Trio of Juniors Head to NCAA Indoor National Championships

March 6, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

University of Kansas track and field juniors Egor Agafonov, Kate Sultanova and Colby Wissel will test their skills against the nation’s best at the NCAA Indoor National Championships Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. All three rank second in the nation and all were Big 12 Indoor champions in their respective events.

Agafonov, the 2006 and 2007 Big 12 champion in the men’s weight throw, enters the competition with a career-best throw of 76-01 feet (23.19 meters), which he unfurled to win the 2007 crown. He trails only Cory Martin of Auburn, whose season-best throw registers at 76-05 feet (23.29 meters). Last year, Agafonov earned All-American honors by finishing second at the NCAA Indoor National Championships with a career-best throw of 76-01 feet. Agafonov is scheduled to compete at noon on Friday.

Sultanova missed the 2006 season, but finished 10th in the pole vault at the 2005 NCAA Indoor National Championships with a vault of 13-01.50 feet. This year, Sultanova captured the Big 12 pole vault crown with a mark of 13-09.25 and owns the second-best vault in the nation with a mark of 14-00.50 feet (4.28 meters). Sultanova trails only April Kubishta of Arizona State, who comes into the event with a season-best vault of 14-04.25 (4.30 meters). Sultanova is scheduled to compete at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Wissel, the 2006 Big 12 Cross Country champion and 2006 Big 12 Indoor 3000 meter champion, set a new Kansas record at the Alex Wilson Invitational with a time of 7:53.08 on March 3. The race should be highly competitive, as roughly four seconds separates the top qualifier (7:52.42) from the 15th (7:56.97). Wissel is scheduled to run at approximately 7:50 p.m. on Saturday.

The event, which is hosted by the University of Arkansas, will be held at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the home of the NCAA Indoor National Championships since 2000. One of the fastest indoor tracks in the nation, the Randal Tyson Track Center has a six-lane banked track that has seen 11 of 20 NCAA Indoor records broken on its surface.

Stay tuned to kuathletics.com for all the results from the 2007 NCAA Indoor National Championships.