Thursday, April 19, 2007
Josh Kirk was the favorite entering the first day of the Kansas Relays decathlon competition Wednesday.
After the first five events, the Kansas senior found himself on top with a 70-point cushion, finishing the day with 3,686 points.
“It’s pretty comfortable as long as I do what I need to do, because tomorrow is really my strong day,” Kirk said.
KANSAN
KU Relays
Kirk started with a decent 100-meter dash and then won the long jump, his only victory of the day. Kirk’s most impressive performance came in the third event, the shot put, where he set a personal record with his throw of 40 feet and one inch. The mark is nearly a foot and a half further than his previous personal best. He said the change was due in large part to his dedication to the event.
“In the off-season I was trying to lift a lot and gain some weight so that my throws could increase,” Kirk said.
Kirk then tied a personal record in the high jump before finishing second in the 400-meter dash to freshman teammate Jacob Breth.
Breth made a showing at his first Kansas Relays, tallying 3,343 points and finishing at fifth place at the end of the first day.
Along with victory in the 400, Breth finished the high jump with five and 10 inches, more than six inches higher than what he said he was hoping for.
“I’m completely satisfied with my performance,” Breth said. “I was in seventh before the 400 so I jumped up two spots with that.”
In the heptathlon, freshman Chelsea Helm garnered 2,282 points through four events, placing eighth after one day of competition.
Helm’s time of 16.4 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles was a new personal best.
pullquote
I’m completely satisfied with my performance. I was in seventh before the 400 so I jumped up two spots with that.
- freshman Jacob Breth
“There are things that I’m proud of and things that I need to work on,” Helm said in a press release. “I think I did the best in the 100-meter hurdles. I have had some trouble with those, and I got through the whole race, so I was proud of myself.”
The first decathlon event begins at 8:30 a.m. today, which means that athletes need to be on the track around 7:15.
This may be a difficult task for someone like Kirk who, he said, struggles to get to sleep early.
“It’s hard for me to go to bed by eight or nine o’clock because I’ll be thinking about the events,” Kirk said.
Kansan sportswriter Taylor Bern can be contacted at tbern@kansan.com.
— Edited by Mark Vierthaler
Kansas decathlete finds niche
Josh Kirk explored basketball and soccer before finding success in the decathalon. ...
Jayhawks dominate day two
Decathletes walk away from day two of the decathlon with personal achievements ...
Two KU athletes in decathlon top five
Corbin Kratovil is second and Jacob Berth is fifth after day one ...
KU junior gets fifth in decathlon
Jacob Breth scored 6,320 but teammate Corbin Kratovil didn’t finish because of ...
Kansas dominates high jump in Men's Decathlon
Junior Nick Canton beats high jump record of the day during 2011 ...
Montemayor: Decathletes best all-around
The sum of yesterday and today’s parts tell the whole story of ...
Season success, good weather excites Jayhawks for ...
Kansas athletes ready for Relays after last weekend’s Invitational success.
Canton pleased with third place finish
Nick Canton of Kansas finishes his first ever Decathlon in third
Cold weather couldn’t stop Rebecca Neville Wednesday ...
Neville won three of the four events, earning 3,125 points to put ...
Nebraska takes top two spots in men's ...
Kansas sophomore Amanda Caines finished seventh place in the women's heptathlon.
Jayhawks succeed, break records in Kansas Relays
High school and college athletes, along with world-class Olympians, competed last week ...
Track team splits up to head to ...
Sprinters head to Arkansas while distance runners go up to Iowa.
Track team splits up to head to ...
Sprinters head to Arkansas while distance runners go up to Iowa.
Russian hammer throwers compete in Relays
Egor Agafonov brings home a victory, while Zlata Tarasova is not so ...
Relays brings together professional, collegiate athletes
The Jayhawks racked up numerous victories at the 80th Kansas Relays this ...
Senior dominates decathlon
The Kansas Relays are off and running, continuing through Saturday.
Track and Field hopes to keep momentum ...
The Kansas Relays will showcase some world-class athletes, including World Champions and ...
Track & field athletes advance to championship
Ten athletes will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Tack and Field Championship ...
Track and field team impresses at home ...
A new facility record, first-place performances and personal bests for the Jayhawks
Penn Relays disappointing for Jayhawks
Neither men’s nor women’s teams qualified in the 4x400 meter relays.
Former competitors run as teammates at Relays
Three freshmen look back on their high school careers and their futures ...
Track team gets All-Americans
Six Kansas Track and Field athletes became All-Americans at last weekend’s NCAA ...
Vollmer off to a solid start at ...
The 85th Kansas Relays began Wednesday with the men’s decathlon and women’s ...
Track team sets personal records, wins events ...
Jumpers, pole vaulters and sprinters all won weekend events.
Eight Jayhawks victorious in first outdoor meet
Eight Jayhawks won event titles and three regionally qualified in first outdoor ...
Finley leads Kansas to win over Missouri ...
Sophomore Mason Finley helps the Kansas track and field team win over ...
Kansas athlete takes third in heptathlon
After fouling two attempts, Rebecca Neville jumped 16 feet, 7.75 inches in ...
Webb runs sub-four mile, 'Batman' withdraws
Kansas Relays concludes its fourth and final day of events with record-setting ...
Relay fans witness history in the making
Two runners break a four-minute mile and Kansas’s own Lauren Bonds qualifies ...
Kansas track and field set to face ...
Kansas hosts Border Showdown in track and field for the first time ...
Olympians to star on Saturday
Two Jayhawk sprinters win gold
Butler claims gold and also runs a regional qualifying time.
Track and field outdoor season starts
The team as a whole had several top places, helping the Big ...
Outdoor track and field begins with solid ...
Track wins seven events in Invitational
The Kansas track team won seven events in the John Jacobs Invitational. ...
Five qualify for track and field regionals
While rain prevented pole vaulters from competing, athletes in other events fought ...
Track team loses dual meet to Tigers
Despite losing to Mizzou, Kansas track and field had some victories Friday.
Track team success despite loss to MU
The track team suffered a narrow defeat to rival, but boasted many ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID