Jayhawks Head to Texas for Regional Championships
May 23, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
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The University of Kansas men’s and women’s track and field teams will be in Austin, Texas, for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on May 26-27. The meet will serve as the team’s regional qualifiers’ chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships on June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif. The top five finishers from each individual event and the top three from the relay events automatically qualify for the championships. Additionally, those who finish sixth, seventh or eighth will be entered into a pool where there is a chance to earn an at-large bid depending on that individual’s performance throughout the year as well as at the regional meet. Kansas will have 22 student-athletes in addition to one relay team in competition this weekend.
Battle Scores Big…
After finishing second in the shot put and discus, in addition to seventh in the hammer, senior Sheldon Battle was the only male competitor to score in three different events at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The Jamestown, N.Y., native, who has regionally qualified in all three events, will focus on the shot put and discus at the Midwest Regional Championships in Austin.
Agafonov Wins Hammer, Breaks Big 12 Record…
Sophomore Egor Agafonov is now a two-time Big 12 champion in just his first year on the Kansas track and field team. Competing in his first Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Agafonov won the hammer competition with a Big 12-record throw of 225-2, shattering the previous record of 221-1 held by Dylan Armstrong of Texas. The Togliatti, Russia, native previously won the weight throw competition at the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championships in February.
Bacchus Has Second-Longest Jump In Country…
Senior Charisse Bacchus had a mammoth leap of 21-6 in the long jump at the Big 12 Championships, good for second place at the meet. The jump, which was the second-longest jump in the nation this season, also put her squarely in second on the all-time Kansas performance list behind KU great Halcyon McKnight. Bacchus, who already owns the school’s indoor long jump record, is four inches off the outdoor record.
New Regional Qualifiers…
The Big 12 Championships saw more regional qualifications from the Jayhawks, allowing two more team members to stamp their ticket to Austin for the regional championships. Sophomore Ashley Brown PR’d twice at the meet in the 400-meter hurdles, eventually finishing fifth in the finals in a time of 1:00.65. Her time beat the regionally-qualifying mark of 1:00.82. Also competing in the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Julius Jiles and senior Aaron Thompson took advantage of the meet to qualify for regionals as well. Jiles, who had already qualified in the 110-meter hurdles, ran a time of 52.22 while Thompson ran a 52.34 to beat the regional mark of 52.51. Junior Josh Kirk provisionally qualified in the decathlon as well. Kirk scored 7,251 points to finish fifth overall at the Big 12 Championships. He currently sits at 20th on the national performance list which should be good for NCAA Championship qualification — it will not be official until the declaration lists are made from the NCAA, however.
Men’s Team Ranked…
The University of Kansas men’s track and field team is ranked at No. 15 in the country with a projected 15 points in the new Trackwire.com national poll. The Jayhawks are currently tied with Florida for the ranking. The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
Jayhawks in the Dandy Dozen…
This week’s edition of the Trackwire Dandy Dozen showcases mainstays Sheldon Battle and Egor Agafonov as well as senior Denita Young. Battle is ranked seventh in the shot put and fourth in the discus while Agafonov is second in the hammer. Young remained at 10th in the javelin. The Dandy Dozen is a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event. The list is used in compiling Trackwire’s weekly top 25 team rankings.
