KU Track & Field Sending Strong Team to NCAA Indoor Championships
March 7, 2012
NCAA Indoor Notes 
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The sixth-ranked Kansas women’s track and field team will journey to Boise, Idaho this weekend for the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships March 9-10. Five individuals and one relay team will compete in seven events for the Jayhawks at Jackson’s Indoor Track on the campus of the Boise State University.
“At this level, everyone is out to get you,” said 12th-year head coach Stanley Redwine. “With that in mind, we’re going out to continue to get better and to prove ourselves. I don’t think we need to do anything special. We just need to do what got us there and we’ll be okay.”
Andrea Geubelle is making her third-consecutive trip to the indoor championships, and the first as a two-event athlete. The junior, who is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in the triple jump, will be vying for All-American status in the long jump and triple jump. Sophomore Diamond Dixon will be making her second-straight appearance at the national meet. She enters the meet as the nation’s second-ranked athlete in the 400-meters and will look to win her first NCAA title in the event this weekend.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Dixon and juniors Denesha Morris, Paris Daniels and Taylor Washington have the fastest relay time in the nation this season (3:31.36), which they ran en route to the Big 12 title and school record two weeks ago at the conference meet. The four will take to the track in the last event of the two-day meet Saturday night.
“Having experience (at the national meet) is a great thing,” said Redwine. “It will help them understand what is expected. But you can never just use experience as the reason an athlete will do well. It’s about doing the same things that got you there.”
Making their first appearance at the NCAA Indoors are senior Alena Krechyk, who earned an automatic spot in the weight throw competition after her school-record and runner-up performance at the Big 12 Championships; junior Paris Daniels, who ranks No. 2 on KU’s all-time performance list in the 200 meters; and junior Francine Simpson, the 2012 Big 12 champion in the long jump.
“I think this is the best team we have sent to this meet since I’ve been here,” concluded Redwine. “We have great athletes in every event. We have so much quality across the board. We have highly-ranked athletes in multiple events and I’m excited to see what they’ll do.”
»JAYHAWK’S CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & SEEDS
Friday – Krechyk will be the first Jayhawk to compete in Boise, as she will throw as the 10th-seed in the women’s weight throw on Friday at 3 p.m. (CT). Dixon will be first on the track in the prelims of the women’s 400-meters. She will run as the No. 2 seed. Geubelle and Simpson will take the stage next in the women’s long jump at 8:15 p.m. (CT). Geubelle is the sixth-seed going into the event, while Simpson is the 12th seed. Daniels will close out the night for the Jayhawks Friday in the prelims of the 200 meters at 8:45 p.m. (CT). She is running as the 11th seed and, if she qualifies, will run an hour later in the event finals at 10 p.m.
Saturday – Geubelle will head back to the jumping pits as she will compete in the triple jump as the No. 1 seed. The first jumps of the preliminary rounds are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (CT). If Dixon is able to move past the preliminary rounds of the 400 meters Friday, she will run in the finals of the event at 8:05 p.m. Saturday. In the final event of the meet, the No. 1 seed women’s 4×400-meter relay team will be in action in the finals heats of the event. Start time is set for 9:40 p.m. (CT) Saturday night.
»Broadcast information
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 9 from 6:30 p.m.-10:45 p.m. (CT) and March 10 from 7 p.m.-10:15 p.m. (CT). A tape delay of the championship will air Sunday, March 18 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. CT) and Saturday (11:30a.m.-7 p.m. CT).
»SCORING & RESULTS
The 2012 Indoor Track & Field Championships will be scored using the standard 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 format. Official schedules, heat sheets and results for the event can be found on the on the NCAA web site or at www.flashresults.com. Specific information and results regarding Kansas athletes will be available on www.kuathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates on KU performances follow on twitter at KU_Track.
»MEET CENTRAL
For the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships fans can follow the team online through social media, live results and a interactive meet blog. Anyone with an internet connection will be able to take advantage of the following features as they follow the Jayhawks on the road this weekend. Links to live results, as well as the meet’s video streaming feed will be provided in addition to the Meet Central blog, hosted by KU track and field sports information director Brad Gilbert. Through the blog, fans will be able to ask questions and get live play-by-play of all the meet action.
On the day of the meet just log on to kuathletics.com and click on the NCAA Championships Meet Central page to take advantage of all these great features. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at KU_Track. (#kutrack)
