KU Heads to Norman for NCAA Midwest Regional

May 27, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. – It’s make or break time for the Kansas track & field regional qualifiers as 11 Jayhawks are set for the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional Championships May 29-30 at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex in Norman, Okla.

Nickesha Anderson qualified in three events, but declared to run just the 100 meters and 200 meters in Norman. The prelims of the 100 meters will take place at 5:20 p.m. CDT Friday, while the 200 meters prelims will run Friday at 8 p.m. CDT. Victoria Howard will also run in Friday’s 200 prelims.

Lauren Bonds will run in the prelims of the 1,500 meters at 4 p.m. CDT Friday, Stephanie Horton and Emily Reimer will throw the shot put at 12:15 p.m. CDT Saturday, and Zlata Tarasova will compete in the hammer throw at 11 a.m. CDT Friday.

On the men’s side, Brian Bishop will compete in the discus Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CDT, Kirk Cooper will jump in the pole vault at 3 p.m. CDT Saturday, Corey Fuller will participate in the triple jump Saturday at 5 p.m. CDT, and Keith Hayes and Keyen Porter will run in the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles at 5 p.m. CDT Friday.

The NCAA Midwest Regional features 11 of the Big 12 schools as well as schools from the Big Ten, Mountain West Conference, Conference USA, Western Athletic Conference, the Big Sky Conference, Southland Conference and the Sun Belt.

The top five in each individual event from each region advance automatically to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Live results from Norman can be found at www.deltatiming.com. A complete recap can be found each day at www.kuathletics.com upon completion of the day’s events.

JAYHAWKS STORMIN’ NORMAN
The 2009 NCAA® Outdoor Track & Field Midwest Regional will take place May 29-30 at John Jacobs Field in Norman, Okla. Eleven Kansas athletes have qualified thus far with a total of 13 regional marks.

– Nickesha Anderson, a 2008 Beijing Olympian for Jamaica, has qualified in three different events. The Kansas school record holder in the 100 meters and 200 meters, Anderson has posted regional times in both of those events as well as the 400 meters.

– Brian Bishop has posted multiple regional marks in the discus, with his best throw coming at the 2009 Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas, a throw of 57.17 meters (187-06 feet) that was good enough to take home the bronze medal.

– Lauren Bonds ran the third-fastest time in KU history in the 1,500 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The junior from Hutchinson, Kan., posted a regional-qualifying time of 4:20.95. Bonds originally qualified for regionals by blowing away the field at the Kansas Relays, sprinting down the stretch to finish in a time of 4:27.36.

– Kirk Cooper regionally qualified in the pole vault at the John Jacobs Invitational in Norman, Okla., recording a jump of 5.05 meters (16-06.75 feet). The junior from Centennial, Colo., went on to match that mark at the Kansas Relays and again at the Big 12 Championships.

– Corey Fuller posted a regional mark in the triple jump at the Jim Click Shootout, leaping 15.34 meters (50-04 feet).

– Keith Hayes qualified in the 110-meter hurdles at the John Jacobs Invitational, and proceeded to lower his regional time to 14.05 at the Kansas Relays.

– Stephanie Horton had her best performance this year at the Kansas Relays, improving her already-regional qualifying mark in the shot put to 15.47 meters (50-09.25 feet).

– Victoria Howard is a regional qualifier in the 200 meters. The senior from Overland Park, Kan., ran a time of 23.76 at the John Jacobs Invitational to earn a return trip to Norman.

– Keyen Porter ran a time of 14.21 at the John Jacobs Invitational to regionally qualify in the 110-meter hurdles.

– Emily Reimer regionally qualified in the shot put at the Jim Click Shootout, recording a throw of 15.23 meters (49-11.75 feet).

– Zlata Tarasova has recorded multiple regional marks in the hammer throw. Her best performance came at the Big 12 Championships with a mark of 57.59 meters (188-11 feet), good for a fourth-place finish.