ESPN2 and ESPNU to Broadcast NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

March 19, 2008

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – ESPN2 and ESPNU will give Jayhawk fans a chance to see the eight University of Kansas track and field team members who competed at last weekend’s 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships when each station airs a replay of the event this week. ESPN2 show the Championships at 3 p.m. (CST) on Thursday and ESPNU broadcasts the meet at 7 a.m. on Friday. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Eight Jayhawks, including 2008 weight throw national champion, Egor Agafonov, traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. last weekend where the women achieved their highest NCAA finish in team history and the two teams combined to earn All-America honors in seven events. Only once before – the 1969 NCAA Men’s National Championship team – had KU accumulated the distinction in more events (nine).

Agafonov won the weight throw national title for the second-straight year with the furthest toss in the NCAA this year, 22.71 meters (74 feet, 6 inches). The senior placed second in the event in 2006 and is the only Jayhawk in school history to win three straight All-America honors in the event.

Senior Kate Sultanova and juniors Nickesha Anderson and Stephanie Horton each earned All-America status after scoring for the women’s team. Sultanova placed third in the pole vault, duplicating her finish from 2007, while Horton achieved the distinction for the first time in her career with an eighth-place showing in the shot put.

Anderson was sixth in the 60 meters, but was most impressive in the 200-meter dash. The Hanover, Jamaica, native ran the second-fastest time in the world and the fourth-best in Jamaican women’s history at 20.62, but finished second to Texas freshman Bianca Knight’s collegiate record (22.40). Knight has since decided to forgo her collegiate eligibility and turn professional.

Sophomore Jordan Scott placed ninth in the men’s pole vault, while senior Crystal Manning finished 13th in the women’s triple jump to also earn the All-America distinction.

Kansas begins its outdoor track and field season in Columbia, Mo., at the Missouri Relays March 28-29. The Jayhawks’ lone home meet, the Kansas Relays, takes place at Memorial Stadium April 16-19.