Geubelle's Triple Jump Closes Tyson Invite with a Bang
Feb. 9, 2013
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kansas senior Andrea Geubelle moved herself into the top-10 of the all-time NCAA triple jump performance list as she claimed the event title Saturday afternoon at the Tyson Invitational. Geubelle’s mark broke her previous school record by nearly 10 inches and is the No. 2 mark in the NCAA this year.
Geubelle entered the day coming off a school-record performance in the long jump a week ago in New York City. Her leap of 6.69 meters (21-11.5 ft.) gave her the win at the Armory Collegiate Invite and the No. 1 mark in the nation. Saturday in the triple jump, the University Place, Wash., product again wasted little time in again rewriting the school record books.
On just her second attempt of the afternoon, Geubelle flew to new personal and school record mark of 13.91 meters (45-7.75 ft.). The mark topped her previous best of 13.67 meters (44-10.25 ft.), which she hit en route to the 2012 NCAA indoor triple jump title last March. Her jump also makes her the ninth-farthest indoor triple jumper in NCAA history.
Geubelle was unable to improve on the mark on her four remaining attempts but still managed to take home the win by 2.5 feet. The win extends her triple jump winning streak to 11 of the last 13 competitions versus collegians and gives her the 11th-farthest jump in the world in 2013.
The KU men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams closed out the meet on a high note. The men’s group, comprised of Michael Stigler, Michael Hester, Kyle Clemons and Kenneth McCuin, were entered in the college division. The quartet was running together for the first time since posting the second-fastest outdoor 4×400-meters in school history at the Big 12 Championships last May. With Stigler and Hester running an impressive first 800 meters the Jayhawks entered the second half of the race neck-and-neck with Big 12-rival Oklahoma. The senior, Clemons, ran a 46.14 split to give the team a commanding lead entering the final 400 meters. McCuin kept the Jayhawks in front and anchored the team home in 3:09.98. The time earned the group the overall victory and the 11th-fastest time in the NCAA this year.
On the women’s side, the relay team of Diamond Dixon, Denesha Morris, Taylor Washington and Rhavean King passed the baton around in a season-best time of 3:40.97. The time was good enough for seventh-place in the invitational section, which featured a national championship-caliber field.
Natalie Becker put together a career performance in the invitational section of the 3,000 meters. The junior out of St. Louis ran steady in third-place for nearly the entire race, closing the gap between herself and the leaders over the final 800 meters. Becker crossed the finish in 9:43.68 to place in the third spot, improving on her previous best by nearly three seconds. The time puts Becker at 11th in the Big 12 with the conference meet just two weeks away.
For the second-straight week, sophomore Greg Lupton turned in an impressive performance as he took part in the college division pole vault. The Kingwood, Texas native made it through the first two heights quickly, notching two clearances in as many attempts and topping the 5.26 meters (17-3 ft.). Lupton came close but had no luck clearing 5.41 meters (17-9 ft.) which went on to garner him a third-place finish and his second-best mark of the season.
Earlier in the afternoon Dixon and Morris posted season-bests in the 200 meters. In a field of over 80 competitors, the KU duo held their own, both notching top-20 finishes. Morris shaved almost half a second off of her season best with her time of 24.11, earning her a 19th-place finish. Dixon completed the lap in 24.14, the second-fastest indoor 200-meters of her career, to finish 20th.
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SEATTLE – For the second time in a week, junior Josh Munsch recorded a career-best and moved up the all-time school performance list in the mile as he competed at the Husky Classic Saturday. He was joined in Seattle by fellow Jayhawks Evan Landes and Reid Buchanan who also turned in personal bests at the meet that featured the most competitive distance fields in the nation this season.
Munsch, who hails from Hays, Kan., was coming off an outstanding mile race a week ago at the Armory Collegiate Invitation, running to a fifth-place finish and the seventh-fastest mile in school history at 4:04.14. Saturday afternoon the junior again turned in a career-performance, completing the eight laps of the 200-meter track in 4:03.18 to finish fifth overall. The time was nearly a full second better than the race he ran just seven days ago and gets him ever-closer to breaking the elusive four-minute barrier. Munsch’s time moves him into the NCAA top-50 this season and ranks him ninth in the Big 12.
Buchanan joined Munsch in the heats of the mile-run. The sophomore clocked in with a time of 4:10.76 to improve on his previous best by two seconds. Buchanan’s time was good enough to earn him a 39th-place finish.
On Friday night, Landes competed in his first collegiate 5,000 meters. The Mulvane, Kan., product ran the 3.1-mile race in 14:22.41 to claim a 24th-place finish. The time is the third-fastest by a Big 12 athlete this season.
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AMES, Iowa – The KU men saw two solid performances in the final day of the Iowa State Classic Saturday afternoon. In the seeded section of the 600 yards junior Dominique Manley ran to a season-best time of 1:12.98 to finish 10th overall. Manley returned to the track later in the day as part of the men’s 4×400-meter relay team. Freshman Nick Ucherek, junior Teddy Oteba, Manley and junior Nick Seckfort combined to run 3:20.56, earning the quartet am 18th-place finish.
The Jayhawks now have two weeks to prepare for the Big 12 Indoor Championships which will take place in Ames, Iowa Feb. 22-23. The KU women will look to improve upon a third-place finish in last year’s league meet, while the men will look to rebound from last season’s 10th-place finish. For complete coverage of the Jayhawks’ performances in Ames log on to KUAthletics.com and follow on Twitter at KU_Track.
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