May 15, 2005

Battle Wins Again, KU Finishes Fourth and Sixth at Big 12's

May 15, 2005

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The University of Kansas track and field teams put together outstanding individual efforts to finish sixth in the women’s and fourth on the men’s side at the 2005 Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Manhattan, Kan.

Junior Sheldon Battle capped off his amazing weekend with a win in the discus. After winning the hammer and finishing second in the shot put, Battle went out in impressive fashion with a throw of 188-10 to win the event.

KU added six more points in the men’s discus with two season-best throws. Sophomore Gavin Ball finished fourth in the event with a best toss of 178-02, while fellow sophomore Cody Roberts placed eighth with a throw of 171-10.

The Jayhawks’ other individual winner of the day was freshman Ekaterina Sultanova who won the pole vault with a mark of 13-05.25 and edged Kansas State’s Breanna Eveland in a jump-off to win the championship. KU picked up 16 points in the women’s pole vault as senior Amy Linnen placed third with a top height of 13-01.50. With her winning effort, Sultanova tied the Big 12 meet record.

“Today, I really wanted to score the 10 points for the team,” Sultanova said. “I was able to do that and I am really happy that I could help the team out.”

Senior Brooklyn Hann finished third in the triple jump with a 42-11.75 effort. Hann turned around in the afternoon session to pick up two points as she finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.90.

Junior Benson Chesang was the runner-up in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 13:59.74. Two other Jayhawks scored points in the 5k as two KU freshman took All-Conference honors by finishing in the top eight. Colby Wissel finished fifth with a time of 14:19.27, while Paul Hefferon placed sixth in 14:20.37.

The Jayhawks had two scorers in the 800-meter run. Senior Jeremy Mims placed third in the men’s 800 with the third best time in school history of 1:46.60. On the women’s side, senior Kim Clark finished seventh as she ran 2:07.72.

Freshman Julius Jiles turned in the best effort of his young career in the 400-meter hurdles as he placed third in the event with a time of 51.08. Earlier in the day, Jiles took seventh place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.61. Also scoring points in the 400-meter hurdles was sophomore Janiece Gatson. Gatson finished sixth in the event with a season-best time of 1:01.21.

Other point winners and All-Conference honorees included, the women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Octavia Garrett, Tiffany Bradley, Tiffany Cherry and Charisse Bacchus, which placed seventh with a season-best time of 45.86. Sophomore Abby Emsick threw a season best of 170-06 to finish third and pick up six points in the discus. Junior Cameron Schwehr took fifth place in the 1,500-meter in a season-best time of 3:57.43, whilethe women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Kara Euler, Kim Clark, Brooklyn Hann and Octavia Garrett placed sixth with a time of 3:41.66.

Final Standings

Women 1. Nebraska 126.66 2. Texas 117 3. Texas Tech 95 4. Baylor 86 5. Kansas State 79 6. Kansas 69 7. Missouri 55 7. Oklahoma State 55 9. Colorado 50 10. Texas A&M 36 11. Iowa State 29 12. Oklahoma 21.33

Men’s 1. Texas Tech 149.50 2. Nebraska 136 3. Texas 100.50 4. Kansas 85 5. Kansas State 71 6. Texas A&M 52.50 7. Colorado 48 7. Iowa State 48 9. Missouri 44.50 10. Oklahoma 41 11. Baylor 37 12. Oklahoma State 5