Chesang Breaks 37 Year Old KU Record
Feb. 12, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –
One of the oldest records at the University of Kansas fell today as junior Benson Chesang won the 3,000-meter run at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., with a time of 7:59.46. Chesang broke the mark of Jayhawk legend Jim Ryun, who held the record of 8:00.73 for 37 years, since 1968.
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Chesang ran in just his second meet of the season to break the long-standing record that is also good for an NCAA provisional qualification.
“That is a record that he has been chasing and one that he wanted really bad,” Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine said. “Hopefully that time will catapult him into the NCAA championships and he can showcase his talents on a national level.”
Chesang was the Big 12 Conference cross country champion this year and finished seventh in the NCAA Championships to gain All-American status.
“He attempted to break eight minutes last week and he didn’t do it,” Redwine added. “This is a tremendous record-breaking performance. Jim’s record had been there for so long.”
The Jayhawks also competed in Ames, Iowa Saturday at day two of the ISU Classic. KU recorded two provisionally qualifying marks at the event.
Junior Sheldon Battle just missed an automatic entry to the NCAA Championships with a second place, 63-03.50 mark in the shot put. That throw is good enough for third place in the KU record books.
Senior Jeremy Mims also provisionally qualified. Mims finished 13th in the 800 with a time of 1:48.90.
Freshman Matt Baysinger continued his impressive first season with a second place finish in the 600 with a time of 1:10.94.
On the women’s side, senior Brooklyn Hann finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8:48. That time is good enough for second in the KU record books.
“As a team we are getting better,” Redwine said. “We are moving in the right direction and that is very exciting. We had a lot of athletes with personal records this weekend.”
With just two weeks before the Big 12 Indoor Championships, the Jayhawks will travel to Norman, Okla., next Saturday to compete in the Sooner Invitational.
