Bacchus Finishes Second in Long Jump at Texas Relays

April 7, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas –

The men’s and women’s track and field teams were in <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Austin, Texas, Friday competing on the third day of the Texas Relays. Several Jayhawks turned in impressive performances on the afternoon.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

All-American Charisse Bacchus finished second in the long jump, the highest finish for a Jayhawk on the day. The native of Cascade, POS, Trinidad, who finished fifth in the same event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, had a leap of 20 feet, 7 inches, good for a regionally qualifying performance.

Returning All-American Sheldon Battle moved up one spot from fifth to fourth on KU’s all-time performance list in the discus. His throw of 191-8 moved him past former Kansas great Karl Salb. The toss was good for fourth place overall in Section A of the meet and was also a regionally-qualifying performance.

Also competing in the discus, junior Cody Roberts had a throw of 173-11. The heave was a regionally-qualifying performance as well and was good for fifth overall in Section B.

Competing in the triple jump, sophomore Crystal Manning had a wind-aided leap of 41-2 1/4. The performance, which would have otherwise been good for a regional standard, put her in seventh place in the event.

Junior Abby Emsick, Kansas’ record holder in the discus, threw a regionally-qualifying heave of 155-6 in the event in the women’s Section A. The toss was good for 11th place.

Senior Aaron Thompson and sophomore Julius Jiles were in competition in the 110-meter hurdles on Friday. Neither sprinter managed to advance to tomorrow’s finals. Jiles’ time of 14.47 seconds put him in 30th place overall while Thompson’s 14.66 was good for 37th on the day.

The women’s 4×400-meter relay squad nearly had a regionally-qualifying time in its race. Its time of 3:42.17 was just .17 off the standard. The women’s sprint medley relay team finished 16th overall in a time of 4:00.90.

Competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Erik Sloan turned in a time of 9:08.37. The result, which was good for eighth overall, narrowly missed the regional standard of 9:07.00.

The final day of competition from Austin resumes on Saturday at 9 a.m.