Sultanova and Manning Clinch Spots in NCAA Championships
May 30, 2008
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<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LINCOLN, Neb. – Seniors Kate Sultanova and Crystal Manning each clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships with top-five finishes while seven more Kansas track and field athletes qualified for the finals of their respective events on Friday at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Lincoln, Neb.
Manning became the first Jayhawk to secure a spot at the NCAA Championships. With the top-five finishers in each individual event automatically qualifying for the Championships, Manning’s fourth-place long jump of 6.26 meters (20 feet, 6 ½ inches) guarantees her a trip to Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks. The Terrell, Texas native will attempt to duplicate her success in the triple jump Saturday afternoon.
In the final event of the day, Sultanova qualified for the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish. The Krasnodar, Russia, native finished at a height of 4.16 meters (13-07.75 ft.).
Senior Julius Jiles will run for the regional championship in the 110-meter hurdles after qualifying with a time of 13.74. Jiles also placed 11th in the 400 hurdles (52.19).
“I felt pretty comfortable,” Jiles said. “I just wanted to keep it going, not do anything spectacular, but just qualify and make it to the finals.” The Kansas City, Mo., native competes in the finals at 4:55 p.m. Saturday. “As long as I get out and keep a strong start over the first three hurdles, the rest will take care of itself.”
With her best time of the year, senior Ashley Brown qualified for the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at 13.65. Brown did have two times below that mark earlier in the outdoor season, but each was wind-aided.
Kansas will have two representatives in the 400-meter hurdle finals on Saturday as Brown (1:00.14) and junior Sha’Ray Butler (1:01.03) each qualified.
Junior Nickesha Anderson was successful in qualifying for the 100 and 200 meters with finishes of 11.40 and 22.81, respectively.
Senior Maresia Pencil earned her way into the finals of the women’s 800 meters with a time of 2:09.68. Pencil will look to punch her ticket to the NCAA Championships in the finals of the event at 5:25 p.m. on Saturday.
Junior Zlata Tarasova was seventh in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 59.17 meters (194-01 ft.) while senior Hugh Murphy was 14th in the men’s javelin and senior Matt Baysinger was 15th in the men’s 800 meters.
The final day of competition starts at 1 p.m. (CST) on Saturday with two-time defending champion senior Egor Agafonov in the men’s hammer throw. Sophomore Kelsey Erb (high jump) and Manning (triple jump) will also begin their events at 1 p.m. Track events start at 4 p.m. with the finals of the 400-meter relays and conclude with the 1,600-meter relay finals at 7:05 p.m.
KU Results:
Men:
110-meter Hurdles: p-Jiles (13.74)
400-Meter Hurdles: 11-Jiles (52.19)
800 Meters: 15-Baysinger (1:53.06)
5,000 Meters: 19-Hefferon (14:32.77)
Javelin: 14-Murphy (61.66m)
Women:
100 Meters: p-Anderson (11.40)
100-meter Hurdles: p-Brown (13.65)
200 Meters: p-Anderson (22.81)
400-Meter Hurdles: p-Brown (1:00.14), p-Butler (1:01.03)
800 Meters: p-Pencil (2:09.68)
Hammer Throw: 7-Tarasova (59.17m)
Long Jump: 4-Manning (6.26m)
Pole Vault: 3-Sultanova (4.16m)
p=qualified for finals of event
Women – Team Rankings – 5 Events Scored
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1) Texas Tech 27.50 2) Minnesota 20.50
3) Kansas State 20 4) Texas-El Paso 16
5) Texas A&M 14 6) Kansas 13
7) Oklahoma State 12 8) Rice 11
9) Oral Roberts 10 10) Wyoming 9
10) Nebraska 9 12) Northern Iowa 8
12) Baylor 8 14) Colorado State 6
15) Southern Methodist 5 16) Wichita State 3
17) Oklahoma 2 18) Iowa 1
Men – Team Rankings – 5 Events Scored
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1) Nebraska 37.50 2) Colorado 28
3) Texas Tech 20 4) Iowa 16
4) Texas-El Paso 16 6) Wichita State 14
7) Texas A&M 13 8) Minnesota 7
8) Kansas State 7 10) Oklahoma 6
10) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 6 12) Northern Iowa 5.50
13) Texas 5 13) TCU 5
15) Oklahoma State 3 16) Texas-Arlington 2
17) North Texas 1.50 17) Texas-San Antonio 1.50
