Friday, April 20, 2007
Entering day two of the decathlon, Kansas senior Josh Kirk needed only to maintain his performance from day one to come away with the crown.
Instead he stepped it up a notch and won the pole vault, javelin throw and the overall title with 7,152 total points.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
While Kirk’s prowess in the pole vault led to a comfortable lead, his three-inch edge in the javelin came as a bit of a surprise.
“I did better in all of my weaknesses, and worse on all of my strengths, so I guess that’s good news,” Kirk said in a press release. “Whenever all of those are up to par, it will be a pretty good score.”
Kirk opened the day at 8:30 a.m. with a time of 16.35 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, good for fourth place. His off-season strength training then paid dividends in the discus with a second place throw of 119-05 feet.
Kirk’s third event, the pole vault, is admittedly his best event of the decathlon, and that showed on Thursday as the Olathe native cleared 15-03, a new personal outdoor record.
After that it was smooth sailing.
nutgraf
Kirk’s third event, the pole vault, is admittedly his best event of the decathlon, and that showed on Thursday as the Olathe native cleared 15-03, a new personal outdoor record.
“I knew I had the victory wrapped up after the pole-vault. I was just going strictly for points,” Kirk said.
His javelin distance of 185-09 edged out Tulsa’s Thomas Stoltz by three inches for first place, and then Kirk closed out his day in the 1,500 meters with a third place time of 4:38.63.
Freshman Jacob Breth finished his first Kansas Relays in sixth place with 5,826 points.
Breth struggled on the 110-meter hurdles and then took third in the discus, fourth in the 1,500 and set a personal record in the javelin by more than 30 feet.
The camaraderie of the Kansas Relays is something that really appealed to Breth, a Wichita native.
“We’ve been hanging out with each other for two days. We talked with, cheered and motivated each other,” Breth said. “I just had a great time. I can’t wait to do it again.”
Freshman Chelsea Helm finished the heptathlon with 3,812 points for seventh place.
“There are a couple things I need to work on, but, overall, I was pleased,” Helm said. “The corrections I know that I need to make are ones that I’m capable of, so it went OK.”
With an eye toward nationals, Kirk’s point total puts him right on the cusp of last year’s cut-off, and while that’s on his mind he’s still focused on enjoying himself.
“It’s fun, especially here at home,” Kirk said. “I had never won the relays in any event, so I’m excited.”
Kansan sportswriter Taylor Bern can be contacted at tbern@kansan.com.
— Edited by Trevan McGee
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