Day 2 of 92nd Kansas Relays highlighted by 4 KU victories
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas track & field’s four victories highlighted the action at Rock Chalk Park on day two of the 92nd Kansas Relays presented by RCB Bank.
Freshman Toni Englund’s one-point heptathlon victory and junior Gleb Dudarev’s third-consecutive win in the hammer throw at the Kansas Relays marked the first two gold medal finishes of the day for the Jayhawks.
Going into the final event of the heptathlon, Englund held a narrow 17-point lead over the next closest competitor. With a third-place finish in the final event of the heptathlon, the 800-meter run, Englund was able to hang on to the top spot, winning the title with 4,769 points, one point above Emporia State’s Brianna Schmitz.
Freshman Cameryn Thomas posted a third-place finish in the heptathlon with 4,666 points and senior Teri Huslig finished fourth with 4,658 points, aided by a personal-best time in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 2:18.78 as the event’s fastest finisher.
Dudarev, the NCAA leader in the hammer throw and the No. 12 performer in the world coming into the Relays, claimed KU’s second title of the day in the event with a best mark of 72.29 meters (237-2 ft.).
After an afternoon break in the action, Kansas returned to the track and notched wins in both the women’s and men’s unseeded 800-meter run to kick off the evening’s distance carnival. Sophomore Catherine Liggett won with a time of 2:14.65 in the women’s race and sophomore Ethan Donley posted a personal-best time of 1:53.28 in the victory.
Sophomore Cameron Gueldner led the Jayhawks in the 5,000-meter run, finishing second overall with a personal-best time of 17:02.91 and senior Lauren Harrell followed behind in third with a PR time of 17:22.59.
Kansas posted three of the top four times in the men’s 5,000-meter run, led by sophomore Ben Butler, who finished second with a personal-best time of 14:17.13, shaving 15 seconds off his previous best. Junior Michael Melgares finished in third in the 5K with a time of 14:38.55 and senior Chris Melgares came in fourth with a time of 14:39.23.
UP NEXT
Friday’s Kansas Relays action is slated to begin at 9 a.m. with the high school girls’ 100-meter hurdles. Collegiate track action is scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. with the women’s 100-meter hurdles and field events are set to start at 1 p.m. with the women’s shot put.
