Anderson, Bishop Lead KU at Big 12 Outdoors
May 16, 2009
Day Two Results 
LUBBOCK, Texas – Brian Bishop finished in third place in the men’s discus with a career-best throw, and four Jayhawks qualified for five Sunday finals to lead Kansas on day two of the 2009 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Terry & Linda Fuller Track.
Bishop had already qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships heading into the Big 12 Championships, and he took it to another level on Saturday. The junior from Cantrall, Ill., recorded a personal-best throw of 57.17 meters (187-06 feet) to take the bronze in the discus. Bishop finished just four inches behind runner-up Tyler Hitchler of Nebraska and one foot, eight inches back of the winner, Oklahoma’s Luke Bryant. Bishop earned six points for the Kansas men with his performance.
Nickesha Anderson will be competing in both the 100-meter and 200-meter finals after qualifying in both events Saturday. The senior from Hanover, Jamaica, took second place in heat one of the 100 meters to automatically qualify for Sunday’s finals. Anderson recorded a season-best time of 11.30, the fourth-best time among the three heats. Less than two hours later, she won the first heat of the 200 meters with a season-best time of 22.95, which ranked her second overall among the three heats and automatically qualified her for the finals.
Lauren Bonds took the top spot in the 1,500 meters prelims to advance to Sunday’s finals. Bonds, a junior from Hutchinson, Kan., stayed around third place for much of the race before kicking it into high gear on the backstretch to take the victory in heat one of the 1,500 meters prelims with a time of 4:34.95. Bonds had the fastest time of the two heats, with Baylor’s Erin Bedell (heat two winner) holding the next-fastest time of 4:35.11. The finals of the women’s 1,500 meters are scheduled to take place Sunday at 6:20 p.m. CST.
Donny Wasinger qualified for the finals in the men’s 1,500 meters, leading at the beginning of heat three before settling for second with a time of 3:51.90. The freshman from Winona, Minn., earned the sixth overall spot in Sunday’s finals.
Sasha Cunningham posted the seventh-ranked time in the prelims of the women’s 400-meter hurdles to earn a spot in the finals. The freshman from Clarendon, Jamaica, ran a personal-best time of 1:01.92 to qualify.
Kirk Cooper scored 2.5 points for the Jayhawks in the men’s pole vault, equaling his season-best jump of 5.05 meters (16-06.75 feet) to tie for sixth place. The Kansas men and women each stand in 10th place heading into the final day of competition.
The third and final day in Lubbock begins Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT with the men’s javelin. Live results can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/2009_Meets/outdoor/Big12/. A full recap can be found at www.kuathletics.com upon completion of the day’s events.
