By LARRY VAUGHT
Abby Steiner could not have had a better 2020-2021 indoor track season. She won all five 200-meter events she entered and reset her personal best at each meet. She was NCAA 200-meter dash indoor champion with a time of 22.38 seconds that tied the all-time NCAA indoor record and tied the second-fastest indoor 200 in United States history and fifth fastest in world history.
Steiner was focused on the 2021 Olympics but a unique injury derailed those dreams.
“I had pretty bad Achilles tendinitis. It was just a gradual build up. I first had issues after the SEC indoors (championship) but just thought it was some aches and pains that would go away. I didn’t really know whether to worry. It just crept up on me and finally got to me,” said Steiner.
Steiner, a senior this season, has never been one to like to take time off. Yet there was nothing she could do to recover but take time off.
“I spent a lot of this offseason doing physical therapy and lifting (weights). Thankfully I was able to join everyone when we started training in September and had a fairly normal fall training,” Steiner said.
She won’t deny how disappointing it was not to have a chance to compete in the Olympics where former UK athletes did extremely well.
“I could allow myself to be upset but that was not going to change anything,’ Steiner said. “I just had to focus on what I could do better. There was no real rehab for this injury other than rest. I went to physical therapy but there was a lot of just taking time off, which was difficult for me. I think it would have been easier if there had been a clear rehab plan. All I could do was rest and let it (the tendon) calm down. I did some cross training in the summer but mainly I just took the summer off.”
She did watch the Olympics and thought it was “awesome” to keep up with former teammates and NCAA athletes she knew even though she was not in Tokyo competing. Instead, she said it was “cool” to see friends succeed.
One of those friends was Sydney McLaughlin, who won gold in the 400-meter hurdles in a world record time and was also on a winning relay. Steiner started her senior season not only breaking McLaughlin’s school record in the 300-meter dash but broke the 40-year-old NCAA record of 35.83 seconds set by Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey. Steiner finished in 35.80 and her record earned her national athlete of the week honors.
“Training had been going well and I had been itching to run a 300 my whole collegiate career,” Steiner said. “I had never run one for various reasons. My goal was 35 but I was thinking like 35.95. I was a little bit surprised by my time but it’s something me and (assistant) coach (Tim) Hall had been talking about 35 for a long time.”
Steiner knew she likely would not run the 300 again (it’s not an official NCAA or Olympic event) to avoid taking time away from the 200, her specialty. However, she did celebrate a bit.
“My parents were actually able to come to that meet (in Louisville) and watch, which was exciting. They could not come last year due to COVID,” Steiner said. “They drove back to Lexington and we went out to dinner to celebrate. Then it was right back to training.”
And right back to winning also. She ran a world-leading 200-meter time of 22.58 seconds at the Jim Green Invitational hosted by UK. A week later she teamed with Masai Russell, Karimah Davis and Alexis Holmes at Texas Tech to win the 4×400 relay and set a UK record with Steiner and Holmes running the fastest legs at 51.4 seconds. Steiner placed second in the 60-meter dash with a personal best 7.17 seconds — the fourth-best 60 in UK history.
Why is she so dominant indoors?
“I have gotten better with experience. The more I run on indoor tracks, the more comfortable I am. My freshman year I was not confident at all and really did not enjoy running indoors. But the more races I have got under my belt the easier it feels for me,” the UK senior sprinter said.
Steiner, a dual-sport high school star in Ohio who also played soccer her freshman year at UK, wants to defend her SEC and NCAA indoor titles in the 200. However, her injury taught her to enjoy every meet and have fun her senior season.
She monitored her injury all fall and has been pain free for about three months. She remains “mindful” of the injury but is not letting it impact her training.
Steiner is on track to graduate with a double major in May but has another year of eligibility if she decides to use it.
“Me and Coach (Lonnie Greene) have talked about it, but will just see how this year goes,” Steiner said.
She eventually plans to become a physical therapist and feels she already has a head start on her career.
“I got to learn a lot through the process of my injury. I just kind of look at it as getting a preview of what my career will be like and that gives me a positive to take out of what happened,” Steiner said.
If he had his way, Kentucky coach John Calipari would prefer to play marquee neutral site games as often as possible because that can have more of a NCAA Tournament atmosphere. However, he understands the value of grinding out a win at Texas A&M or even losses at LSU and Auburn — games where UK had its top two point guards, Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington, both hurt during the games.
“When you get in league play making plays like TyTy did at the end of that (Texas A&M) game, that was huge,” Calipari said. “At the end of the day, teams are going to stop you from doing what you want to do, and it becomes players making plays.
“If you don’t have anybody on your team (that can do that) it’s harder to advance. You’ve got to have a couple of guys on your team, and it appears as though we do.”
That’s why the NCAA Tournament selection committee should not penalize UK for the LSU and Auburn losses. Both were top 25 teams — Auburn was No. 2 — on the road and Kentucky had two key players get injured each game. Wheeler played only four minutes at LSU and Washington just nine minutes at Auburn last week.
The odds of losing a starting point guard and starting two guard, who is also the backup point guard, in two road games against ranked teams has to be astronomical but it happened and should be taken into consideration by the selection committee.
Before Auburn hosted Kentucky last week, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl joined a long list of college coaches praising former UK coach Joe B. Hall.
“I would be remiss if I did not once again tell you what a wonderful man Joe B. Hall was,” Pearl said after Hall’s passing at age 93. “Not only did he do an amazing job, he was a good person and he loved his players, cared about his staff.”
Pearl won the Adolph Rupp Coach of the Year Award when he was the head coach at Tennessee. He still remembers Hall reaching out to congratulate him.
“He was also very willing to provide advice as an elder statesman,” Pearl said. “I couldn’t believe how much he knew about me and he knew about our team and he even had some advice for me, so I’ll cherish that.”
At the Kentucky team hotel in Auburn, the video message board the night before the UK-Auburn game had a salute to Hall also.
Maybe it was just coincidence but a week after Hall’s passing, Pearl announced on his postgame radio show after the win over Kentucky that a banner will be raised at Auburn honoring former coach Sonny Smith. He was the head coach at Auburn from 1978-88 and went to the NCAA Tournament five straight years from 1984-88.
Pearl said the honor was long overdue for the 84-year-old Smith, who has been the Auburn Radio Network analyst for several years. Early in his career Smith also was a high school coach in Kentucky.
If you think Kentucky fans are enamored with what Oscar Tshiebwe has done this season, then pay attention to what Tennessee coach Rick Barnes thinks about Tshiebwe — and his 15 rebounds per game.
“There’s not enough you can say about Tshiebwe, with what he’s doing. The last guy that I heard got 20 rebounds as many times as he has was Marvin Barnes, way back in the early ‘70s, when I think he averaged that,” Barnes said. “But what he’s doing there is phenomenal.”
Barnes gave Tshiebwe the ultimate compliment before the Vols played UK — and lost by 29 points — when he said he wanted his players to play with the energy Tshiebwe does.
“Is there a talent to it? Absolutely. The biggest thing, I think, is a tremendous want to do that. Because it’s hard. When you’re getting that many rebounds, I have enough respect for the coaching profession that when other teams have played against them, they made a conscious effort at keeping him off the offensive boards,” Barnes said.
Barnes said that Marvin Barnes once told him he wanted his teammates just to block out and he told them he would get all the rebounds.
“And he did, pretty much. I’m not sure how Kentucky is doing it, other than the fact that Oscar has a tremendous passion and drive to go get it. You admire it, because you want that from people,” Barnes said. “I think he understands the importance of it. What’s he’s doing, he’s got to (understand it). I’d like to get some of our guys with that mindset, to do it night in and night out like he’s done it.”
Vince Marrow’s relationship with recruits and their parents is what makes him so special. The UK associate coach/recruiting coordinator knows how to establish relationships that last long beyond a player’s recruitment.
However, he admits recruiting star receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was a bit different. Robinson originally committed to UK before flipping and signing with Nebraska. The former Western Hills star transferred to Kentucky after two years at Nebraska and set records for receptions and receiving yards this season. Now he’s headed to the NFL.
“You recruit some kids and some you get really close to,” Marrow said. “I got so close to Wan’Dale that he was like a son. I remember when people were a little pissed that he went to Nebraska.
“But I kind of understood. We had (receiver) Lynn (Bowden) playing quarterback and we were not throwing the ball. He left (UK) and everybody was killing him on Twitter. I tweeted out, ‘I love you and it’s good.’”
That was something Robinson and his family appreciated.
“His dad told me they never forgot that. His dad said after the first year at Nebraska they were already thinking about coming back to Kentucky,” Marrow said.
“That’s why you never burn bridges. Things can change. And like I said, I kind of understood why he went to Nebraska. But now with what he did and having (offensive coordinator) Liam Coen here, receivers want to come here. We owe Wan’Dale a lot for what he did.”
Kentucky softball is ranked in the preseason top 25 for the 13th straight season and coach Rachel Lawson certainly has another challenging schedule for the Cats, who finished 43-16 in 2021 and lost to host Alabama in the Super Regional.
The UK schedule includes games with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Alabama, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 10 Missouri, No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 12 Michigan, No. 15 Arizona, No. 17 LSU and No. 24 Liberty. Overall, Kentucky has 18 games scheduled against preseason top-25 teams.
The good news for UK fans is that the game with No. 1 Oklahoma will be in Lexington March 22 and the UK home opener March 4 will be against No. 12 Michigan.
“We are really young. We have a ton of freshmen but a ton of really talented players, too,” junior outfielder Tatum Spangler said. “All of us have to try and find our role and see what we can do for the team.
“I think we can have a really good team when we all start to mesh and get the hang of everything. When it comes to real games, we will be ready to roll.”
Kentucky returns All-American catcher Kayla Kowalik, the No. 3 player in the country according to Extra Innings Softball. Sophomore shortstop Erin ‘Coffee is listed at No. 69.
Kowalik became only UK’s fifth All-American — all during Lawson’s tenure — last year when she led the nation in batting average (.495) and hits (100). She had 11 doubles, six triples and 12 home runs and drove in 37 runs. She also had a .993 fielding percentage. She also had 23 stolen bases, the most by a UK player since 2009.
Coffel, the first freshman to start at shortstop for Lawson, hit .337 last season with 16 home runs and 56 runs batted-in, both team highs.
Quote of the Week: “He was the first Kentucky coach I ever knew. Little did that kid from Western Kentucky realize that one day he would get to know him personally. He was a kind, grateful man who was given an almost impossible task and yet still succeeded. Rest easy, Coach!” ESPN anchor Michael Eaves on Twitter after the passing of former UK coach Joe Hall.
Quote of the Week 2: “Some people are larger than life. Others make life larger and better for all of us. In a life that knew the biggest of victories on the biggest of stages, he B. Hall did both,” University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto after the passing of former UK coach Joe Hall.
Quote of the Week 3: “They a little bit struggle, but I’m always telling them: You guys are good! This is your freshman year. Look at me. I’m a junior. Don’t rush things,” center Oscar Tshiebwe on advice for freshmen teammates Bryce Hopkins and Daimion Collins.