Jayhawks Ready for NCAA Track and Field Championships
NCAA Track & Field Championship 8:00 PM ET
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The University of Kansas men’s and women’s track and field teams are heading to Sacramento, Calif., this week for the 2006 NCAA Championships hosted by Sacramento State University. The meet, which runs June 7-10, will have 10 Jayhawks in competition. The 2006 NCAA Championships will feature 5 1/2 hours of live television coverage following last week’s announcement that College Sports Television (CSTV) plans to air three hours of Friday’s competition (7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CST). CBS earlier announced that it would air 2 1/2 hours of live coverage (2:30 to 6 p.m. CST) on Saturday, June 10.
The Squad…
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 (discus), senior Denita Young (javelin) and senior Cameron Schwehr (1,500m). 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. 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.
Agafonov, Tarasova Win Regional Hammer Crowns…
Sophomore Egor Agafonov and freshman Zlata Tarasova have made quite an impact in their first year of competition for the Jayhawks, and that trend continued at the Midwest Regional Championships in Austin, Texas. Agafonov, who owns the school record in the hammer, followed up his Big 12 title by winning the regional competition with a toss of 226-4. The mark was good for his fourth victory of the year. Tarasova’s second victory of the season came at the right time. Her throw of 204-5 bettered her own school record that she previously held at 199-11.
Regional Leftovers…
The women’s 400-meter relay team broke the school record and sophomore Ashley Brown climbed her way up the school performance list after strong showings in the Midwest Regional Championships. The relay team, which consisted of Crystal Manning, Tiffany Cherry, Victoria Howard and Charisse Bacchus, broke the school record in the event with a time of 44.99 in the prelims. The team beat the previous record of 45.06 held since 1993. Brown ran a time of 59.36 in the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles, taking more than a second off her PR in the event. The time put her in second on the school list.
Emsick Earns Academic All-District Honors…
Junior Abby Emsick was named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 track & field/cross country second team. Emsick, who received an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships in the discus, boasts a 3.90 GPA majoring in nursing.
Men’s Team Ranked…
The University of Kansas men’s track and field team is ranked at No. 24 in the country with a projected nine points in the final Trackwire.com national poll. The Jayhawks are currently tied with Indiana, Kansas State and Colorado for the ranking. The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
Jayhawks in the Dandy Dozen…
This week’s edition of the Trackwire Dandy Dozen showcases Charisse Bacchus, Sheldon Battle, Egor Agafonov and Zlata Tarasova. Battle is ranked sixth in the shot put while Agafonov is third in the hammer. Bacchus rejoined the rankings at ninth while Tarasova is 10th in the hammer. The Dandy Dozen is a power ranking of the top-12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event. The list is used in compiling Trackwire’s weekly top 25 team rankings.
