Long jumper sets personal-best leap

Monday, April 23, 2007

In front of a crowd filled with friends and world-class athletes alike, senior Eric Babb stunned the field, the crowd and himself with a personal record leap of 25-09 feet to win the long jump.

Photo by Amanda Sellers

Hugh Murphy, Baldwin City junior, throws the javlein during high winds on Friday afternoon. Despite the conditions, Murphy's farthest throw landed at 192 feet and two inches.

Babb out-dueled 2006 Kansas Relays triple jump champion Wilbert Walker of Lincoln University to take the crown.

“I felt good,” Babb said in a press release. “I had all my family here today so it was a great accomplishment for me.”

Babb increased his distance on every attempt, eventually settling on his winning distance. Walker, the top seed entering the event, finished at 25-05 and Bermuda’s Tyrone Smith came in third at 25-03.

Babb, a 2006 first-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference, surprised himself with his early success.

“It was pretty crazy to see my winning mark,” Babb said in a press release. “I wasn’t expecting my first jump in the finals to do so well. When I saw that mark, I knew I was going to be able to jump well today.”

Field Notes:

-Senior Abby Emsick finished second in the discus with a throw of 170-05. Emsick’s toss was one foot and five inches short of winner Dace Ruskule of Nebraska. Emsick is the school-record holder in the discus.

-Junior Kate Sultanova finished third in the pole vault, clearing a height of 13-07. Junior Libby Harmon tied for sixth at 12-05 and senior Laura Gjerde and freshman Brittany Parker tied for eighth at the same height. All are regional qualifiers.

-In the men’s pole vault, freshman Jordan Scott finished with a fourth-place height of 16-06. Freshman Kirk Cooper came in eighth with the same height, which is a regional qualifying height for both. Sophomore Ryan Hays cleared 16-00 to tie for ninth.

-Junior Crystal Manning finished fifth in the invitational long jump with her leap of 19-10. Manning is the school-record holder in the triple jump.

-Former Kansas All-Americans Scott Russell and Sheldon Battle finished first and second in their respective events. Russell, a two-time NCAA champion, easily won the javelin throw with a toss of 264-08, nearly 40 feet better than second place. Battle threw for 63-10 to finish second in the shot put.

Kansan sportswriter Taylor Bern can be contacted at tbern@kansan.com.

— Edited by Lisa Tilson

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