Friday, February 29, 2008
Sprint and hurdles coach Elisha Brewer’s advice is simple. This weekend at the Big 12 Track and Field Championships in Lincoln, Neb., she will tell her athletes to “bring it.”
Brewer elaborated on her simple, yet powerful, message. “You’re prepared,” she said. “You’re ready to perform your best and know that your best is good enough. Bring it.”
Today and tomorrow, the 10th-ranked women and 28th-ranked men will battle for the Big 12 title. The Jayhawks will look to better their sixth place men’s finish and seventh place women’s finish in 2007. To do this, Kansas will bring three defending Big 12 indoor champions as well as 30 Jayhawks who are ranked in the top 10 in the conference.
Senior pole-vaulter Kate Sultanova clears the bar during Saturday's track meet at the Anshcutz Sports Pavillion. Sultanova won the women's pole vault.
A week off from competition should give the team plenty of rest and time to prepare for the conference championships. Senior pole vaulter Libby Harmon commented on the much-needed resting time.
“It’s more mental rest because competition is very mentally demanding,” she said. “It’s nice to relax and take your mind away from track for a weekend and get refreshed for the Big 12s.”
Harmon, who placed 7th in the outdoor conference championships last year, is extremely excited to compete this weekend.
“The Big 12 Conference is a power house,” she said. “It is one of the most stacked conferences in the country. It’s an exciting atmosphere.”
One Jayhawk who has never experienced the exciting atmosphere that the Big 12 Championships bring is Missouri Baptist University transfer Nickesha Anderson. The junior sprinter posted this year’s fastest 200-meter time in the world at her last competition and is looking to better it.
She discussed how her recent performance put pressure on her to do well this weekend.
“I have to realize that everybody is coming after me,” she said. “It’s going to be hard and I’m going to kick it start to finish. I’m going to bring everything that I have.”
Brewer feels that Anderson will do very well at the Big 12s. “When it comes down to it, she knows how to get it done,” she said.
While Anderson has never been to the Big 12 Championships, senior pole vaulter Kate Sultanova definitely has. The defending women’s indoor pole vault Big 12 champion currently has the highest women’s vault in the country. She commented on what the atmosphere at the conference championship was like.
“There’s just more pressure,” she said. “It’s a battle. You go there and even if you’re ranked number one it doesn’t mean that you’re going to win.”
In her last meet at Arkansas, Sultanova began using a taller and thicker pole that would give her more spring and ultimately send her higher. The bigger pole requires more strength and technical skill, but is a step that Sultanova is willing to take in order to defend her title.
“You never know what to expect in the pole vault,” she said.
Senior triple jumper Crystal Manning has been performing very well lately, in addition to Anderson and Sultanova. At the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., Manning broke the school record in the triple jump. She is currently ranked fifth in the nation.
Last year Manning was unable to make the cut to go the conference championships, so this year she plans on making an impression.
“It makes me feel like I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of,” she said of her recent school record-breaking jump. “I know that I can jump way farther than I did.”
Confidence like Manning’s is what the Jayhawks need as they battle for a Big 12 title this weekend. The team plans on taking Brewer’s advice to “bring it.”
“The Big 12 Championship is just another opportunity for our kids to continue to do what they’ve been doing,” Brewer said. “They don’t have to do anything different because their best is good enough.”
— Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
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