KU Track Teams Head to Big 12 Championship
Feb. 23, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
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The University of Kansas men’s and women’s track teams will be in Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championship. The meet begins tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to wrap up on Saturday, Feb. 25, at approximately 6:45 p.m.
This Year’s Championship…
The 2006 Big 12 Championship features five Olympians, 16 NCAA champions, 58 NCAA All-Americans, and 25 defending champions in 38 events.
Last Year’s Championship…
The Kansas men’s and women’s teams finished eighth (57 points) and seventh (60 points), respectively, at the 2005 Big 12 Championship held in Lincoln, Neb. Amy Linnen won the pole vault competition with an effort of 13-9 1/4, KU’s only individual champion from the meet.
More Qualifiers…
Senior Charisse Bacchus’ leap of 20-5 3/4 in the long jump and Aaron Thompson’s time of 7.90 in the 60-meter hurdles at the ISU Classic provisionally qualified them for the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the same meet, sophomore Colby Wissel also provisionally qualified in the 3000-meter run (8:04.19), joining teammate Benson Chesang as KU’s representatives in that event.
School Record Falls…
Freshman Zlata Tarasova shattered KU’s record in the weight throw by over six feet at the ISU Classic. Her toss of 61-0 bested the old record held by Lisa Brien (54-11 1/4).
Kansas Men Ranked…
The University of Kansas men’s track and field team is ranked No. 12 in the country in the new Trackwire.com national poll. The team entered the rankings on Jan. 16 at No. 13, dropped to 18th the following week, moved back up to No. 15 and then jumped to No. 8 in last week’s edition. The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. Kansas’ projection this week was 19 points for the NCAA Indoor Championships. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
Jayhawks in the Dandy Dozen…
This week’s edition of the Trackwire Dandy Dozen showcases seniors Sheldon Battle and Benson Chesang and newcomer Egor Agafonov. Battle moved to second overall in the shot put and eighth in the weight throw. Agafonov remained at No. 1 in the country in the weight throw while Chesang debuted at No. 11 in the 3000-Meter run. The Dandy Dozen is a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event. The list is used in compiling Trackwire’s weekly top 25 team rankings.
The University of Kansas men’s and women’s track teams will be in Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championship. The meet begins tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to wrap up on Saturday, Feb. 25, at approximately 6:45 p.m.
Two New Faces…
A pair of Jayhawks made their debut with the team at the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., and one already booked his ticket for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. Sophomore Egor Agafonov, a native of Togliatti, Russia, had an automatically qualifying throw of 71-5 1/4 in the weight throw, good to win the competition and put him in second place on KU’s all-time throws list. At the ISU Classic two weeks ago, he bettered that toss with a throw of 73-0 3/4. Additionally, freshman Zlata Tarasova, also from Togliatti, had a solid 13th place performance in the weight throw. Her toss of 53-10 1/2 put her on top of this season’s performance list.
Qualifying Performances from the Husker Invite…
In addition to Agafonov’s mammoth qualifying performance in the weight throw, senior Sheldon Battle also qualified in the event with a toss of 70-0 1/2. Battle has now automatically qualified in both the shot put and the weight throw. Additionally, in his first race of the season, senior Benson Chesang ran a provisionally qualifying time in the 3000-meter run of 8:00.83.
