Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Home meets for track and field are rare. Home meets that feature Olympic athletes are even more rare. Starting today, students will have the opportunity to watch the Jayhawks compete with some of the best athletes in the world.
Kansas will host its 81st annual Kansas Relays at Memorial Stadium. The relays take place during the next three days and conclude on Saturday.
The Jayhawks are optimistic after posting several impressive performances at the John Jacobs Invitational last weekend in Norman, Okla.
Senior hurdler Ashley Brown tied her school record in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and junior Nickesha Anderson broke the meet record in the women’s 200-meter dash, set seven years ago. Anderson’s time of 23.7 seconds is currently the fastest women’s 200-meter time in the NCAA.
In addition to Anderson and Brown’s solid performances, nine Kansas athletes regionally qualified at last weekend’s meet.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Competitors line up to practice before the women's pole vault Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.
Regionally qualifying for the women were Anderson, Brown, junior Victoria Howard in the 200-meter dash, senior Alicia McGregor in the 3,000-meter dash, senior pole-vaulter Libby Harmon, freshman pole-vaulter Julia Cummings and senior long-jumper Crystal Manning.
Manning competed against former KU athlete Charisse Bacchus in the long jump and took home the victory in an exciting finish. Her jump of 6.29 meters bested Bacchus’s by two hundredths of a meter. Manning’s 6.29-meter jump is the fifth best in KU history.
Also successful for the women was junior Zlata Trasova, who placed second in the women’s hammer throw at the University of Georgia . She regionally qualified with her throw of 55.44 meters.
On the men’s side of the event, senior Egor Agafonov took home the victory for the Jayhawks in his outdoor debut. The two-time national indoor champion won the event with his throw of 67.03 meters and regionally qualified.
The Jayhawks now look forward to the Kansas Relays. Kansas will face some tough competition with rivals Missouri and Kansas State. Missouri’s five indoor All-Americans and Kansas States’ 10 returning athletes from the 2007 outdoor season will present Kansas with a big challenge.
Wednesday’s Kansas Relays schedule
10:00 a.m.- Decathlon 100 Meter Dash
10:30 a.m.- Heptathlon 100 Meter Hurdles
10:45 a,m,- Decathlon Long Jump
11:15 a.m.- Heptathlon High Jump
12:35 p.m.- Decathlon Shot Put
1:45 p.m.- Heptathlon Shot Put
2:25 p.m.- Decathlon High Jump
3:15 p.m.- Heptathlon 200 Meter Dash
4:30 p.m.- Decathlon 400 Meter Dash
In addition to the competitive rivalries, the relays will showcase some world-class athletes in the elite athlete category.
Wallace Spearmon Jr. will compete in two events on Saturday. He is currently the American record-holder in the indoor 200-meter dash. Also competing will be Olympian Muna Lee, 400-meter hurdles World Champion Bershawn Jackson and shot put World Champion Christian Cantwell.
Lee, who is a graduate of Central High School in Kansas City, MO, placed seventh in the 200-meter dash for team USA at the 2004 Olympics. She will run in the women’s 400-meter hurdles on Saturday at 4:20 pm.
The Kansas Relays take place all day today and conclude Saturday evening. Admission is free for KU students and costs $10 for adults.
—Edited by Russell Davies
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