UK High School Invitational 2010

 Normally there would only be one athlete of the week but with so many great performances I thought I would pass along some recognition to three of the top performers for each gender from Saturday.  

David St. Louis gives his Crash Recap of the UK High School Invitational

Mann senior Briana Nelson, running for Quick Striders, ran a U.S. no. 1 400-meter dash Saturday at the University of Kentucky Invitational in Lexington.

It was a big day at the University of Kentucky’s Nutter Fieldhouse and it had nothing to do with the ‘Cats match-up against Vanderbilt. Track and field was the main focus in this impressive facility and the results of todays meet showed why some of the best athletes in the country continue to come back to this meet. 

 KYtrackXC.com/MileSplit US will be LIVE ON-SITE providing results and news directly from Lexington today.   Uk High School Invitational Live Updates   Video from the meet will be posted later on this weekend

 Heat Sheets for Saturday at the UK High School Invitational

 David St. Louis offers a video preview of the hot races this Saturday. 

Now, field events may not always play a big role in some elite meets, but this is an invite that has continually brought in great talent in the field. Pole vault looks to be an area of strength this time around with a couple of 16-footers on the boys’ side and a 12-footer leading the girls. Look for some strong performances in the girls’ long jump and high jump as well. 

Each year, some of the best high school athletes in the nation make their way to the Bluegrass State for the UK High School Invitational and this year is no different. The meet consistently yields some of the best performances in the nation as the oval in the University of Kentucky’s Nutter Fieldhouse is a friendly 290-meters, which means fewer curves in all the races 200 meters and up. Last year, Tavaris Tate (Starkville, MS) and Takeia Pinckney (Columbia, GA) both scored US #1 performances for the entire indoor season, with Tate running 47.06 for 400 meters and Pinckney running 7.33 for 60 meters. In all, there were close to 20 different performances that ranked in the top 10 in the nation for the entire indoor season during last year’s edition, continuing an impressive tradition that keeps the talent level high each year.While the meet has consistently brought in several athletes that were clearly the best in their event nationally (Wayne Davis, Chalonda Goodman, and Jacquelyn Coward to name a few), this year the entries don’t pack so much star power, but there is depth in almost every event that should make for nationally-ranked results in all but a few of the events on the day.

The UK HS Invite and the Simplot Games will feature talent from all over the country.  Stay tuned for previews!