Battle Throws 200 Feet in the Hammer

April 15, 2005

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Kansas track and field teams competed at the Tom Botts Invitational in Columbia, Mo., Friday. Junior Sheldon Battle won the hammer throw with a toss of 202-00.

It was the first time in his career to break the 200-foot plateau. The throw was good enough for third in the KU all-time record books and was just one inch away from second place Bill Alley. KU great Scott Russell owns the KU record with a best effort of 218-5.

The Jayhawks recorded two more victories on Friday. Junior Denita Miller placed first in the javelin with a throw of 151-05, while KU finished in the top three spots of the men’s 5,000-meter run. Freshman Colby Wissel won the event in 14:44.01. Senior D.J. Hilding finished second with a time of 14:48.35, while sophomore Tyler Kelly placed third in 14:52.89.

Other notable finishes included, senior Jen Widerstrom’s second place finish in the hammer (179-08), senior Paige Higgins third place finish in the 5,000 (17:07.35) and sophomore Shatoya Hill’s third place mark in the long jump (18-02.25).

Austra Skujyte, the silver medalist in the 2004 Olympics in the heptathlon, broke the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world record in the women’s decathlon on Friday. Skujyte, a native of Lithuania, scored 8366 points to take the world record from Marie Collonville of France in the first IAAF-sanctioned women’s decathlon competition held in North America.

KU will be back in action in Columbia on Saturday. Events begin at 11 a.m. with the women’s shot put and will run until 3:30 p.m. with the men’s 4×400 relay.