Monday, March 2, 2009
Coach Stanley Redwine knows by competing in the Big 12, nothing is ever given; you have to work for it. Despite its best efforts in one of the most competitive meets of the indoor season, the Kansas track and field team had a disappointing showing at the Big 12 Indoor Conference Championship. With the women placing ninth and the men 11th, Redwine said he wasn’t happy with the team’s placement and had hopes of placing higher.
It was especially disappointing on the women’s side. Last year, the women placed third. Redwine said one key component was the absence of senior Nickeshia Anderson.
“It shows what one person can do for the team,” Redwine said of Anderson. Last year, Anderson scored points in every event she competed in.
Despite its poor showing at the Big 12 competition, the team did come away with some highlights.
Scott Three-Peats in the Pole Vault
Junior pole-vaulter Jordan Scott loves competition. Scott joins the likes of Egor Agafonov as the only Jayhawk to win three consecutive Big 12 titles in an event.
“After winning it the first two times, I wouldn’t be happy if I had gotten second,” Scott said. Scott won with a jump of 18-feet, 2.5-inches.
“Anytime I can go over 18 feet I’m happy with,” Scott said.
This time Scott had to come from behind to get his third straight victory. Scott landed in third place after failing to clear 17-feet, 6-inches on his first attempt.
Stowers and Bonds take second place
Senior Charity Stowers and junior Lauren Bonds were two of the only Jayhawks on the women’s team to put up a lot of points. Stowers took second place in the 600-yard run and Bonds in the 1,000-meters.
For Stowers, it was the final indoor season for the Hartsville, Ga., senior. She said the preliminary rounds didn’t go as well as she’d hoped taking second place with a time of 1:21.80. The time was a personal best for her.
“I knew it was the last race I was going to run and my last indoor conference, so I had to leave it all on the track,” Stowers said.
For Bonds, it was another accomplishment under her belt as she took second in the 1,000-meter with a school record of 2:46.60. Bonds had also attained the school’s one-mile record at the Iowa State Classic last month.
“It’s one of my goals since I’ve been at KU,” Bonds said. “It’s nice especially to get them now before my senior year.”
Bonds said this year’s competition in the 1,000-meter was very competitive with a lot talented girls, but that she was happy with her own performance.
Wissel scores big in the distance events
Other than Scott, Wissel was one of the few Jayhawks to score points in any event. Wissel took fifth in the 5,000-meter on Friday with a time of 14:18.08 and third in the 3,000-meter on Saturday running a time of 8:04.
Wissel’s performance in the 3,000-meter was enough to qualify him provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championship, making it the third distance event he’s provisionally qualified for. But Wissel said it didn’t mean anything to him unless he made it to nationals.
In the 3,000-meter, Wissel said he’d started slow, but picked up after the first mile. Wissel said at 600-meters he had tried to make his move to the front, but the winner freshman German Fernandez outran him.
“He’s like the modern-day Jim Ryun,” Wissel said of Fernandez. “He’s a great cross-country runner and a great miler.”
While the majority of the team is currently preparing for the outdoor season, Bonds and Wissel will continute to focus on their indoor strategies for the upcoming Arkansas Last Chance Meet in Fayetteville on Friday. If the two score high in Arkansas, they will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Indoor Nationals competition.
“I definitely like their chances of getting in,” Redwine said of Bonds and Wissel.
— — Edited by Jesse Trimble
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