Ten Jayhawks Will Compete at NCAA Track and Field Championships

May 30, 2006

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

The NCAA declaration lists for the 2006 NCAA Track and Field Championships have been finalized, and 10 members of the University of Kansas track and field teams were selected to compete at this year’s meet. Four Jayhawks were given at-large berths into the competition, while six others earned their spots by virtue of a top-five finish at the Midwest Regional Championships.

Those receiving at-large bids were junior Abby Emsick, senior Denita Young and senior Cameron Schwehr. Junior Josh Kirk qualified by achieving a provisional-qualifying score of 7,251 points in the decathlon. The top-20 point totals are given entry into the NCAA Championship meet.

Emsick qualified in the discus with her throw of 176-4 from the Ward Haylett Invitational on May 6 while Young’s throw of 168-3 in the javelin at the Big 12 Championships on May 14 guaranteed her qualification. Schwehr’s time of 3:43.64 in the 1,500-meter run at the Cardinal Invitational on April 30 also put him in the NCAA Championships.

The remaining six representatives were automatic qualifiers from the regional championships. Charisse Bacchus finished third in the long jump, Paul Hefferon was third in the 5,000-meter run, Sheldon Battle placed third in the shot put and Cody Roberts notched a fifth-place result in the discus. Egor Agafonov and Zlata Tarasova, Kansas’ hammer throwers, were both the regional champions in their event.

The 2006 NCAA Track and Field Championships are being hosted by Sacramento State University. The meet will be held at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex on June 7-10. Live coverage of the meet can be seen on CSTV on June 9 (7-9 p.m. CST) and on CBS on June 10 (2:30-5 p.m. CST).