Linnen Wins Pole Vault at Big 12 Championships

Feb. 26, 2005

Results

LINCOLN, Nab. – Day two of the 2005 Big 12 Indoor Championships featured the finals of 28 events. Senior Amy Linnen took the Big 12 title in the pole vault with an effort of 13-9.25. Linnen attempted a new Big 12 record of 14-1.25 but came up just short.

“I was glad that our team came together at this meet,” Linnen said. “Our school has such a tradition and to be apart of that tradition and to share this with my great teammates is awesome.”

The KU women finished 7th as a team with 60 points, while the Jayhawk men placed eighth with 57 points.

The University of Nebraska won both the men’s and the women’s team titles.

Junior Sheldon Battle was the runner-up in the shot put with a throw of 62-11.50. Battle led the event, but on his last throw Missouri’s Conrad Woolsey won the shot put with a throw of 63-00.75.

Senior Jeremy Mims finished second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:49.46. Aldwyn Sappleton of Oklahoma won the event in 1:48.25.

Freshman Ekaterina Sultanova finished third in the pole vault with a mark of 13-5.25 to score five points for the Jayhawks.

Senior Brooklyn Hann scored in back to back events for KU. Hann placed third in the triple jump with a best effort of 41-02.25, then turned around to finish fifth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.50.

Sophomore Shatoya Hill also scored for the Jayhawks in the triple jump, as she finished fifth with a personal best jump and the fourth best effort in KU history of 40-10.25.

Freshman Julius Jiles finished sixth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.04. Junior Aaron Thompson placed eighth in the event, also in 8.04.

Sophomore Josh Kirk finished seventh in the heptathlon with 5,126 points. Kirk won the final event of the heptathlon, the 1,000 meter run, with a time of 2:43.19.

Other point scorers for Kansas included junior Tiffany Cherry, who finished seventh in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.51, senior Kim Clark’s fifth place finish in the 600 (1:22.63) and freshman Matt Baysinger’s seventh place finish in the 600 with a personal best time of1:11.08.

“We would have liked to finish higher,” Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine said. “We had some mistakes in a few races that really cost us.”

“However, we are making a lot of progress and that was our goal for this meet and the season,” Redwine added.

Sophomore Octavia Garrett finished eighth in the 400 with a time of 55.85, while sophomore Charles Murphy had a personal best time of 48.32 in the 400 as he finished seventh.

The top eight finishers in each event were named to the Big 12 All-Conference team.

With the Big 12 Championships over, KU will now set its sights on the NCAA Indoor Championships. Next weekend the Jayhawks will participate in two last chance qualifying meets. Kansas will travel to Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Invitational and to South Bend, Ind., for the Alex Wilson Invitational.