Freshman Breaks Women's Hammer Record

April 6, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas –

On the second day of competition from the Texas Relays, freshman Zlata Tarasova broke the school’s hammer throw record by over 10 feet. Tarasova’s heave of 193 feet, 10 inches, broke Jennifer Widerstrom’s previous record of 183-2. This is the second record Tarasova has broken in her young career. The <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Togliatti, Russia, native holds the school’s indoor weight throw record as well. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

The men’s hammer record was in jeopardy as well, but sophomore Egor Agafonov’s throw of 217-8 fell just inches short of Scott Russell’s record of 218-5. Instead, Agafonov’s toss puts him in second place on KU’s all time performance list in the event.

Four sprinters were in action on Thursday, all in the 400-meter hurdles. Junior Janiece Gatson finished 40th overall in a time of 1:03.76 and freshman Sha’Ray Butler’s time of 1:04.57 put her in 47th place. On the men’s side, sophomore Julius Jiles recorded a 22nd place finish in a time of 52.73 while senior Aaron Thompson’s time of 53.93 was good for 35th.

In relay action, the women’s 4×800-meter relay team finished fifth in a time of 9:03.20 while the men’s team recorded a time of 7:30.41, good for sixth.

The third day of competition gets under way from Austin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.