Kansas Opens 2007 Outdoor Season at Tulsa Duels

March 23, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

The University of Kansas track and field teams embark upon the 2007 outdoor season at the Tulsa Duels on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla. The Jayhawks will face several Division I programs at the event, including Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

KU is fresh off a highly successful 2007 indoor season that saw its first national champion, junior Egor Agafonov in the men’s weight throw, since 2005. Agafonov looks to continue his outstanding performance in the outdoor season, where last year he set a new Kansas record in the hammer throw (233-0), won the Big 12 championship and earned All-American honors after a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships.

Juniors Kate Sultanova and Colby Wissel joined Agafonov as All-Americans during the 2007 indoor season. Sultanova missed the 2006 outdoor season, but was named the Big 12 Outdoor Freshman Performer of the Year after winning the Big 12 championship by tying a Big 12 meet record with a vault of 13-05.25 in 2005.

Wissel looks to become the first Jayhawk since Billy Mills during the 1960-61 school year to capture the conference cross country championship, an individual indoor title and an individual outdoor crown. He placed seventh at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in the 3,000 meters, the first KU runner ever to earn All-American honors in the event.

The women’s team will be especially strong in the throwing events, as sophomore Zlata Tarasova and senior Abby Emsick hold school records in the hammer throw and discus, respectively. On the track, junior Ashley Brown ranks second all-time in the 400-meter hurdles and fifth all-time in the 100-meter hurdles.

The men’s team will feature several prominent distance runners, including Wissel, senior Benson Chesang and junior Paul Hefferon. Junior Julius Jiles will lead the team on the track, where he ranks fifth all-time in the 400-meter hurdles (51.08).

Stay with kuathletics.com for all the results from the Tulsa Duels.

– KU –