Battle, Tarasova Advance to NCAA Championships

May 27, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas –

Complete Results

Competing at the second and final day of competition from the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>University of Kansas senior Sheldon Battle and freshman Zlata Tarasova both advanced to the NCAA Championships after their top-five finishes in their events on Saturday. They will join Egor Agafonov, Charisse Bacchus, Paul Hefferon and Cody Roberts as the team’s automatic qualifiers for the national meet.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Tarasova, who finished second in the hammer at the Big 12 Championships, joined teammate Agafonov as the regional champion in the event. Her toss of 204-5 was her best of the season and improved her hold on the school record that she set at the Mesa Classic on April 14.

Battle’s toss of 62-6 1/2 was good for third overall at the meet and will send him to his second-straight NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Jamestown, N.Y., native was the runner up at the Big 12 Championships in the same event.

After setting a personal best on Friday in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.36, sophomore Ashley Brown took sixth on Saturday in the finals of the event in a time of 1:00.05. The finish narrowly missed an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

Also finishing sixth was the women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Crystal Manning, Tiffany Cherry, Shatoya Hill and Charisse Bacchus. Its time of 45.20 was just off Oklahoma’s time of 45.18.

Competing in the 1,500-meter run, senior Cameron Schwehr notched a 10th place finish. His time was 3:53.55. Fellow senior Erik Sloan took 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:20.06.

Junior Abby Emsick took seventh in the discus with a toss of 170-0.

A pair of Jayhawks competed in the women’s triple jump. Shatoya Hill (40-6 1/4) and Crystal Manning (40-6) finished 16th and 17th, respectively, in the event.

While the top five finishers in their events were given automatic berths into the NCAA Championships, there is still room for more Jayhawks to be entered into the meet. Those finishing sixth, seventh or eighth in their event will be entered into an at-large pool where they will be judged on their marks from the season to determine who will round out the championship field.

The 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.