Jayhawks Add More NCAA Qualifiers at Midwest Regionals

May 26, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa –

Despite some early rainy conditions, the <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>University of Kansas track and field teams continued to perform well at the NCAA Midwest Regionals Saturday at Jim Duncan Track in Des Moines, Iowa. Hugh Murphy, Julius Jiles, Janiece Gatson and Ashley Brown all earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. As a team, the men finished fourth with 50 points while the women placed 10th with 26 points. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Brown and Gatson became the first two KU women to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships after finishing second and fifth, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. Brown nearly matched her school record, running 57.69 and Gatson battled down the stretch to finish in 59.27.

“My finish today is sweet redemption for all the hard work I have done in my four years at Kansas,” Gatson said. “This will be my first time at the NCAA Championships in an individual event and I plan on making it a memorable one.”

Their coach, Elisha Brewer, was ecstatic about the performances of the two hurdlers.

“I am overwhelmed right now for these two girls,” Brewer said. “It is always special to go to the Big Dance and these girls have worked very hard to get there. I am just so happy for them.”

Junior Hugh Murphy qualified for the NCAA Championships with his fifth-place finish in the javelin. The Baldwin City, Kan., native threw 210-00 (64.02m) on his third throw of the competition to reach his first NCAA Championships.

“I am happy to have reached my first NCAA Championships and know that I still have better throws left in me,” Murphy said, who owns the fifth-longest javelin throw in school history.

In other field results Saturday, senior Abby Emsick and junior Crystal Manning both qualified for the NCAA Championships, earning berths in the discus and triple jump, respectively. Emsick placed third with a throw of 173-08 (52.93m). Manning placed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 42-06.75 (12.97m).

Junior Julius Jiles will be heading back to the NCAA Championships after finishing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 13.82 seconds. The mark represents a tie for the third-fastest time in school history.

“It feels great to be getting back to the NCAAs, especially after last year,” Jiles said. “I didn’t really like my start in the race today, so to set a new personal record means that I did something well. I have some things to smooth out, but I am excited to be heading back.”

In other action from Saturday, junior Kate Sultanova finished sixth in the pole vault with a clearance of 13-03.75 (4.06m) and although it is not an automatic berth, she expects to earn a trip to Sacramento based on her top performance this year. The women’s 4×100-meter relay team finished eighth in 45.46 seconds.

The Jayhawks will now head to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 6-9. Keep tuned to kuathletics.com for all the news about the NCAA Championships.

Kansas Automatic NCAA Championships Qualifiers

Men

Egor Agafonov, Hammer Throw

Eric Babb, Long Jump

Julius Jiles, 110-meter Hurdles

Hugh Murphy, Javelin

Cody Roberts, Discus

Jordan Scott, Pole Vault

Barrett Saunders, Long Jump

Women

Ashley Brown, 400-meter hurdles

Janiece Gatson, 400-meter hurdles

Abby Emsick, Discus

Crystal Manning, Triple Jump