Stowe Topples 3,000 Meter School Record at Husky Classic
Feb. 12, 2012
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SEATTLE – Jayhawk senior Rebeka Stowe broke the Kansas school record in the 3,000 meters Saturday night at the Flotrack Husky Classic inside the Dempsey Indoor Track Facility. Stowe ran to a personal-best 9:30.18, which topped former Jayhawk Lauren Bonds’ previous indoor record of 9:30.9.
“I was actually surprised when I saw the time, especially since I felt like the pace in the race was pretty slow,” Stowe explained following the race. “I did some good things today. I’m excited about the record, but I still have a long way to go if I want to compete at the National meet.”
Stowe, who was running alongside a handful of professional runners, got out to a good start, before getting caught in the middle of a congested pack midway through the race. The senior broke free and finished strong, however, placing 28th overall, crossing the finish line in 9:30.18 and, not only the collecting the school record, but also moving into the top 10 in the conference standings for the first time this year.
“I feel pretty honored breaking Lauren (Bond’s) record,” said Stowe. “Especially seeing where she’s at now is really encouraging about what I could accomplish in the future. I’m definitely taking some great things out of this weekend but I still have some work to do.”
This isn’t the first time the Olathe, Kan., native has found her name in the KU record books, as she already holds the school’s top mark in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase and was a member of the school-record setting distance medley relay team in 2010.
Joining Stowe in Seattle for the Husky Classic was a host of KU athletes that will come home with some memorable performances.
Once again staking her claim as one of the nation’s top horizontal jumpers, junior Andrea Geubelle took the victory in the triple jump Saturday afternoon. Geubelle, who is from nearby University Place, Wash., stormed through the first three preliminary jumps and entered the finals with the field’s top mark. She saved the best for last however, hitting a season-best distance of 13.28 meters (43-07.00 ft.) on her final attempt to secure her place atop the leaderboard. The mark is just under an inch from the NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 13.30 meters (43-07.75 ft.).
Earlier in the day, Geubelle was joined in the long jump competition by teammate Francine Simpson, who currently leads the Big 12 in the event. Of her six jumps on the day, Simpson would only get off two fair attempts; however that is all she would need to take home the event crown. On her third leap of the day, she hit a mark of 6.28 meters (20-07.25 ft.), a distance none of the other competitors could top. Geubelle ended her day in the event just behind Simpson as the runner-up. She had a top leap of 6.23 meters (20-05.25 ft.), her best mark of the season.
Several of the men’s distance runners followed Stowe’s lead by having career days of their own. Early in the day, sophomore Josh Munsch competed in the mile run. The Hays, Kan., native ran a superb race, finishing in a new personal best and team-leading time of 4:06.53. The time would be enough to elevate him to a 20th-place finish and puts him in the top-20 of all Big 12 milers this year. Freshman Reid Buchanan joined Munsch in the race, finishing in a season-best 4:12.53 and placing 46th.
Another pair of Jayhawks took part in the men’s 3,000 meters. Juniors Zach Zarda and Austin Bussing both ran to new personal records in the event, with Zarda leading the way in a scorching 8:08.13 to finish 23rd and Bussing crossing the finish line in 32nd, clocking in at 8:11.18. Both times now put the KU duo in the top-15 of the Big 12 standings in the event.
Back on the horizontal jumps runways, Kansas had two competing in the crimson and blue on the men’s side; Chris Toombs in the long jump and Darryl Trotter in the triple jump. Toombs had his best performance in a KU uniform, notching a season-best 7.08 meter (23-02.75 ft.) leap on his first attempt of the competition, eventually earning him a fifth-place finish. In the triple jump, Trotter was only able to get one fair leap off the board, a distance of 13.82 meters (45-04.25 ft.), in the preliminary round of jumps. The mark would not be good enough to move the senior on to finals, ending his day in 12th place.
Multi-event specialists Rebecca Neville and Lindsay Vollmer also made the trek to Seattle, both taking part in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. In the preliminary heats, Neville ran to a new personal-best time in the event, 8.68. The time was good enough to advance the junior to the finals, where she took tenth with a hurdle time of 8.75. Vollmer clocked in at 8.85 in the prelims and claimed the 20th-place position overall.
Neville also claimed an indoor personal best in the high jump later in the day, leaping over the 1.62 meter (5-04.00 ft.) bar, giving her a 10th-place finish and valuable confidence heading into the conference meet in two weeks.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will now have a week off to prepare for the conference meet in two weeks. They will then travel to College Station, Texas for the 2012 Big 12 Indoor Championships Feb. 24-25. The Jayhawks will have 26 men and women competing on both sides hoping to bring the Jayhawks their first Big 12 conference championship. Stay updated on all of the team’s progress at the Big 12 meet through the meet central blog and follow on twitter at KU_Track.
