Jayhawks Set Out For Des Moines, NCAA Championships

June 9, 2008

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – On Monday, ten Jayhawks will set forth for Des Moines, Iowa, where DrakeUniversity is hosting the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 11-14. Five of them, seniors Julius Jiles, Ashley Brown, Egor Agafonov, Crystal Manning and Kate Sultanova are returning after All-American performances at the event last year. Juniors Nickesha Anderson, Sha’Ray Butler, Stephanie Horton and Zlata Tarasova and sophomore Jordan Scott are each looking for their first All-America honors.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

The NCAA Championships start at 10 a.m. (CST) on Wednesday and conclude at 4:48 p.m. on Saturday. CBS will show live coverage of the championships from 3-5 p.m. (CST) on Saturday while CBS College Sports Network will show live coverage on Friday from 7-10 p.m.

The women have set a school record for the highest finish in team history at each postseason meet they’ve competed in thus far in 2008. Their highest NCAA finish in team history is a tie for 24^th at the 1999 championships. The men have won three NCAA titles. Kansas’ last individual outdoor national champion was Leo Bookman in 2003. Bookman won the title in the men’s 200 meters.

Tarasova is the first competitor for Kansas at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the qualifying rounds of the hammer throw. The finals of the event are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Agafonov starts the men’s hammer throw at 4 p.m. on Wednesday with the finals at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Scott starts qualifying in the men’s pole vault at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday with the finals at the same time on Friday. Sultanova competes in the women’s pole vault on each of those days at 7:30 p.m.

Also on Wednesday, Manning is in the long jump qualifiers at 6:15 p.m. – the finals are at 5 p.m. on Thursday – while Brown and Butler run in the first round of the 400 hurdles at 6 p.m. and Anderson competes in the 100 meters at 5:30 p.m. (first round) and 7 p.m. (semifinals). The finals of the 100 meters are on Thursday at 8:35 p.m.

At 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, Jiles starts day two for Kansas in the 110-meter hurdles. He would then compete in the semifinals at 8:05 p.m. on Friday and in the finals at 4:02 p.m. on Saturday.

Brown and Butler have the semifinals of the 400 hurdles at 5:45 p.m. and Anderson runs in the 200 meters at 5:10 p.m. (first round) and 6:35 p.m. (semifinals) on Thursday. The finals for Brown and Butler are scheduled for 8:55 p.m. on Friday while the finals for the 200 meters are at 3:37 p.m. on Saturday.

Horton also starts her competition on Thursday with the qualifying of the women’s shot put at 7:15 p.m. She would then compete in the finals on the last day of competition at 1:30 p.m.

The triple jump competition starts on Friday as Manning will compete at 7 p.m. in the event’s qualifying round. The finals are at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Be sure to log on to www.kuathletics.com for all Jayhawk news and information from Drake Stadium.