Men Finish Sixth, Women Ninth at Big 12 Indoor Championship

Feb. 25, 2006

Results

LINCOLN, Neb. –

The second day of the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championship got underway with a provisionally qualifying performance in the heptathlon from junior Josh Kirk. The Olathe, Kan., native entered the day in seventh place but put together strong performances in the pole vault and 1000-meter run to give him a two-day total of 5,373 points, good for fifth overall. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Kansas also got its second individual champion of the Big 12 meet on Saturday. Senior Sheldon Battle completed a Jayhawk sweep in the men’s throwing events by winning the shot put with a throw of 65 feet, 3 1/4 inches. Battle, who finished second in the weight throw yesterday behind sophomore Egor Agafonov, was last year’s Big 12 indoor runner-up in the shot. The Jamestown, N.Y., native was the meet’s second highest scorer with 18 points.

“It felt really good to win after losing on my last throw last year,” Battle said after the competition. “This year, (Texas shot putter Brian Robison) stepped up on his last throw. It’s the same thing over and over every year with him in indoors and outdoors. Stepping up and winning was a big deal.”

Two KU triple jumpers turned in All-Big 12 performances by finishing in the top eight of their event. Crystal Manning had a leap of 41-1 1/2, which placed her fourth overall while Shatoya Hill’s jump of 39-9 3/4 was good for seventh.

Sophomore Matt Baysinger turned in a great effort in the 600-yard run, running a personal best. His time of 1 minute, 9.85 seconds was good for second in the race.

Competing in the 600-yard run, sophomore Cortney Jacobs and junior Janiece Gatson both had personal best performances as well. Jacobs’ time of 1:22.50 gave her a fifth place overall finish in the race and put her in fourth on KU’s all-time performance list. Gatson’s time of 1:23.43 was good for seventh in the race.

Jarrell Rollins turned in a seventh place performance in the 400-meter dash. His time of 48.81 was a personal best and good for the top time on the KU performance list this season.

Senior Angela Pichardo finished sixth in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:13.36, while junior Melissa O’Rourke came in eighth (2:16.79). In the men’s 800-meter run, junior Michael Rost finished eighth with a time of 1:55.86.

The Jayhawks had two top-eight finishers in the men’s 3000-meter run also. Senior Benson Chesang ran in sixth place, running a time of 8:08.81. Sophomore Colby Wissel finished eighth with a time of 8:13.55.

Senior Joshy Madathil had a personal best time as well, his in the 1000-meter run. His time of 2:23.89 was good for seventh in the race and moved him into a tie for second on the KU all-time performance list. He is now deadlocked with teammate Cameron Schwehr who finished eighth in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:27.88.

In the men’s 60-meter hurdles finals, senior Aaron Thompson turned in a time of 7.95, giving him a seventh place result. The Lenexa, Kan., native improved upon his eighth place result at this meet a year ago.

Senior Tiffany Cherry, who broke her own school record in the 60-meter dash yesterday with a provisionally qualifying time of 7.41, finished eighth in the 60-meter finals today with a time of 7.53.

Competing in her first Big 12 Indoor Championship, freshman Stephanie Horton had a fifth place result in the shot put with a throw of 48-11 1/2.

In the final two events of the day, the Kansas women’s 4×400-meter relay team finished seventh in a time of 3:45.07, beating its seasonal best by over two seconds. The men finished tenth in 3:16.00, also a seasonal best.

The Kansas men’s team finished the Big 12 Indoor Championship with a two-day point total of 63 points, putting them in sixth place in the conference. The finish was an improvement on its eighth place result at last year’s conference championship. The women finished ninth with 45 points, two spots below their 2006 finish. The University of Texas swept the men’s and women’s team championships, the men with 127 points and the women with 125 points.

The track and field teams continue the 2006 indoor season next Saturday at Iowa State’s Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. The Kansas NCAA qualifiers will then head to Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships on March 10-11.