Track and Field Heads to New York City
Feb. 6, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – One of the biggest and most competitive meets of the year awaits the University of Kansas track and field teams in New York, N.Y. this weekend. The two-day New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the New Balance Track and FieldCenter will feature representatives from approximately 100 teams from across the country. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The meet begins with the men’s shot put at 10:30 a.m. Central Standard time on Friday with the track events getting started with the women’s 3,000-meter run at 10:45 a.m. Day one will end with the women’s distance medley relay at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s field events begin at 9:05 a.m., the track events start at 9 a.m. and the meet concludes with the men’s 1,600-meter relay at 5 p.m.
This is the first scored meet of the season for the Jayhawks and it features an unforgiving field. Nine ranked teams from the women’s side and 10 of the top 30 schools from the men’s side will be in attendance. Both the Kansas men’s and women’s teams were each ranked in the most recent ratings released by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday. The men jumped in at number 29 and the women fell in as the 20th-ranked team in the country.
At the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., last week, five Jayhawks improved upon their NCAA qualifying times. Senior Kate Sultanova highlighted the weekend for Kansas as she took home Female Athlete of the Meet honors with an impressive win in the pole vault. Her height of 4.20 meters (13-09.25 ft.) automatically qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Championships and was the nation’s leading vault at the time. It remains as the second-best effort in the country heading into this weekend’s competition. Senior Egor Agafonov, defending national champion in the weight throw, made his season-debut at the Husker Invitational by winning the event with an NCAA provisional throw. His toss of 21.24 meters (69-08.25 ft.) is tops in the Big 12.
Complete results of the New Balance Collegiate Invitational can be found at www.kuathletics.com shortly after the conclusion of each day’s events.
