so driven to collect as many shoes as they can that they've offered to come get them and pick them up. Contact Orta and Nadzam at ortaluis15@hotmail.com and jmnadz2@uky.edu to schedule a pickup time.
Before Kentucky can build its new track facility, the old one next to Cliff Hagan Stadium must be torn down. That process started Monday, which you can read about here. I stopped by Monday and snapped a few photos of the demolition process. They should give you a pretty good idea for how badly a new facility was needed.
Pictures of the demolition process
The Kentucky track and field team will head to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend for the Drake Relays. With the construction of a new outdoor track facility, head coach Don Weber is hoping the program can host a similar event on UK's home turf in the future.
After years of what Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart described as unacceptable conditions, the UK track and field team will have a new facility next year directly next to Cliff Hagan Stadium. Construction began Monday with the removal of the bleachers at the old facility.
"It's been a long time coming," Weber said. "It will be a great place for competition in terms of multiple runways, multiple high-jump pits, multiple pole-vault pits. There is seating near all the event areas. Track and field is like a three-ring circus. We've got seating at all the competition venues, so you can get up close and personal to every event that's contested on the track."
Demolition of the old facility is expected to take a couple of weeks. Once the demolition of the old track is finished, construction of the new track will commence and is expected to be completed by the start of the spring 2012 season.
The new facility will be a welcomed addition for a team that has trained in subpar conditions. In addition to an outdated and worn-down facility, the current outdoor track is incapable of hosting meets and is a negative for recruiting.
"We desperately needed one," Weber said. "We couldn't have a competition down there. Our old track, that didn't interfere with practice at all. The real problem is it wasn't much to look at, so recruiting it was an eye sore. It was certainly a detriment. I don't remember when the last time was we had a meet there."
Although the Cats haven't been hurting for recruits in Weber's 27 seasons at UK, a new facility should bolster recruiting efforts.
"More than anything, a facility is kind of an obvious demonstration in interest and commitment to that sport," Weber said. "The other thing is it's something that shiny and new and catches people's eye. They make a lot of positive judgments based on what they see."
The facility, which doesn't have an official name yet, will include a practice area, team meeting and storage building, meet administration building, stadium seating, plaza and concourse, in addition to the track, pits and throwing lanes of a typical track facility.
The only problem is, while the new facility is being built, the team will be without an outdoor home for the rest of the 2011 spring season. The Cats will practice inside Nutter Field House in the meantime, but certain events, particularly the throwing events, will practice by the UK Soccer Complex.
"It's a bit of an inconvenience but we're much better off than most places would be where you'd have nothing but the parking lot," Weber said.
The long-term hope is to host outdoor track meets, but Weber admitted that will be difficult in the initial process because of nationwide tournaments that are annually set for a certain date.
One event the team and the university would like to host in the immediate future is the Kentucky high school state championship meet, which is currently held at Louisville's Cardinal Park Track Stadium.
"The reality of it is, you spend that kind of money on a track, unless you're using it on a regular basis, you don't give yourself a chance to get a return on that," Weber said. "(Hosting) would be something that we'd be very, very interested in doing. I think we need to provide for the high schools, which in turn feeds our programs."
Weber believes the new facility, once completed, will compare favorably with some of the country's best facilities, in part because they're not trying to renovate an inferior facility. Starting from scratch, Weber said, is a good thing.
"There might be some facilities that have a slightly larger seating capacity, but in terms of put together well, I think it will be one of the best in the country and certainly one of the very best in the SEC," Weber said.
Softball
- With a 4-0 week the No. 18 Kentucky softball team eclipsed the 30-win plateau for the third consecutive season, a feat never achieved before in school history.
- Junior Rachel Riley blasted two home runs in the nightcap of a sweep of Marshall. She became the fourth different UK player to hit two long balls in a single outing. Riley also picked up the win in the circle, working 5.0 innings of relief.
- Junior Brittany Cervantes hit two home runs this week to run her season total to 13. She is now just two round trippers shy of breaking Molly Johnson's career home run record.
- Junior hurler Chanda Bell worked 8.2 innings of action over the Tennessee Tech series. She threw 19 strikeouts, including 16 in a victory during the second game to match her own single-game record in that category.
- Freshman Lauren Cumbess secured the win in the circle in the opening game of the TTU series. She then delivered a game-tying RBI single in the sixth inning to help UK force extra innings to set the stage for senior Samantha DeMartine's walk-off homer in the 10th
in the nightcap.
Men's tennis
- Kentucky completed another come-from-behind victory Saturday at No. 29 Vanderbilt, coming back to grab a 4-3 win in its regular-season finale against the Commodores in Nashville, Tenn. With the win, Kentucky clinched the No. 3 seed in the Southeastern
Conference Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. The Wildcats will receive a bye in the first round before facing either South Carolina or Auburn on Friday morning at 9 ET.
- The win moves the Wildcats to 5-1 on the road in SEC play and 8-4 overall away from home. The win moves UK to 14-7 against teams ranked in the top 50 this season. Kentucky's 8-3 record in SEC play marks the second consecutive year that UK has posted eight SEC wins. UK has also earned a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
- Kentucky posted the win over Vandy after four solid singles wins from No. 3 Eric Quigley, No. 56 Alex Musialek, No. 88 Alberto Gonzalez and No. 117 Anthony Rossi. Quigley paced the Wildcats by taking down a top-30 ranked player, while Rossi clinched the match in a three-set thriller.
Baseball
- The Kentucky baseball team completed a four-game week on Sunday, highlighted by a win at No. 28 Louisville on Tuesday night. The Wildcats traveled to Ole Miss for the weekend series, with the Rebels sweeping the series.
- UK fell in the three-game series at Ole Miss by a combined four runs, with two one-run losses and a two-run loss on Saturday.
- The Wildcats have been led offensively by senior shortstop Taylor Black, who has batted .346 with 12 doubles, two triples, one homer and 24 RBI, stealing 10 bases.
- On the mound, Alex Meyer (3-5, 3.59 ERA) leads UK in innings pitched (62.2) and strikeouts (71), tossing nine starts and two complete games.
Track and field
- Senior Keenan Hall was awarded the Tony Wilson Memorial Trophy for being the most outstanding male field athlete during the meet. Hall won the men's triple jump with a personal-best mark of 15.56-meter/51-00.7 and finished second in the long jump at
7.46m/24-05.75.
- Senior Sharif Webb won the 800m run with a time of 1:49.32, marking his second victory in two chances this season, after winning with a school-record and SEC-leading time of 1:47.19 at the Florida Relays.
- Freshman Allison Peare posted a career-best time of 2:09.64 in the 800m to take fourth, drawing closer to the freshman school record of 2:06.47, set in 1986.
- Senior Colin Boevers claimed two top-five finishes during the meet, collecting third in the discus and fourth in the shot put. Boevers, an All-America honoree in the discus throw last year, threw 53.44m/175-04 to capture the bronze. In the shot put, the senior made a long toss of 15.97m/52-04.75 to grab fourth.
- Junior Precious Nwokey rounded out her first heptathlon competition in 2011 as the second-place finisher with 5,309 points. Nwokey holds the school record in the event with a total score of 5,543.
Men's golf
- The Kentucky men's golf team finished the SEC Championships in ninth place after sophomore Chase Parker and freshman Stephen Powers each finished in
the top 20.
- Parker shot a 1-under-par 69 in the final round to end the 54-hole tournament tied for 12th, while Powers earned his second consecutive top-22 finish by ending
his first SEC Championship appearance tied for 19th.
- Kentucky concludes the 2010-11 season with four top-three finishes as a team, increasing the total number of top-three finishes under 10-year head coach Brian Craig to 35. Individually, UK players earned 14 top-20 finishes during the year, including Belden who had a
team-high five top-20 finishes.
Women's golf
- Kentucky finished 10th in the SEC Women's Golf Championships.
- Sophomore Betsie Johnson led UK with a 10-over par 226 to finish in 23rd place individually.
- Johnson found success on Auburn University Club's four par 5 holes. The Nicholasville, Ky., native was 3-under par on the par 5s.
- UK will learn if it has been invited to the NCAA Championships on a conference call on April 25 at 6 p.m. ET.
Women's tennis
- The Cats fell to No. 18 Vanderbilt 5-2 on Senior Day Saturday. Megan Broderick, Lauren Meier and Nicole Scates were recognized on Senior Day.
- Broderick won a thrilling match over No. 76 Alex Leatu in her final match at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
- Sophomore Jessica Stiles turned in the most dominating performance of her collegiate career with a straight sets 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles. Stiles' win was her 10th singles victory this season, the most on the team and her fourth conference win.
- The Cats are the No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face No. 7 seed LSU in the opening round in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 19
Softball hosts Eastern Kentucky - 4 p.m.
Baseball at Western Kentucky - 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 20
Softball hosts Louisville - 6 p.m.
Thursday, April 21
Women's tennis vs. LSU - 6 p.m. (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Friday, April 22
Men's tennis vs. South Carolina/Auburn - 9 a.m. (Gainesville, Fla.)
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 6:30 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 7 p.m.
Track and field at UCSD Triton Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.)
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Satruday, April 23
Football hosts Blue/White Spring Game - 3 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 4 p.m.
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 7 p.m.
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Men's tennis at SEC Tournament (Gainesville, Fla.)
Track and field at UCSD Triton Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.)
Track and field at Jesse Owens Invitational (Columbus, Ohio)
Sunday, April 24
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 1 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Men's tennis at SEC Tournament (Gainesville, Fla.)
Track and field at Jesse Owens Invitational (Columbus, Ohio)
- With a 4-0 week the No. 18 Kentucky softball team eclipsed the 30-win plateau for the third consecutive season, a feat never achieved before in school history.
- Junior Rachel Riley blasted two home runs in the nightcap of a sweep of Marshall. She became the fourth different UK player to hit two long balls in a single outing. Riley also picked up the win in the circle, working 5.0 innings of relief.
- Junior Brittany Cervantes hit two home runs this week to run her season total to 13. She is now just two round trippers shy of breaking Molly Johnson's career home run record.
- Junior hurler Chanda Bell worked 8.2 innings of action over the Tennessee Tech series. She threw 19 strikeouts, including 16 in a victory during the second game to match her own single-game record in that category.
- Freshman Lauren Cumbess secured the win in the circle in the opening game of the TTU series. She then delivered a game-tying RBI single in the sixth inning to help UK force extra innings to set the stage for senior Samantha DeMartine's walk-off homer in the 10th
in the nightcap.
Men's tennis
- Kentucky completed another come-from-behind victory Saturday at No. 29 Vanderbilt, coming back to grab a 4-3 win in its regular-season finale against the Commodores in Nashville, Tenn. With the win, Kentucky clinched the No. 3 seed in the Southeastern
Conference Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. The Wildcats will receive a bye in the first round before facing either South Carolina or Auburn on Friday morning at 9 ET.
- The win moves the Wildcats to 5-1 on the road in SEC play and 8-4 overall away from home. The win moves UK to 14-7 against teams ranked in the top 50 this season. Kentucky's 8-3 record in SEC play marks the second consecutive year that UK has posted eight SEC wins. UK has also earned a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
- Kentucky posted the win over Vandy after four solid singles wins from No. 3 Eric Quigley, No. 56 Alex Musialek, No. 88 Alberto Gonzalez and No. 117 Anthony Rossi. Quigley paced the Wildcats by taking down a top-30 ranked player, while Rossi clinched the match in a three-set thriller.
Baseball
- The Kentucky baseball team completed a four-game week on Sunday, highlighted by a win at No. 28 Louisville on Tuesday night. The Wildcats traveled to Ole Miss for the weekend series, with the Rebels sweeping the series.
- UK fell in the three-game series at Ole Miss by a combined four runs, with two one-run losses and a two-run loss on Saturday.
- The Wildcats have been led offensively by senior shortstop Taylor Black, who has batted .346 with 12 doubles, two triples, one homer and 24 RBI, stealing 10 bases.
- On the mound, Alex Meyer (3-5, 3.59 ERA) leads UK in innings pitched (62.2) and strikeouts (71), tossing nine starts and two complete games.
Track and field
- Senior Keenan Hall was awarded the Tony Wilson Memorial Trophy for being the most outstanding male field athlete during the meet. Hall won the men's triple jump with a personal-best mark of 15.56-meter/51-00.7 and finished second in the long jump at
7.46m/24-05.75.
- Senior Sharif Webb won the 800m run with a time of 1:49.32, marking his second victory in two chances this season, after winning with a school-record and SEC-leading time of 1:47.19 at the Florida Relays.
- Freshman Allison Peare posted a career-best time of 2:09.64 in the 800m to take fourth, drawing closer to the freshman school record of 2:06.47, set in 1986.
- Senior Colin Boevers claimed two top-five finishes during the meet, collecting third in the discus and fourth in the shot put. Boevers, an All-America honoree in the discus throw last year, threw 53.44m/175-04 to capture the bronze. In the shot put, the senior made a long toss of 15.97m/52-04.75 to grab fourth.
- Junior Precious Nwokey rounded out her first heptathlon competition in 2011 as the second-place finisher with 5,309 points. Nwokey holds the school record in the event with a total score of 5,543.
Men's golf
- The Kentucky men's golf team finished the SEC Championships in ninth place after sophomore Chase Parker and freshman Stephen Powers each finished in
the top 20.
- Parker shot a 1-under-par 69 in the final round to end the 54-hole tournament tied for 12th, while Powers earned his second consecutive top-22 finish by ending
his first SEC Championship appearance tied for 19th.
- Kentucky concludes the 2010-11 season with four top-three finishes as a team, increasing the total number of top-three finishes under 10-year head coach Brian Craig to 35. Individually, UK players earned 14 top-20 finishes during the year, including Belden who had a
team-high five top-20 finishes.
Women's golf
- Kentucky finished 10th in the SEC Women's Golf Championships.
- Sophomore Betsie Johnson led UK with a 10-over par 226 to finish in 23rd place individually.
- Johnson found success on Auburn University Club's four par 5 holes. The Nicholasville, Ky., native was 3-under par on the par 5s.
- UK will learn if it has been invited to the NCAA Championships on a conference call on April 25 at 6 p.m. ET.
Women's tennis
- The Cats fell to No. 18 Vanderbilt 5-2 on Senior Day Saturday. Megan Broderick, Lauren Meier and Nicole Scates were recognized on Senior Day.
- Broderick won a thrilling match over No. 76 Alex Leatu in her final match at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
- Sophomore Jessica Stiles turned in the most dominating performance of her collegiate career with a straight sets 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles. Stiles' win was her 10th singles victory this season, the most on the team and her fourth conference win.
- The Cats are the No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face No. 7 seed LSU in the opening round in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 19
Softball hosts Eastern Kentucky - 4 p.m.
Baseball at Western Kentucky - 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 20
Softball hosts Louisville - 6 p.m.
Thursday, April 21
Women's tennis vs. LSU - 6 p.m. (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Friday, April 22
Men's tennis vs. South Carolina/Auburn - 9 a.m. (Gainesville, Fla.)
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 6:30 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 7 p.m.
Track and field at UCSD Triton Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.)
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Satruday, April 23
Football hosts Blue/White Spring Game - 3 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 4 p.m.
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 7 p.m.
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Men's tennis at SEC Tournament (Gainesville, Fla.)
Track and field at UCSD Triton Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.)
Track and field at Jesse Owens Invitational (Columbus, Ohio)
Sunday, April 24
Baseball hosts Arkansas - 1 p.m.
Softball at South Carolina - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at SEC Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Men's tennis at SEC Tournament (Gainesville, Fla.)
Track and field at Jesse Owens Invitational (Columbus, Ohio)
Not a whole lot cooking around the office today. Should have some more content later on this week, but for now these notes will have to do:
- I realize ESPN updated its 2011 recruiting rankings last week when Kentucky signee Anthony Davis moved to No. 1, but just in case you had any doubt about how good this incoming class is, ESPN has a breakdown of the team rankings. UK, of course, is still No. 1.
- UK baseball has been in a serious Southeastern Conference slide, but it could begin to turn its season around Tuesday night with a win over archrival Louisville. The game will be televised live on Wazoo Sports Network with Bob Valvano and Drew Deener calling the action. The telecast will be able throughout the state of Kentucky, with the game on Insight-Lexington and Insight-Louisville on channel 524. Fans throughout the state can check local listings for television information in your area. The game will also be available live on WazooSports.com.
- Kentucky student-athletes often don't get the credit they deserve for some of the community work they do (in addition to the countless hours of practice, games, traveling and school work), so I thought I'd point out a great cause a couple of UK student-athletes are running. Track and field athletes Luis Orta and Joe Nadzam, in collaboration wtih Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization that ships shoes to those desperately in need, have taken it upon themselves to run a shoe drive. Orta and Nazdam are asking for any used shoes (athletic, sandals, casual, dress, boots, etc.) you can donate. Donations can be dropped off at the Center for Academic and Tutorial Services located in Memorial Coliseum or at the Shively Training Facility. The drive just started but they've already collected around 200 pairs of shoes. For more information, email Orta at ortaluis15@hotmail.com or Nadzam at jmnadz2@uky.edu.
- Men's basketball coach John Calipari did his mailbag with Fox Sports South for the season. There are a couple of pretty good notes from Calipari in the video below. We should have some updates/season wrap-up on the blog in the next couple of days.
Softball
- Juniors Chanda Bell and Rachel Riley threw consecutive perfect games in wins at Austin Peay. Bell's became the first registered perfect game in school history as she struck out 15 of a possible 18 outs.
- During Riley's perfect pitching accomplishment, she was also perfect at the plate with a 4-for-4 day while matching a single-game record with six RBI.
- Junior Ashleigh Gustafson charted her first career hit launching a three-run homer in the opening win over the Lady Govs.
- Junior Brittany Cervantes totaled at least one RBI in all five games this week as she moved into 10th on the UK single-season list with 38 RBI for the season.
Men's tennis
- The Kentucky men's tennis team earned three victories throughout the week, defeating No. 30 LSU, No. 75 Arkansas and in-state rival Morehead State. Kentucky went 3-1 on the week overall, with its only loss coming in a 4-3 decision to No. 3 Ohio State.
- Kentucky ends its regular-season home schedule with an impressive 16-3 record at the Boone, including an 8-3 mark against teams ranked in the top 75. With the win against top-30 ranked LSU, UK moves to 13-7 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation.
- No. 7 Eric Quigley led the Wildcats all week with a 3-0 singles record, taking down No. 3 Blaz Rola of Ohio State and defeating two quality SEC opponents at No. 1 singles. Seniors Alberto Gonzalez and Brad Cox also performed well in their final home matches of their UK career with Gonzalez going 2-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles. Cox was brilliant for the Wildcats in singles Friday and Sunday, earning straight-set wins both days.
- Kentucky was solid in doubles all week, winning all three doubles points. Cox and Quigley went 3-0 in doubles, defeating two top-15 ranked tandems, while Frenchmen Anthony Rossi and Alex Musialek went 2-1. Freshman Alejandro Gomez teamed up with Gonzalez on Friday and Sunday in doubles to go 2-0, including clinching the doubles point against Arkansas.
Baseball
- The Kentucky baseball team completed a four-game week with a series sweep at the hands of defending SEC Western Division Champion Auburn. UK also picked up a midweek win over
Xavier.
- UK suffered its ninth consecutive loss in conference play, the longest streak since starting SEC play 0-9 in 2005.
- UK completed a great offensive week by scoring 34 runs through four games, including belting nine homers. UK hit six homers in the series vs. the Tigers, with AU entering the weekend having allowed only eight round trippers on the year.
- The Wildcats have been led offensively by junior two-way star Braden Kapteyn, who has hit .339 with four homers and 33 RBI through 33 games.
Track and field
- Kentucky contributed six first-place victories for the Commonwealth in the Border Battle, including wins in the men's 110-meter hurdles, 4x400m relay, long jump and triple jump, and the women's 400m dash and discus throw.
- There were several bright spots for Kentucky on a windy, storm-filled day and none more than a first-place finish in the men's long jump by senior Keenan Hall. The Indianapolis native put together a career-best performance with a long jump of 7.58m/24-10.50 that shot him straight to No. 3 on UK's all-time long jump mark list. Hall also finished second in the men's
triple jump with a jump of 15.23m/49-11.75
- In similar fashion a trio of men's hurdlers finished first, second and fourth in the 110m hurdles with junior Keith Hayes leading the way.
- Bradshaw finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time 14.66 followed by Brandon Bagley in fourth with a time of 15.07.
- Jenna Martin claimed a win in the 400m dash with a time of 52.94.
- The Wildcats' sixth win came from senior Mary Angell in the discus throw. Angell had a long throw of 51.07m/167-06.75, which was just shy of her season-best throw of 51.34m/168-05.
Men's golf
- The Kentucky men's golf team hosted the fourth annual UK Bluegrass Invitational this weekend at the University Club of Kentucky. The Wildcats performed well at the event, finishing in second place just a few strokes behind SEC foe and sixth-ranked Auburn.
- Kentucky was led at the tournament by freshman Stephen Powers, who finished second after tying the tournament-record score for 18 holes with a 65 in the second round. The 6-under-par round was the lowest of the tournament by any player and put Powers on
top of the leaderboard after 36 holes. The freshman ended the tournament with a 2-over-par 215.
- Four other Wildcats finished in the top 35, including sophomore Chase Parker tied for seventh, senior Brian Belden tied for 16th, junior Mads Kristensen tied for 21st and freshman Cody Martin tied for 35th.
- The top-three finish for the Wildcats is the third of the season and the 35th since head coach Brian Craig took over the program in 2001. UK's team score of 876 was the second lowest of the season and its second-round team score of 288 is tied for the third-lowest round of the year.
Women's tennis
- The Kentucky women's tennis team dropped a pair of road matches over the weekend, losing to Arkansas 6-1 on Friday and LSU 5-2 on Sunday.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch earned her ninth singles victory of the season against Arkansas. The win was also Blajkevitch's sixth win in SEC play, a team high.
- Sophomore Jessica Stiles won her ninth singles victory of the season against LSU on Sunday. Blajkevitch and Stiles' nine singles victories are tops on the team.
- Freshman Caitlin McGraw defeated LSU's Ebie Wilson after Wilson had to retire in the second set.
- Saturday's match against Vanderbilt will be Senior Day for Megan Broderick, Lauren Meier and Nicole Scates.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 12
Baseball at Louisville - 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13
Softball at Marshall (DH) - 3 p.m.
Friday, April 15
Baseball at Ole Miss - 7:30 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
Saturday, April 16
Softball hosts Tennessee Tech (DH) - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis at Vanderbilt - 2 p.m.
Women's tennis hosts Vanderbilt - 4 p.m.
Baseball at Ole Miss - 5 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
Sunday, April 17
Baseball at Ole Miss - 2:30 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
- Juniors Chanda Bell and Rachel Riley threw consecutive perfect games in wins at Austin Peay. Bell's became the first registered perfect game in school history as she struck out 15 of a possible 18 outs.
- During Riley's perfect pitching accomplishment, she was also perfect at the plate with a 4-for-4 day while matching a single-game record with six RBI.
- Junior Ashleigh Gustafson charted her first career hit launching a three-run homer in the opening win over the Lady Govs.
- Junior Brittany Cervantes totaled at least one RBI in all five games this week as she moved into 10th on the UK single-season list with 38 RBI for the season.
Men's tennis
- The Kentucky men's tennis team earned three victories throughout the week, defeating No. 30 LSU, No. 75 Arkansas and in-state rival Morehead State. Kentucky went 3-1 on the week overall, with its only loss coming in a 4-3 decision to No. 3 Ohio State.
- Kentucky ends its regular-season home schedule with an impressive 16-3 record at the Boone, including an 8-3 mark against teams ranked in the top 75. With the win against top-30 ranked LSU, UK moves to 13-7 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation.
- No. 7 Eric Quigley led the Wildcats all week with a 3-0 singles record, taking down No. 3 Blaz Rola of Ohio State and defeating two quality SEC opponents at No. 1 singles. Seniors Alberto Gonzalez and Brad Cox also performed well in their final home matches of their UK career with Gonzalez going 2-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles. Cox was brilliant for the Wildcats in singles Friday and Sunday, earning straight-set wins both days.
- Kentucky was solid in doubles all week, winning all three doubles points. Cox and Quigley went 3-0 in doubles, defeating two top-15 ranked tandems, while Frenchmen Anthony Rossi and Alex Musialek went 2-1. Freshman Alejandro Gomez teamed up with Gonzalez on Friday and Sunday in doubles to go 2-0, including clinching the doubles point against Arkansas.
Baseball
- The Kentucky baseball team completed a four-game week with a series sweep at the hands of defending SEC Western Division Champion Auburn. UK also picked up a midweek win over
Xavier.
- UK suffered its ninth consecutive loss in conference play, the longest streak since starting SEC play 0-9 in 2005.
- UK completed a great offensive week by scoring 34 runs through four games, including belting nine homers. UK hit six homers in the series vs. the Tigers, with AU entering the weekend having allowed only eight round trippers on the year.
- The Wildcats have been led offensively by junior two-way star Braden Kapteyn, who has hit .339 with four homers and 33 RBI through 33 games.
Track and field
- Kentucky contributed six first-place victories for the Commonwealth in the Border Battle, including wins in the men's 110-meter hurdles, 4x400m relay, long jump and triple jump, and the women's 400m dash and discus throw.
- There were several bright spots for Kentucky on a windy, storm-filled day and none more than a first-place finish in the men's long jump by senior Keenan Hall. The Indianapolis native put together a career-best performance with a long jump of 7.58m/24-10.50 that shot him straight to No. 3 on UK's all-time long jump mark list. Hall also finished second in the men's
triple jump with a jump of 15.23m/49-11.75
- In similar fashion a trio of men's hurdlers finished first, second and fourth in the 110m hurdles with junior Keith Hayes leading the way.
- Bradshaw finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time 14.66 followed by Brandon Bagley in fourth with a time of 15.07.
- Jenna Martin claimed a win in the 400m dash with a time of 52.94.
- The Wildcats' sixth win came from senior Mary Angell in the discus throw. Angell had a long throw of 51.07m/167-06.75, which was just shy of her season-best throw of 51.34m/168-05.
Men's golf
- The Kentucky men's golf team hosted the fourth annual UK Bluegrass Invitational this weekend at the University Club of Kentucky. The Wildcats performed well at the event, finishing in second place just a few strokes behind SEC foe and sixth-ranked Auburn.
- Kentucky was led at the tournament by freshman Stephen Powers, who finished second after tying the tournament-record score for 18 holes with a 65 in the second round. The 6-under-par round was the lowest of the tournament by any player and put Powers on
top of the leaderboard after 36 holes. The freshman ended the tournament with a 2-over-par 215.
- Four other Wildcats finished in the top 35, including sophomore Chase Parker tied for seventh, senior Brian Belden tied for 16th, junior Mads Kristensen tied for 21st and freshman Cody Martin tied for 35th.
- The top-three finish for the Wildcats is the third of the season and the 35th since head coach Brian Craig took over the program in 2001. UK's team score of 876 was the second lowest of the season and its second-round team score of 288 is tied for the third-lowest round of the year.
Women's tennis
- The Kentucky women's tennis team dropped a pair of road matches over the weekend, losing to Arkansas 6-1 on Friday and LSU 5-2 on Sunday.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch earned her ninth singles victory of the season against Arkansas. The win was also Blajkevitch's sixth win in SEC play, a team high.
- Sophomore Jessica Stiles won her ninth singles victory of the season against LSU on Sunday. Blajkevitch and Stiles' nine singles victories are tops on the team.
- Freshman Caitlin McGraw defeated LSU's Ebie Wilson after Wilson had to retire in the second set.
- Saturday's match against Vanderbilt will be Senior Day for Megan Broderick, Lauren Meier and Nicole Scates.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 12
Baseball at Louisville - 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13
Softball at Marshall (DH) - 3 p.m.
Friday, April 15
Baseball at Ole Miss - 7:30 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
Saturday, April 16
Softball hosts Tennessee Tech (DH) - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis at Vanderbilt - 2 p.m.
Women's tennis hosts Vanderbilt - 4 p.m.
Baseball at Ole Miss - 5 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
Sunday, April 17
Baseball at Ole Miss - 2:30 p.m.
Men's golf at SEC Championship (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
Women's golf at SEC Championship (Auburn, Ala.)
Men's basketball
- Kentucky finishes its season at 29-9.
- The Wildcats end the season having advanced to their 14th Final Four, while posting their 55th 20-win season and winning their 27th SEC Tournament title.
- John Calipari is one of only two coaches to lead three different schools to the Final Four.
- UK is now 105-46 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is tied for first with the most NCAA Tournament wins.
- The 75,421 fans in attendance for the UK-UConn game was an NCAA Final Four single-game record.
- Junior Darius Miller hit a 3-pointer in 25 straight games to finish the season and connected from long range in 36 of 38 games this season.
- Brandon Knight closed his rookie season with a UK freshman scoring record of 657 points, and 87 made 3s, also a UK freshman record.
Gymnastics
- Behind a season-high score on balance beam of 48.9, the University of Kentucky gymnastics team posted its highest team score at a NCAA Regional in school history
with a 195.175 in a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional in Coleman Coliseum at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Kentucky's team score at the meet surpassed its previous NCAA Regional high mark of 195.150, which helped UK earn a fourth-place finish in the 2001 NCAA Regional. The Wildcats had not scored a 195 team score or above since the 2001 season.
- The Wildcats were impressive on all four events at the meet, but earned its highest event score on balance beam, posting a season-high score of 48.9. Junior Storey Morris led all UK gymnasts on the event with a 9.85, surpassing her career high of 9.825, while freshman
Audrey Harrison scored a 9.8 for her highest career mark.
Softball
- Kentucky swept No. 5 Florida for the first time in school history to claim its fourth SEC series of the season, matching a program record.
- Senior Meagan Aull entered the weekend with six career home runs and connected with four in propeling UK's offense to 26 runs on the weekend. Aull had a homer in all three games, including two in the first inning of the final win. She became the first player in school history to hit two long balls in the same inning.
- While completing the sweep, UK coach Rachel Lawson won her 200th career game as a head coach.
- UK currently ranks second overall in the SEC and first in the Eastern Division.
Baseball
- The baseball team completed a four-game week, posting a midweek win over Tennessee Tech, before falling in three games at defending NCAA champion, No. 3 South Carolina.
- Kentucky rode a 4-for-4, four-runs-scored outing from senior shortstop Taylor Black in the win over TTU on Tuesday, posting an 11-8 result.
- As a team, the Wildcats have posted a .294 batting average through 29 games, owning a 3.83 ERA with eight saves in 254 innings, striking out 237.
Men's tennis
- With the match tied 3-3 and the final singles match in a decisive third-set tiebreaker, University of Kentucky freshman Tom Jomby earned arguably his biggest collegiate
win of his young career by defeating Andrew Butz to give No. 14 Kentucky a 4-3 win over No. 15 Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.
- The win gives Kentucky its first victory over the Gators since the 2002 season and its first win in Gainesville since 1992 when the Wildcats took down Florida in the NCAA Tournament. UK's last regular-season win at Florida was in 1988.
- Kentucky continued its winning ways Sunday, taking down South Carolina 5-2 for its 20th win of the season.
- UK now has back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since UK earned three consecutive from 1987-89. All told, it is Kentucky's 18th 20-win season in school history and the 12th under longtime head coach Dennis Emery.
Track and field
- Senior middle-distance runner Sharif Webb won the 800-meter run for the second consecutive year while setting Kentucky's 800m record and snapping a 25-year
old Florida Relays record with a time os 1:47.19.
- Sophomore distance runner Cally Macumber earned UK's second win of the Florida Relays with a personal-best time of 4:24.32.
- A pair of discus throwers grabbed top-four finishes, with senior Mary Angell (51.34m/168-05) finishing third overall in the women's discus and senior Colin
Boevers (57.26m/187-10) fourth on the men's side.
- Junior Luis Orta also had a top-five finish, completing
the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:01.54 to claim fourth.
Men's golf
- UK men's golf freshman Cody Martin posted his third top-25 finish of the spring season as the Wildcats finished 14th in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.
- Martin was again impressive for Kentucky, scoring the lowest round of the day for the Wildcats with a 1-over-par 72. The three-day score of 216 is the lowest of the season for Martin, who has finished as UK's top golfer in the last three events.
- Fellow freshman Stephen Powers carded three birdies in the final round and eight for the tournament, posting a career-low score of 221.
Women's golf
- Kentucky recorded its second-lowest round of the spring season Sunday. As a team, UK improved each round of the tournament and finished 19th.
- Sophomore Ashleigh Albrecht led the Cats for the third time this spring season, finishing 35th overall. She carded her third-lowest round of the spring during the final round on Sunday.
Women's tennis
- Kentucky lost to No. 2 Florida 7-0 Friday and fell to No. 38 South Carolina 6-1 Sunday.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch won her team-leading eighth singles victory against South Carolina on Sunday. Blajkevitch's win was also her fifth in conference action, the most on the team.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 5
Baseball hosts Xavier - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 6
Men's tennis hosts Ohio State - 3 p.m.
Softball at Austin Peay (DH) - 6 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Morehead State - 8 p.m.
Friday, April 8
Women's tennis at Arkansas - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Arkansas - 3 p.m.
Softball at Georgia - 6:30 p.m.
Baseball hosts Auburn - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 9
Softball at Georgia - 2:30 p.m.
Baseball hosts Auburn - 6:30 p.m.
Track and field at Kentuckiana Border Battle (Louisville, Ky.)
Men's golf hosts UK Bluegrass Invitational
Sunday, April 10
Baseball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at LSU - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts LSU - 1 p.m.
Softball at Georgia - 1:30 p.m.
Men's golf hosts UK Bluegrass Invitational
- Kentucky finishes its season at 29-9.
- The Wildcats end the season having advanced to their 14th Final Four, while posting their 55th 20-win season and winning their 27th SEC Tournament title.
- John Calipari is one of only two coaches to lead three different schools to the Final Four.
- UK is now 105-46 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is tied for first with the most NCAA Tournament wins.
- The 75,421 fans in attendance for the UK-UConn game was an NCAA Final Four single-game record.
- Junior Darius Miller hit a 3-pointer in 25 straight games to finish the season and connected from long range in 36 of 38 games this season.
- Brandon Knight closed his rookie season with a UK freshman scoring record of 657 points, and 87 made 3s, also a UK freshman record.
Gymnastics
- Behind a season-high score on balance beam of 48.9, the University of Kentucky gymnastics team posted its highest team score at a NCAA Regional in school history
with a 195.175 in a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional in Coleman Coliseum at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Kentucky's team score at the meet surpassed its previous NCAA Regional high mark of 195.150, which helped UK earn a fourth-place finish in the 2001 NCAA Regional. The Wildcats had not scored a 195 team score or above since the 2001 season.
- The Wildcats were impressive on all four events at the meet, but earned its highest event score on balance beam, posting a season-high score of 48.9. Junior Storey Morris led all UK gymnasts on the event with a 9.85, surpassing her career high of 9.825, while freshman
Audrey Harrison scored a 9.8 for her highest career mark.
Softball
- Kentucky swept No. 5 Florida for the first time in school history to claim its fourth SEC series of the season, matching a program record.
- Senior Meagan Aull entered the weekend with six career home runs and connected with four in propeling UK's offense to 26 runs on the weekend. Aull had a homer in all three games, including two in the first inning of the final win. She became the first player in school history to hit two long balls in the same inning.
- While completing the sweep, UK coach Rachel Lawson won her 200th career game as a head coach.
- UK currently ranks second overall in the SEC and first in the Eastern Division.
Baseball
- The baseball team completed a four-game week, posting a midweek win over Tennessee Tech, before falling in three games at defending NCAA champion, No. 3 South Carolina.
- Kentucky rode a 4-for-4, four-runs-scored outing from senior shortstop Taylor Black in the win over TTU on Tuesday, posting an 11-8 result.
- As a team, the Wildcats have posted a .294 batting average through 29 games, owning a 3.83 ERA with eight saves in 254 innings, striking out 237.
Men's tennis
- With the match tied 3-3 and the final singles match in a decisive third-set tiebreaker, University of Kentucky freshman Tom Jomby earned arguably his biggest collegiate
win of his young career by defeating Andrew Butz to give No. 14 Kentucky a 4-3 win over No. 15 Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.
- The win gives Kentucky its first victory over the Gators since the 2002 season and its first win in Gainesville since 1992 when the Wildcats took down Florida in the NCAA Tournament. UK's last regular-season win at Florida was in 1988.
- Kentucky continued its winning ways Sunday, taking down South Carolina 5-2 for its 20th win of the season.
- UK now has back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since UK earned three consecutive from 1987-89. All told, it is Kentucky's 18th 20-win season in school history and the 12th under longtime head coach Dennis Emery.
Track and field
- Senior middle-distance runner Sharif Webb won the 800-meter run for the second consecutive year while setting Kentucky's 800m record and snapping a 25-year
old Florida Relays record with a time os 1:47.19.
- Sophomore distance runner Cally Macumber earned UK's second win of the Florida Relays with a personal-best time of 4:24.32.
- A pair of discus throwers grabbed top-four finishes, with senior Mary Angell (51.34m/168-05) finishing third overall in the women's discus and senior Colin
Boevers (57.26m/187-10) fourth on the men's side.
- Junior Luis Orta also had a top-five finish, completing
the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:01.54 to claim fourth.
Men's golf
- UK men's golf freshman Cody Martin posted his third top-25 finish of the spring season as the Wildcats finished 14th in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.
- Martin was again impressive for Kentucky, scoring the lowest round of the day for the Wildcats with a 1-over-par 72. The three-day score of 216 is the lowest of the season for Martin, who has finished as UK's top golfer in the last three events.
- Fellow freshman Stephen Powers carded three birdies in the final round and eight for the tournament, posting a career-low score of 221.
Women's golf
- Kentucky recorded its second-lowest round of the spring season Sunday. As a team, UK improved each round of the tournament and finished 19th.
- Sophomore Ashleigh Albrecht led the Cats for the third time this spring season, finishing 35th overall. She carded her third-lowest round of the spring during the final round on Sunday.
Women's tennis
- Kentucky lost to No. 2 Florida 7-0 Friday and fell to No. 38 South Carolina 6-1 Sunday.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch won her team-leading eighth singles victory against South Carolina on Sunday. Blajkevitch's win was also her fifth in conference action, the most on the team.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, April 5
Baseball hosts Xavier - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 6
Men's tennis hosts Ohio State - 3 p.m.
Softball at Austin Peay (DH) - 6 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Morehead State - 8 p.m.
Friday, April 8
Women's tennis at Arkansas - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Arkansas - 3 p.m.
Softball at Georgia - 6:30 p.m.
Baseball hosts Auburn - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 9
Softball at Georgia - 2:30 p.m.
Baseball hosts Auburn - 6:30 p.m.
Track and field at Kentuckiana Border Battle (Louisville, Ky.)
Men's golf hosts UK Bluegrass Invitational
Sunday, April 10
Baseball hosts Auburn - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at LSU - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts LSU - 1 p.m.
Softball at Georgia - 1:30 p.m.
Men's golf hosts UK Bluegrass Invitational
Rifle
- Behind gritty performances from veterans Heather Greathouse and Ethan Settlemires, the Kentucky rifle team won the overall national title at the 2010-11 NCAA Championships. After UK won the smallbore NCAA Title on Friday in the first day of competition, the Wildcats held off West Virginia's charge in air rifle on Saturday to secure the first national championship in
program history, finishing with a 4700 team total score.
- Kentucky entered the final day of competition on Saturday owning a seven-point lead. UK claimed its first-ever NCAA Championship in smallbore on Friday, totaling a 2336 team score, led by Settlemires and Greathouse. Settlemires won the NCAA individual championship on Friday with a 590 in smallbore, becoming the first individual NCAA Champion in smallbore in program history.
Men's basketball
- Kentucky won its league-leading 27th SEC Tournament championship, defeating Florida 70-54 in the championship game. Darius Miller was named the tournament MVP and the Wildcats placed Miller, Josh Harrellson and Brandon Knight on the SEC All-Tournament team.
- UK will be making its NCAA record 51st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, taking on Princeton in the second round of the tournament in Tampa, Fla.
Women's basketball
- The No. 17/16 Kentucky women's basketball team earned its eighth bid to the NCAA Tournament with a No. 4 seed in the Spokane Regional. UK will play 13th-seeded Hampton on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Albuquerque, N.M.
- It is the eighth overall NCAA Tournament berth for the Cats and their first back-to-back appearances since the 1982-83 seasons. UK is 7-7 all-time in the Big Dance, including a 3-1 mark under Matthew Mitchell.
Softball
- Behind a pair of comeback victories, the 23rd-ranked softball team defeated No. 7 Tennessee in two out of three games to capture the series to begin SEC play. It marked the first time since 2000 UK had won the series with its border-state rival.
- Senior Megan Yocke batted .556 on the weekend, which included a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings in the rubber match between the two teams. She was then intentionally walked in the bottom of the 10th to set the stage for Kara Dill's walk-off RBI-single.
Baseball
- The Wildcats posted four wins on the week, totaling a staggering 1.40 ERA as a team in 45 innings pitched, walking just 13 and striking out 45. UK got stellar starting pitching during the week, including quality starts from four of five starters a complete-game shutout from junior Alex Meyer on Saturday.
- Kentucky has been a well-rounded team, totaling a .295 batting average and a 3.51 team ERA, fielding at a .978 clip. The Wildcats have been led by center fielder Brian Adams, who has hit .368 with five doubles and five RBI.
Gymnastics
- The gymnastics team scored three wins over the weekend, defeating William and Mary on Friday and North Carolina and George Washington on Sunday. Kentucky was led in both meets by senior Phylicia Reshard, who won the all-around against William and Mary and finished second in the all-around in Sunday's quad-meet.
- The Wildcats defeated William and Mary on each event, with junior Storey Morris winning the uneven bars title, Reshard winning the vault title, seniors Jasmine Minion, Andrea Mitchell and Reshard winning on floor, and Mitchell grabbing event honors on beam.
Men's tennis
- The Wildcats were led by impressive play in doubles, taking the doubles point from both Tennessee and Georgia. Against Tennessee, Kentucky got upset wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles with senior Alberto Gonzalez and freshman Tom Jomby taking down the 55th-ranked doubles tandem in the nation, while junior Alex Musialek and sophomore Anthony Rossi
defeated the 52nd-ranked team. UK was equally impressive against Georgia in doubles with junior Eric Quigley and senior Brad Cox knocking off the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation and Gonzalez and Jomby posting a win over the 36th-ranked doubles team. UK dropped the overall matches to nationally ranked Tennessee and Georgia.
- In singles, Musialek led the UK charge with a convincing win over No. 24 Javier Garrapiz, while Rossi and Jomby also posted singles wins.
Swimming and diving
- Freshman diver Greg Ferrucci and senior diver Lisa Faulkner earned spots in the men's and women's NCAA swimming and diving championships, respectively, thanks to their performances in the Zone C Diving Championships.
- Ferrucci recorded a score of 339.60 in the preliminaries and finished with a mark of 716.35 in the finals to finish in second place on the men's one-meter and earn his spot in the NCAAs. Faulkner earned a score of 296.35 in the women's one-meter preliminaries and finished with a score of 581.15 in the finals to finish in fifth place and earn a spot in the NCAA championships.
Track and field
- Kentucky track and field junior Keith Hayes capped off an incredible three-week run leading up to the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships with a seventh-place finish in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, grabbing two points for the Wildcats.
- Hayes earned his first All-America honor for his top-eight performance in the finals Saturday.
Men's golf
- Behind impressive final rounds from sophomore Chase Parker and freshman Cody Martin, the UK men's golf team moved up four spots on the leaderboard to finish 13th in the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate. Martin (80-70-69-219) and Parker (78-72-70-220) led the Wildcats, posting solid scores on the final day to earn a top-25 finish.
- Martin carded the lowest UK round of the day Tuesday, earning a 1-under-par 69 to move 36 spots up the leaderboard. He finished the tournament in a tie for 21st, totaling a 9-over-par 219 after a 10-ove-par 80 in the opening round and an even-par 70 in the second round.
Women's golf
- The Cats competed in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic and finished in 18th place with a final score of 95-over-par 959.
- Sophomore Heather Lott led the Wildcats with a final score of 12-over par to finish the tournament in a tie for 31st among the 111 competing golfers.
Women's tennis
- The Cats dropped a pair of SEC road matches over the weekend to Tennessee and Georgia. The Wildcats fell 6-1 in each match.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch won a thrilling victory over UT's Kata Szekely 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10). Senior Megan Broderick topped Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia after the 48th-ranked player had to retire.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, March 15
Baseball hosts Murray State - 4 p.m.
Wednesday, March 16
Softball at Arkansas (DH) - 5 p.m.
Women's tennis at Baylor • 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 17
Men's tennis hosts Notre Dame - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at TCU - 2 p.m.
Men's basketball vs. Princeton - 2:45 p.m. (Tampa, Fla.)
Men's tennis hosts Butler - 7 p.m.
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Friday, March 18
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 6:30 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 7 p.m.
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
Saturday, March 19
Women's tennis at Texas Tech - 10 a.m.
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Alabama - 1 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 4 p.m.
Women's basketball vs. Hampton - 6:30 p.m. (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Men's basketball vs. West Virginia/Clemson/UAB - TBA (Tampa, Fla.)
Gymnastics at SEC Championships (Birmingham, Ala.)
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
Sunday, March 20
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 1 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 2 p.m.
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
- Behind gritty performances from veterans Heather Greathouse and Ethan Settlemires, the Kentucky rifle team won the overall national title at the 2010-11 NCAA Championships. After UK won the smallbore NCAA Title on Friday in the first day of competition, the Wildcats held off West Virginia's charge in air rifle on Saturday to secure the first national championship in
program history, finishing with a 4700 team total score.
- Kentucky entered the final day of competition on Saturday owning a seven-point lead. UK claimed its first-ever NCAA Championship in smallbore on Friday, totaling a 2336 team score, led by Settlemires and Greathouse. Settlemires won the NCAA individual championship on Friday with a 590 in smallbore, becoming the first individual NCAA Champion in smallbore in program history.
Men's basketball
- Kentucky won its league-leading 27th SEC Tournament championship, defeating Florida 70-54 in the championship game. Darius Miller was named the tournament MVP and the Wildcats placed Miller, Josh Harrellson and Brandon Knight on the SEC All-Tournament team.
- UK will be making its NCAA record 51st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, taking on Princeton in the second round of the tournament in Tampa, Fla.
Women's basketball
- The No. 17/16 Kentucky women's basketball team earned its eighth bid to the NCAA Tournament with a No. 4 seed in the Spokane Regional. UK will play 13th-seeded Hampton on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Albuquerque, N.M.
- It is the eighth overall NCAA Tournament berth for the Cats and their first back-to-back appearances since the 1982-83 seasons. UK is 7-7 all-time in the Big Dance, including a 3-1 mark under Matthew Mitchell.
Softball
- Behind a pair of comeback victories, the 23rd-ranked softball team defeated No. 7 Tennessee in two out of three games to capture the series to begin SEC play. It marked the first time since 2000 UK had won the series with its border-state rival.
- Senior Megan Yocke batted .556 on the weekend, which included a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings in the rubber match between the two teams. She was then intentionally walked in the bottom of the 10th to set the stage for Kara Dill's walk-off RBI-single.
Baseball
- The Wildcats posted four wins on the week, totaling a staggering 1.40 ERA as a team in 45 innings pitched, walking just 13 and striking out 45. UK got stellar starting pitching during the week, including quality starts from four of five starters a complete-game shutout from junior Alex Meyer on Saturday.
- Kentucky has been a well-rounded team, totaling a .295 batting average and a 3.51 team ERA, fielding at a .978 clip. The Wildcats have been led by center fielder Brian Adams, who has hit .368 with five doubles and five RBI.
Gymnastics
- The gymnastics team scored three wins over the weekend, defeating William and Mary on Friday and North Carolina and George Washington on Sunday. Kentucky was led in both meets by senior Phylicia Reshard, who won the all-around against William and Mary and finished second in the all-around in Sunday's quad-meet.
- The Wildcats defeated William and Mary on each event, with junior Storey Morris winning the uneven bars title, Reshard winning the vault title, seniors Jasmine Minion, Andrea Mitchell and Reshard winning on floor, and Mitchell grabbing event honors on beam.
Men's tennis
- The Wildcats were led by impressive play in doubles, taking the doubles point from both Tennessee and Georgia. Against Tennessee, Kentucky got upset wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles with senior Alberto Gonzalez and freshman Tom Jomby taking down the 55th-ranked doubles tandem in the nation, while junior Alex Musialek and sophomore Anthony Rossi
defeated the 52nd-ranked team. UK was equally impressive against Georgia in doubles with junior Eric Quigley and senior Brad Cox knocking off the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation and Gonzalez and Jomby posting a win over the 36th-ranked doubles team. UK dropped the overall matches to nationally ranked Tennessee and Georgia.
- In singles, Musialek led the UK charge with a convincing win over No. 24 Javier Garrapiz, while Rossi and Jomby also posted singles wins.
Swimming and diving
- Freshman diver Greg Ferrucci and senior diver Lisa Faulkner earned spots in the men's and women's NCAA swimming and diving championships, respectively, thanks to their performances in the Zone C Diving Championships.
- Ferrucci recorded a score of 339.60 in the preliminaries and finished with a mark of 716.35 in the finals to finish in second place on the men's one-meter and earn his spot in the NCAAs. Faulkner earned a score of 296.35 in the women's one-meter preliminaries and finished with a score of 581.15 in the finals to finish in fifth place and earn a spot in the NCAA championships.
Track and field
- Kentucky track and field junior Keith Hayes capped off an incredible three-week run leading up to the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships with a seventh-place finish in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, grabbing two points for the Wildcats.
- Hayes earned his first All-America honor for his top-eight performance in the finals Saturday.
Men's golf
- Behind impressive final rounds from sophomore Chase Parker and freshman Cody Martin, the UK men's golf team moved up four spots on the leaderboard to finish 13th in the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate. Martin (80-70-69-219) and Parker (78-72-70-220) led the Wildcats, posting solid scores on the final day to earn a top-25 finish.
- Martin carded the lowest UK round of the day Tuesday, earning a 1-under-par 69 to move 36 spots up the leaderboard. He finished the tournament in a tie for 21st, totaling a 9-over-par 219 after a 10-ove-par 80 in the opening round and an even-par 70 in the second round.
Women's golf
- The Cats competed in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic and finished in 18th place with a final score of 95-over-par 959.
- Sophomore Heather Lott led the Wildcats with a final score of 12-over par to finish the tournament in a tie for 31st among the 111 competing golfers.
Women's tennis
- The Cats dropped a pair of SEC road matches over the weekend to Tennessee and Georgia. The Wildcats fell 6-1 in each match.
- Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch won a thrilling victory over UT's Kata Szekely 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10). Senior Megan Broderick topped Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia after the 48th-ranked player had to retire.
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, March 15
Baseball hosts Murray State - 4 p.m.
Wednesday, March 16
Softball at Arkansas (DH) - 5 p.m.
Women's tennis at Baylor • 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 17
Men's tennis hosts Notre Dame - 1 p.m.
Women's tennis at TCU - 2 p.m.
Men's basketball vs. Princeton - 2:45 p.m. (Tampa, Fla.)
Men's tennis hosts Butler - 7 p.m.
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Friday, March 18
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 6:30 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 7 p.m.
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
Saturday, March 19
Women's tennis at Texas Tech - 10 a.m.
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 1 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Alabama - 1 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 4 p.m.
Women's basketball vs. Hampton - 6:30 p.m. (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Men's basketball vs. West Virginia/Clemson/UAB - TBA (Tampa, Fla.)
Gymnastics at SEC Championships (Birmingham, Ala.)
Women's swimming and diving at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas)
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
Sunday, March 20
Baseball hosts Tennessee - 1 p.m.
Softball at LSU - 2 p.m.
Men's golf at Schenkel Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)
