Jayhawks Ready to Begin Drive to Nationals at West Prelim

May 21, 2013

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NCAA West Region Preliminary
Dates

May 23-25, 2013

Location Austin, Texas
Venue Mike A. Myers Stadium
Start/End Times Thurs – 12 pm – 9:40 pm (CT)
Fri – 12 pm – 9:30 pm (CT)
Sat – 12 pm – 9:45 pm (CT)
Twitter KUTrack
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas’ men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Austin, Texas, May 23-25 for the 2013 NCAA West Preliminary held at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas. The event is the first of two meets as part of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships that begin this week and conclude in Eugene, Ore. June 5-8.

KUTRACK QUICK HITS

  • This weekend, the Jayhawks will travel to Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium, which is hosting the NCAA West Preliminary meet for the third time in the four-year history of the event.
  • The Kansas women find themselves ranked No. 1 by the USTFCCCA for the third-straight week and seventh time this season after sitting at No. 1 for the first four weeks of the outdoor season.
  • Eleven of KU women’s 19 athletes traveling to Austin will be competing in their at least their second West Prelim, with nine of those seeing action in their third or fourth regional meet.
  • Three of the top eight long jump marks recorded in the West Region this season were each posted by Jayhawks. Francine Simpson is No. 2 in the West, Andrea Geubelle is fourth and Sydney Conley has the eighth-best mark in 2013.
  • Senior Natalia Bartnovskaya has broken KU’s outdoor pole vault record three times this season, most recently at the Ward Haylett Invitational. Her mark of 4.45 meters (14’7.25″) is the second-highest cleared in the NCAA this year.
  • Junior Nick Giancana high jumped over a career-best height of 2.17 meters (7’1.5″) two weeks ago at the Ward Haylett Invitational, the highest clearance by a Jayhawks since 1995.
  • The No. 1-ranked KU women have 10 athletes and two relays sitting in the NCAA’s top-10 going into the final few weeks of action, including four Jayhawks who ranked second in the nation in their respective events.
  • Senior Kyle Clemons took down Deon Hogan’s 30-year-old 400-meter school record at the Big 12 meet three weeks ago with his time of 45.10, which ranks as the 10th-fastest in the world in 2013.
  • Josh Munsch became the fifth-fastest KU male in school history after his 3:41.58 1,500 meters at the Big 12 Championships. The junior’s time put him just behind legends Jim Ryun, Bill Dotson, Michael Cox and Charlie Gruber.

LAST TIME OUT
Nine members of the men’s and women’s teams recorded new career bests as the Jayhawks concluded the regular season May 11 at the Ward Haylett Invitational. Two members of the No. 1-ranked KU women’s team broke school records as several more improved their individual NCAA standing.

Natalia Bartnovskaya posted a school record pole vault performance, clearing a top bar of 4.45 meters (14’7.25″). Her clearance vaulted her among the NCAA’s all-time performers as she cleared the 11th-highest bar in collegiate history and No. 2 in 2013.

Andrea Geubelle leaped to a distance of 13.85 meters (45’5.25″) in the triple jump at the Georgia Tech Invitational to clip her former school record mark by less than half an inch. The jump went on to earn Geubelle her 16th triple jump victory in her last 17 competitions versus collegians and padded her national lead by nearly four inches.

REGULARS ATOP THE RANKINGS
The Kansas women’s track & field team earned the No. 1 ranking in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings, marking the seventh week this season the Jayhawks have been slotted as the nation’s top team. KU’s seven-week stay atop the national list is the second longest stay at No. 1 in the ranking’s history.

This week’s No. 1-ranking also marks the 22nd-consecutive top-25 list in which the women’s team has been slotted in the top-five of the NCAA, which includes both indoor and outdoor seasons. KU’s streak is the longest active in the nation.

NATIONAL LEADERS
Individually, both the KU men and women have several members who are among the nation’s best in their respective events. The Jayhawk women has fewer entries to the Prelim rounds than do its closest competitors, and will field the fewest student-athletes of any top-six team later this week in Austin, but still holds the advantage, boasting 13 top-10 nationally ranked performers.

The Jayhawks feature a foursome of No. 2-ranked competitors in Diamond Dixon (400m), Natalia Bartnovskaya (pole vault), Francine Simpson (long jump) and Andrea Geubelle (triple jump) — three of whom have won NCAA titles in the past in Dixon, Bartnovskaya and Geubelle.

On the men’s side, four individuals and a relay are sitting comfortably in the top-25 of their events, including senior>Kyle Clemons (400m) and sophomore Michael Stigler (400mH), who each boast times that rank them both among the top-three in the nation.

RECAPPING THE JAYHAWKS’ CONFERENCE CROWN
The KU women claimed the program’s first outdoor league championship three weeks ago in Waco, Texas. The group amassed 158 points to top runner-up Texas by 13 in the team standings on the shoulders of eight event champions and 18 scorers overall. Senior Paris Daniels was the meet’s high scorer after she collected 23 points, all on the final day, as part of both relays and in the 200 meters and 100 meters.

KU’s eight champions was the second most in the Big 12’s history and Daniels’ 23 individual points was the seventh most by a woman ever at the league meet.

CONFERENCE REPEATS (AND THREE-PEATS)
Several Jayhawks joined rare company three weeks ago in Waco as they added to their collection of conference trophies. Four KU women successfully defended their individual outdoor conference crowns. Paris Daniels (200m), Diamond Dixon (400m), Francine Simpson (long jump) and Andrea Geubelle (triple jump) each became the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth members of KU’s back-to-back conference champion club. The four joined Dixon (’11-’12, 400m), Candace Mason (’98-’99, heptathlon), Denise Buchanan (’85-’86, discus), Halycon McKnight (’80-’83, long jump), and Sheila Calmese (’77-’78, 100m and 200m) to take home consecutive conference crowns. Dixon earned the three-peat in the 400 meters, joining McKnight as KU athletes to earn three or more league championships in a single event.

Sophomore Michael Stigler was the only KU male to repeat at this year’s outdoor conference meet and joined a vast list of consecutive-outdoor title winners. Stigler’s 400-meter hurdle win in Waco made him the 40th Jayhawk to have won at least two-straight outdoor league titles in a row. Eleven KU men have claimed three-straight league titles in their respective events. Stigler joined Nolan Cromwell (’75-’76) as a repeat conference champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

HORIZONTAL JUMP HIGH JINKS
The KU women’s horizontal jumpers have proven they are one of the deepest event groups in the country this year. Seniors Francine Simpson and Andrea Geubelle and freshman Sydney Conley have each posted marks in the long jump that rank in the top-15 of the NCAA this year. Simpson’s 21’8.75″ mark ranks second, Geubelle turned in a jump of 21’5.25″ that ranks 5th and Conley’s 20’10” leap is 12th. Geubelle also holds the nation’s second-longest mark in the triple jump.

Only one other school, Texas A&M (in the 100 meters), has three athletes among the NCAA’s top-15 of a single event.

OUTDOOR RECORD HOLDERS
Eleven school records are currently held by active Jayhawks, each of which have been broken within the last two seasons. The women’s squad has seen seven of its records broken this year, while the men’s team has had a 30-year-old record broken also this season. Below is a list of KU’s current school record holders:

SCHOOL RECORDS

Athlete

Event

Mark

Meet

Kyle Clemons

400 Meters

45.10

2013 Big 12 Championships

Diamond Dixon

400 Meters

50.88

2012 U.S. Olympic Trials

Michael Stigler

400m Hurdles

49.42

2013 Kansas Relays

Daniels, Simpson,
Morris, Dixon

4x100m Relay

43.73

2012 Big 12 Championships

Morris, Daniels,
Washington, Dixon

4x400m Relay

3:28.10

2012 Big 12 Championships

Natalia Bartnovskaya

Pole Vault

4.45m (14-7.25 ft.)

2013 Ward Haylett Invite

Francine Simpson

Long Jump

6.67m (21-10.75 ft.)

2013 Big 12 Championships

Andrea Geubelle

Triple Jump

13.85m (45-5.25 ft.)

2013 Georgia Tech Invite

Jessica Maroszek

Discus

56.81m (186-6 ft.)

2013 Big 12 Championships

Alena Krechyk

Hammer Throw

69.02m (226-5 ft.)

2012 Big 12 Championships

Heather Bergmann

Javelin

52.65m (172-8 ft.)

2012 Ark. Spring Invitationa


AT HOME IN THE LONE STAR STATE
A host of Kansas athletes will compete in front of family and friends this week as KU’s Texas natives will be in action in Austin. The Jayhawks’ current roster boasts 10 athletes who call the Lone Star State home, five of whom will compete in the KU singlet inside Mike A. Myers Stadium this weekend.

Texas is KU’s home away from home of sorts with the Jayhawks being frequent visitors, especially over the last two seasons. Since the 2012 indoor campaign, Kansas has competed in six meets inside the state of Texas, including two already in 2013.

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS
Even with a month still to go before the U.S. Championship meet begins in Des Moines, it’s never too early to see how the qualifying picture is beginning to come together. Currently, seven KU student-athletes have already punched their tickets to the American Championships after already earning marks that meet the A-standard. An additional seven have reached B-Standards, giving them a good chance to compete at Drake Stadium in late June.

GEUBELLE GOING FOR GOLD
Senior Andrea Geubelle is making sure her career in Lawrence ends on a high note. The University Place, Wash., product has collected a litany of accolades during the indoor and outdoor seasons that have her among top-collegiate athletes this year. Here are some of her accomplishments thus far:

  • Repeated as Big 12 champion in the outdoor triple jump.
  • One of 10 athletes listed on the final regular season ‘The Bowerman’ Watch List.
  • Currently holds NCAA’s No. 2 outdoor triple jump mark, 13.85m (45’5.25″).
  • USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year.
  • First female since 2003 to win both indoor long jump and triple jump NCAA titles.
  • Winning NCAA triple jump mark (46’6″) was second-best indoor mark ever by an American.
  • National Indoor Champion in both long jump and triple jump.
  • Jayhawks’ top scorer (18 pts.) at the Big 12 Indoor Championships with her victory in the triple jump and runner-up finish in the long jump.
  • Has won 14 of the last 16 triple jump competitions versus collegians, including all four this season.
  • Moved into top-10 of NCAA all-time triple jump list after breaking her own school record with a leap of 13.91 meters (45’7.75″).
  • Broke long jump school record in her win at the Armory Collegiate Invitational with her nation-leading leap of 6.69 meters (21’11.5″).
  • Named the National Female Athlete of the Week by the USTFCCCA Feb. 4.

AN INDOOR CAMPAIGN TO REMEMBER
The women’s team’s 2013 indoor season was the best in program history. The team was ranked in the top-five of the NCAA rankings for the entire season and moved to No. 1 for the first time since the current rankings system began in 2008. The team went on to claim its first-ever conference title in late February behind a program best six individual Big 12 champions.

The team saw a program-best 11 student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships and went on to earn its second-consecutive runner-up team finish. Three national titles were won by Jayhawks with Andrea Geubelle winning both the long and triple jumps and Natalia Bartnovskaya claiming the pole vault championships. In all, eight First Team All-America honors were earned by Jayhawks, also a program best.

UP NEXT
Those Jayhawks who are able to advance through the first rounds at the West Prelim will punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. The meet, held at historic Hayward Field, is slated for June 5-8. For updates and a complete recap on KU’s performances log on to KUAthletics.com and follow on twitter at KUTrack.

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