Senior sprinter Nickesha Anderson had been in training mode for months, waiting to compete in her last season of outdoor track. After this weekend’s meet in Arizona, one could say all that training paid off.

The Kansas track and field team headed west to Tucson, Ariz., for the Arizona Invitational, better known as the Jim Click Shootout.

It was the team’s first official meet of the outdoor season and it started off with nicer weather than last weekend.

“It was a lot better than Kansas and the weather we train in,” said senior sprinter Victoria Howard.

The Jayhawks managed to get several top finishes throughout the day, Anderson collecting victories in three out of the four events she competed in.

“I think it went well for my first meet. I wasn’t planning on doing anything drastic,” Anderson said.

Anderson said it had been quite some time since she has had to compete in multiple events in one day, but coming into the meet mentally prepared to compete in multiple events helped.

Individually, Anderson got victories in the 100-meter (11.53 seconds) and 200-meter dash (23.56 seconds), not only taking first place but also regionally qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Anderson also participated in the 4x100 relay with senior Victoria Howard, sophomore Kendra Bradley and junior Aubree Dorsey taking first with a time of 45.89 seconds.

“She ran an amazing back stretch,” Howard said of Anderson’s performance.

Howard placed third in both the 100- (11.96 seconds) and 200-meter (24.53 seconds) dash events.

Howard said that the 4x100 relay wasn’t what they had expected, but with the new members of the relay team they hoped to get faster as the season progresses.

Anderson also participated on the 4x400 relay team placing second with a time of 3:48.45.

The Jim Click Shootout was different than other track meets Kansas has participated in this year. Teams were paired up according to their conference and combined total points to determine which conference won.

Kansas and the University of Nebraska represented the Big 12 Conference, University of Washington and University of Arizona represented the Pac-10 and Penn State and University of Wisconsin represented the Big 10 Conference.

After totaling up the victories and top eight performances, Kansas and Nebraska took first place with a total of 496.50 points.

“It’s early and only the first meet, but you only get better week after week,” Howard said.

The Jayhawks will compete at the John Jacobs Invitational Saturday in Norman, Okla.

— — Edited by Sam Speer