Bacchus Finishes Second in Long Jump on Day Two of Big 12 Championships
May 13, 2006
WACO, Texas –
Day two of the Big 12 Championships continued on Saturday with a second-place finish in the women’s long jump from senior Charisse Bacchus. The indoor All-American’s leap of 21-6 was a new personal best and moved her into second on the all-time Kansas performance list behind KU great Halcyon McKnight. Bacchus, who already owns Kansas’ indoor long jump record, also competed in the 100-meter hurdles on the afternoon but missed qualifying for the finals.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Junior Josh Kirk entered the day in fifth place in the decathlon, and after strong performances in the pole vault and 1,500-meter run, he finished the competition in fifth place as well. His point total of 7,251 was an NCAA provisionally-qualifying mark and will be very close to qualifying him for the NCAA Championships. The native of Olathe, Kan., vaulted 15-7 and ran a time of 4:29.09 (1,500m) on Saturday to hold his fifth-place result.
Two KU throwers finished in the top four of the discus late in the day on Saturday. Senior Sheldon Battle narrowly missed defending his Big 12 Championship in the event, finishing second with a throw of 194-7. Junior Cody Roberts turned in a personal best of 188-11 to finish fourth. Battle’s result came on the heels of his seventh-place performance in the hammer on Friday. He will also be competing in the shot put on Sunday.
In her first Big 12 Outdoor Championships, freshman Stephanie Horton finished seventh overall with a toss of 48-4 in the shot put to give her All-Big 12 honors. Teammate Abby Emsick finished 10th with a throw of 47-5.
Rounding out KU’s scorers on Saturday was senior Brett Terp. The senior out of St. Charles, Mo., finished eighth overall in the high jump with a leap of 6-8 3/4.
Junior Laura Gjerde finished 14th in the pole vault with a leap of 11-5 3/4.
Competing in the men’s 1,500-meter run, senior Joshy Madathil qualified for the finals in the event on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Madathil, who on Thursday was named one of the two Robert Frederick Senior-Scholar Athletes of the Year, turned in a time of 3:51.49 to give him the qualification.
In the 110-meter hurdles, sophomore Julius Jiles ran a time of 14.08 to qualify him for Sunday’s finals. The time was also a seasonal best for the native of Kansas City, Mo.
Matt Baysinger also qualified for the finals on Sunday, his in the 800-meter run. He ran a time of 1:50.68 to give him the eighth-place result in the preliminaries.
After barely missing qualification in the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Ashley Brown ran a time of 1:00.80 in the 400-meter hurdles to qualify her for Sunday’s finals in that event. The time was also good for an NCAA regionally-qualifying mark.
At the end of day two, the Kansas men stand in third place with 30 points while the women are sixth with 18 points. The third and final day of the Big 12 Championships begins on Sunday with the men’s javelin at 11 a.m. The finals in the remainder of the events will be held as well.
