Jayhawks Gear Up for Big 12 Indoor Championships

Feb. 20, 2013

Meet Notes in PDF format

Big 12 Indoor Championships
Dates	Friday, Feb.22, 2013 Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013
Location	Ames, Iowa
Venue	Lied Recreation Center
Start Time	Fri – 10 a.m. (CT) Sat – 11 a.m. (CT)
Twitter	KU_Track Big12Conference
Live Results	Delta Timing
Meet Home	Big12Sports.com
Start Lists	Heat Sheets

LAWRENCE, Kan. – It is a busy weekend across the country for Division I track and field programs, as teams gear up for conference championship action. The Kansas Jayhawks, who are competing in one of the fiercest leagues in the NCAA, will head to Ames, Iowa for the 2013 Big 12 Indoor Championships. Nine of the nation’s top 25 teams will be featured between the men’s and women’s sides, including the fourth-ranked KU women’s squad, who will vie for its first league title.

KU_TRACK QUICK HITS

• This weekend, the Jayhawks will travel to Iowa State’s Lied Recreation Center, which is hosting the Big 12 Indoor Championships for the fifth overall time and third time since 2007.
• The KU women are coming off a tie for their best finish-ever at the league championships, placing third with a program best 101.33 points a year ago in College Station, Texas.
• Senior sprinter Kyle Clemons will attempt to become the first KU male to win two individual Big 12 titles in a single meet. He currently sits at No. 1 in the 600 yards and No. 2 in the 400 meters in the conference standings.
• Including both indoor and outdoor seasons, the KU woman have been ranked in the top-five of the USTFCCCA rankings for 13-straight weeks, the second-longest streak in the nation behind Clemson (26).
• Andrea Geubelle will attempt to become the third KU women in Big 12 history to score 20 points or more at the league’s indoor meet. She’s been one of KU’s most prominent scorers at Big 12 Indoors, averaging 11 points a year including 18 at last year’s meet.
• In a six-day span this month junior Josh Munsch twice recorded new PRs in the mile. His time of 4:03.18 is the sixth-fastest in school history and will likely be broken again this week when he runs in a field that will feature nine sub-four minute milers.
• Junior Diamond Dixon will look to extend her 400-meter unbeaten streak to four-straight conference meets (indoor and outdoor combined). She won her first indoor title last year in a time of 52.55.
• The women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Denesha Morris, Taylor Washington, Paris Daniels and Diamond Dixon will try to recreate their record-breaking performance from last year’s league meet. The four combined for a meet record 3:31.36 en route to the title, the fastest time in the nation last year and eighth-fastest in NCAA history.
• Four of the five KU men’s pole vaulters who will compete in Ames have cleared 16-6 ft. or better this season. A clearance of that height has resulted in a scoring effort eight of the last 10 Big 12 indoor pole vault competitions.

LAST TIME OUT
Kansas senior Andrea Geubelle moved herself into the top-10 of the all-time NCAA triple jump performance list as she claimed the event at the Tyson Invitational Feb. 9. The win extended her triple jump winning streak to 11 of the last 13 competitions versus collegians and gave her the 11th-farthest jump in the world in 2013.

Natalia Bartnovskaya smashed her own school pole vault record while she claimed her fifth-consecutive pole vault win with her mark that was five inches better than the previous school record. The junior vaulted 4.43 meters (14-6.25 ft.), the ninth-best vault in NCAA history.

The men’s 4×400-meter relay, comprised of Michael Stigler, Michael Hester, Kyle Clemons and Kenneth McCuin, passed the baton around in 3:09.98 to give the group the overall victory and the 16th-fastest time in the NCAA this year.

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 Feb 9. The junior completed 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 earlier.

ROCK CHALK RECORD BREAKERS
Already this year an incredible 12 school or Anschutz facility records have been broken on the men’s and women’s teams combined. The women’s squad has seen four of its athletes topple the school records in five events, while the men’s team has seen one of its own records fall. Below is a list of KU’s record-breaking performances this year:

RANKINGS KEEP ROLLING
After the KU women’s track & field team ascended to the nation’s No. 1 ranking on Feb. 5, the team dropped in the lastest USTFCCCA rankings to No. 5. Despite the small drop, the ranking marks the 13th-consecutive week the women’s team has been slotted in the top-five of the NCAA, including last year’s outdoor season.

The women first moved into the top-five when they jumped to No. 2 following their runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships last March and have remained in the top-five ever since. Only Clemson has a longer active streak, holding a spot in the top-five for 26-straight weeks.

JAYHAWKS FLYING AT THE TOP OF THE NCAA
The Jayhawks have seen a host of athletes move toward the top of the NCAA performance charts. Currently, KU has nine athletes ranked in the nation’s top-20 in nine events on the women’s side and two athletes and in two relays on the men’s side. The No. 20 mark is an important ranking to stay above since the top-16 performers in each event at season’s end will punch tickets to the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., March 8-9.

A year ago, Jayhawk men and women ended the indoor and outdoor seasons ranked in the NCAA top-10 in 17 events and No. 1 in three events, including the women’s indoor 400 meters, women’s indoor triple jump and the women’s indoor 4×400-meter relay.

CONFERENCE REPEATS
Several Jayhawks will look to join rare company this weekend in Ames as they try to add to their collection of conference trophies. Three KU women enter the meet looking to defend their individual indoor conference crowns. Diamond Dixon (400m), Francine Simpson (long jump), and Andrea Geubelle (triple jump) will each try to become just the fourth member of KU’s back-to-back club. Three KU women have repeated as indoor conference title winners; Sheila Calmese (`77-’78, 60 yards), Stine Lerdahl (`84-’85, shot put) and Kate Sultanova (`07-’08, pole vault).

While no KU men have the opportunity to repeat at this year’s indoor conference meet, the men’s team’s history of back-to-back indoor title winners is vast. Thirty-one Jayhawks have won at least two indoor conference titles in a row with 11 claiming three-straight league titles in their respective events. Jordan Scott is the only KU male to have won four-consecutive indoor championships, winning the indoor pole vault each year from 2007-10.

GEUBELLE GOING FOR GOLD
Senior Andrea Geubelle has had a fast start to her final campaign in Lawrence. The University Place, Wash., product has collected a litany of early-season accolades that have her among top collegiate athletes this year. Here are some of her accomplishments thus far:

• One of 10 athletes named to The Bowerman Watch List.
• Has won 11 of the last 13 triple jump competitions versus collegians, including all three this season.
• Moved into top-10 of NCAA all-time triple jump list after breaking her own school record with a leap of 13.91 meters (45-7.75 ft.).
• Broke long jump school record in her win at the Armory Collegiate Invitational with her nation-leading leap of 6.69 meters (21-11.5 ft.).
• Broke Anschutz facility record in the long jump with mark of 6.25 meters (20-6.25 ft.).
• Named the National Female Athlete of the Week by the USTFCCCA Feb. 4.
• Earned Big 12 Conference Athlete of the Week honors Feb. 6.

TEAM TITLE TALLIES
The Kansas men have a successful history at their conference’s indoor meet. The Jayhawks boast 27 team championships dating back to 1922 with the most recent coming in 1983. The run included eight-consecutive team championships from 1952-59, including 17 championships in a 22-year span from 1950-71. The KU men’s highest finish in the Big 12 conference was sixth place in 2006.

On the women’s side, the Jayhawks have never won a team championship, but have notched runner-up finishes four times since 1976. Kansas has twice placed third at the Big 12’s indoor meet, first in 2008 and most recently in 2012.

VAULTING VIRTUOSOS
The KU pole vaulters have been arguably the most impressive event group thus far in 2013. Juniors Natalia Bartnovskaya and Demi Payne have each climbed their way into the NCAA’s top-six rankings. Bartnovskaya smashed the school record after clearing 4.43 meters (14-6.25 ft.) two weeks ago, while Payne recently moved up to No. 4 on the all-time school performance lists with her PR height of 4.25 meters (13-11.25 ft.). Bartnovskaya’s mark has her at No. 2 in the nation with Payne at No. 6.

On the men’s side Alex Bishop is the highest-ranked field athlete on the men’s side after notching a personal-best height of 5.31 meters (17-5 ft.) three weeks ago. The mark is No. 21 in the nation this season. Sophomore Greg Lupton also has been impressive, clearing 5.30 meters (17-4.5 ft.) in a win three weeks ago. Both Bishop’s and Lupton’s marks have them on the outside looking in at the moment, sitting at No. 21 and No. 25, respectively in the NCAA rankings.

RELAYS UP THE RANKS
Two KU relay teams have posted some impressive times this month, beginning at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in the distance medley relay with Nick Seckfort (1,200m), Drew Matthews (400m), Brendan Soucie (800m) and Josh Munsch (1,600m) competing for the Jayhawks. The group finished fifth in one of the most competitive fields they will see all season, however their time made a bit of Kansas history. The four passed the baton around in 9:46.92 to mark the sixth-fastest DMR run in school history. The time also puts them at 10th in the NCAA.

A week later the men’s 4×400-meter relay team entered the school’s all-time performance list as Michael Stigler, Michael Hester, Kyle Clemons and Kenneth McCuincompeted at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 9. The four finished in 3:09.98 to win the event. The time is the third-fastest ever run by a Kansas squad and currently puts them right in front of the cut line for a bid to the NCAA Championships, sitting at No. 16 nationally.

YOUTH VS. EXPERIENCE
The Kansas men will send one of its youngest groups ever to the league championships this weekend with a total of 14 underclassmen making up the 24-man squad. Only two seniors (Kyle Clemons and Josh Baden) will make the trip to Ames and will be joined by a total of seven Jayhawks who will be competing in their first conference meet.

On the flip side, the KU women will feature one of their most veteran groups with 15 upperclassmen, including eight seniors, slated to compete this weekend on the Jayhawks’ 26-women team. Nine of the athletes traveling to Ames will be seeing their third or fourth Big 12 Indoor Championships.

STANLEY’S SUCCESS
Head coach Stanley Redwine has taken Kansas track & field to a level it hasn’t seen in quite some time during his 12 years at the helm. During Redwine’s tenure, he has seen 73 indoor and outdoor Big 12 Champions, 117 First Team All-Americans and 11 NCAA Champions come through his program at KU.

Redwine’s teams have also collected a combined five top-10 NCAA team finishes, including last year’s indoor runner-up finish for the KU women.

UP NEXT
With nationals quickly approaching the Jayhawks will take part in “Last Chance” weekend as they travel to a trio of meets in hopes of earing marks that will qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 8-9. The events KU will likely travel to will be the Arkansas Last Chance in Fayetteville, Ark. March 1, the Alex Wilson Last Chance in South Bend, Ind. March 1-2, and the ISU NCAA Qualifier in Ames, Iowa March 2. Get updates and results from each meet by logging on to KUAthletics.com and following on Twitter at KU_Track.

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