Krechyk's Record Day Concludes Strong KU Showing in New York
Feb. 2, 2013
|
|||
 |
|||
|
NEW YORK – Senior Alena Krechyk broke her own school weight throw record and claimed the event title as the Kansas men’s and women’s track & field teams competed on the second and final day of the Armory Collegiate Invitational in the legendary Armory Track & Field Center Saturday. Including Krechyk, three school records were broken or tied by Kansas women as the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks finished third in the team scoring, amassing 57.5 points against a field featuring six of the top-10 ranked teams in the nation.
Krechyk, who broke her own school record at the same meet a season ago, entered the day boasting a season best of 20.51 meters (67-3.5 ft.) and was looking to again put together a memorable performance inside the throws cage of the Armory.
The Grodnos, Belarus product didn’t waste any time, heaving the 20-pound weight 21.76 meters (71-4.75 ft.) on her first throw of the morning. In only one throw Krechyk smashed her own school record by over two feet, broke the Armory Collegiate meet record and secured the No. 2 mark in the NCAA this season.
Krechyk went on to record throws over 70 feet on her final two attempts of the preliminary flight, a distance no other competitor would be able to reach. Her opening mark let her cruise into finals where she was unable to improve on her opening throw. Krechyk’s winning toss was over 18 inches better than the rest of the field and gave her the second victory of her 2013 campaign.
A day after finishing fifth in the finals of the 60-meter dash, Paris Daniels returned to the track looking to notch another top finish in the 200 meters. The senior began the day by running to the second-fastest qualifying time (23.58) in the preliminary heats and advancing to the finals later in the afternoon. In the finals, Daniels sped around the track, nearly catching up with the leaders down the homestretch to cross the finish line in a personal-best 23.46. The time earned her a third-place finish in a highly-competitive field, the majority of which she will likely see again at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The St. Louis native still boasts 60-meter and 200-meter times that are ranked in the top-10 of the NCAA rankings.
On the men’s side, Josh Munsch turned some heads in the championship division of the men’s mile. The junior out of Hays, Kan., led for 200 meters of the race and hung with the front pack over the final quarter mile to clock in with his fastest-ever finish in the event. Munsch’s time, 4:04.15, earned him a fifth-place finish and is the seventh-fastest indoor mile in school history. Only two Jayhawks (Charlie Gruber in 2001 and Colby Wissel in 2009) have run faster indoor miles in the past twenty years.
Alex Bishop looked to add to his impressive string of performances as he competed in the championship division pole vault on Saturday afternoon. The junior again made it look easy as he advanced through the early heights and cleared 5.30 meters (17-4.5 ft.) for the third time this year. Trying to notch his third personal best in as many meets, Bishop barely clipped the 5.40 meter (17-8.5 ft.) bar on all three of his attempts. Bishop ended the day with a fifth-place finish, his sixth top-five finish of the season.
The KU vaulters also saw an impressive performance out of sophomore Greg Lupton in the college division pole vault Saturday morning. The sophomore cleared a top bar of 5.30 meters (17-4.5 ft.) en route to claiming his first individual victory as a Jayhawk. The mark is just half an inch behind the team leader, Bishop, and moves Lupton up the performance lists to No. 16 in the NCAA and No. 3 on the Big 12 charts. The KU men now feature two Jayhawks among the top three in the conference’s pole vault rankings.
Elsewhere on the track the KU men saw a solid outing from redshirt freshman Evan Landes, who took part in the championship division of the 3,000 meters. In only his fourth collegiate 3K, the Mulvane, Kan., native hung with some of the top distance runners in the NCAA, staying in the top four through the first 2,500 meters. Landes fell back somewhat in the final two laps but clocked in with a time of 8:11.79 to finish seventh overall. The time is nearly 17 seconds faster than his previous best and ranks him in the top-five of the Big 12 this year.
In the men’s college division 800 meters junior Nick Seckfort also had a career day, charging down the final 100 meters to secure a third-place overall finish and a personal best time, crossing the finish in 1:54.09.
Seckfort returned to the track later in the night to run the lead leg of the men’s 4×800-meter relay. The junior, along with Dalen Fink, Brendan Soucie and Daniel Koech completed the two-mile race in 7:43.68, enough to earn the quartet a ninth-place finish. The time is the third-fastest ever run by a Kansas squad and is the best 4×800-meter race run by the Jayhawks in nearly ten years.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will divide for three meets next weekend as they travel to events across the country. The majority of the teams will head south for the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Feb. 8-9. Select athletes will jet to the northwest to take part in the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., also Feb. 8-9 while some Jayhawks will hit the road for Ames, Iowa and take part in the ISU Classic Feb. 7-9. For updates, results and complete recaps of the weekend’s events log on to KUAthletics.com and follow on Twitter at KU_Track.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
