Eight KU athletes compete track and field championships
Starting this weekend two men and six women will compete in the NCAA Indor Track & Field Championships.
The championships will be in Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, March 14th, 2008
Junior sprinter Nickesha Anderson has two things to be happy about this weekend. Not only will she compete in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, but she is turning 23 on Saturday.
“My expectation is to give myself a present this weekend because it’s my birthday,” Anderson said.
The Hanover Parish, Jamaica native will compete in her first NCAA championships this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Anderson will run both the 60- and 200-meter dash for the Jayhawks. Earlier this week she was named Midwest Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Joining Anderson will be five other women and two men from the sixth ranked women’s team and 22nd ranked men’s team.
“The athletes that did make the NCAA championships are very competitive,” head coach Stanley Redwine said. “They are what we want Kansas to be. On the women’s side we have more than we’ve ever had at the indoor championships.”
Sophomore pole-vaulter Jordan Scott and senior weight-thrower Egor Agafonov represent the men, while seniors Crystal Manning and Kate Sultanova and juniors Stephanie Horton, Sha’Ray Butler Nickesha Anderson, and Charity Stowers represent the women.
Scott is excited about competing in his first indoor national championships.
“I’m nervous, but also really excited,” Scott said. “Practice has been going really well and I’m excited to see how high I can jump.”
This season, Scott took home his second Big 12 Title in the pole vault and is ranked third in the nation. This weekend, he plans on using a thicker and stronger pole to set a personal record.
On the women’s side of the pole vault, Sultanova will compete in her second national indoor meet. Last season, she placed third in the event at nationals. This season, Sultanova took home her second Big 12 Title and is looking for another victory.
Manning will compete in the 1,600-meter relay and women’s triple jump. She has been to outdoor nationals twice, but never indoors.
“My expectation is just to compete really aggressive,” she said. Manning is ranked sixth in the triple jump and has the school record for the event at 13.54 meters.
In addition to Manning, the women’s 1,600 relay will consist of Stowers, Butler and Anderson. The four women recently broke the school record at the Iowa State Invitational on March 8. They shattered their old record, set earlier in the season, by almost 4 seconds.
Rounding out the national competitors for Kansas will be weight-throwers Agafonov and Horton.
Agafonov will defend his national title. He is the No. 1 weight thrower in the nation.
Horton’s second place finish at the Big 12 Championships gave her a women’s weight throw school record at 16.80 meters. She is ranked ninth in the event.
The NCAA National Indoor Track & Field Championships begin tomorrow at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
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