The state champion Mercer County boys track team also enjoyed getting to meet UK All-American Abby Steiner. (Mercer County Track Photo)
After dominating the Class AA state track competition Friday and winning both the girls and boys team championships, Mercer County athletes took their time getting off the University of Kentucky track.
“We were celebrating and sometimes we take a little longer than we are supposed to,” admitted Mercer coach Terry yeast.
However, that turned into perfect timing for the Titans because the UK track and field athletes who are now in Eugene, Ore., for the national championships came in to practice.
“Three of them came walking toward us and (my daughter) Timberlyn (Yeast) noticed one was the 400 (meter) hurdler (Masai Russell) who is really good. Then I heard somebody say, ‘Is that Abby.’ Timberlyn goes, ‘Oh my God, that is her.’”
It was indeed All-American Abby Steiner, who will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and 4×100 relay at the national championships. She is one of the elite track and field athletes in the USA and has broken numerous records in the last two years.
“She was as sweet as they come,” coach Yeast said. “First, it was just the girls with her. The boys were in awe. She took individual pictures with the girls and took a group photo with the girls. Then the boys yelled, ‘What about us?’ Then they got pictures with her. It was pretty awesome and she was so kind to them when I know she probably needed to be training for the NCAA’s.”
Beau Brown won the 200 state championship for the Titans and the Mercer coach said he had been using Steiner to motivate him.
“He is pretty good but I like to keep him humble. I would always tell him he was one of the faster kids in the state but the one thing he had not done was beat Abby Steiner’s time,” coach Yeast said. “I told Abby there was a kid I had been picking on because he could not beat her time but at the state he broke 22 seconds and can officially say he is faster than Abby Steiner.”
“She thought that was sweet. She gave him a high five and congratulated him.”
Timberlyn Yeast won the 200 in 24.45 seconds, a new Class AA record. She also won the 400 dash and was on the winning 4×400 team. She was also second in the 100 dash in 12.15 seconds.
“She is a true lover of basketball but it amazes me how much she knows about all the superstars in track and field,” coach Yeast said. “The look she had when she broke that record was the same look she had when she saw Abby.”
It was not her first time to meet a UK track star at the state meet. Timberlyn and teammate Jai Maria Piazza, who won the 100 hurdles, got to meet recent Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin at an earlier state meet when she was running for Kentucky
“Timberlyn loves the competitiveness of track and field. If you could get rid of practice, she would fall in love more with it. If you did not know her, you would think she loved it, but basketball is her love,” Terry Yeast said.
She was on the Kentucky junior all-star team and played against the Kentucky senior team one day after the state track meet and against the Indiana junior all-star team one day later. She’s had two games with her high school team each day this week and will resume AAU play July 5 in Indianapolis.
She has numerous Division I scholarship offers in basketball but last weekend she again proved she can be special on the track — and then got to meet a UK track superstar for the second time.
“It was a big deal to her but it was to everyone of our girls and boys,” Terry Yeast said. “They all knew Steiner and now we hope she does great at the NCAA Championships.”
2 Responses
Cool story Larry!!
Says a lot about the UK superstar