Manning an All-American; Jiles and Horton Set School Records
June 12, 2008
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DES MOINES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Iowa – Senior Crystal Manning became the first All-American for the University of Kansas at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday. Senior Julius Jiles and junior Stephanie Horton each broke their own school records in advancing in their respective events. CBS College Sports Network (check local listings) will show live coverage of the NCAA Championships on Friday from 7-9 p.m. (CST). Saturday’s finals will be shown to a national television audience on CBS from 3-5 p.m.
Manning followed up her career-best attempt in the long jump on Wednesday with an All-American effort on Thursday. With the field starting with a clean slate – the jumps from the qualifying round do not count toward the finals – Manning placed ninth with a jump of 6.26 meters (20 feet, 6½ inches).
“She’s a good competitor,” horizontal jumps coach Wayne Pate said of Manning, who was ranked 28th in the nation coming into the meet. “It’s really nice to coach somebody like that – somebody who goes all out. She did a nice job and I’m really happy about it.”
As one of the top-eight American finishers, the Terrell, Texas, product finished her long jump career with her first All-America honor in the event. She will compete in the qualifying round of the triple jump Friday at 7 p.m. “I’m excited about the triple jump and seeing what she can do,” Pate said of Manning’s best event.
Jiles sprinted past his own record in the 110-meter hurdles with a finish of 13.57 in the first round of the event. The Kansas City, Mo., native and CentralHigh School graduate held the record at 13.66 from the semifinals of the 2007 NCAA Championships.
“I was real surprised,” Jiles said of his school-record race. “I was running so comfortable, I thought I was running slow. I tried to just keep calm and just run and have fun.”
“We’re very pleased with his effort,” sprints coach Elisha Brewer said of Jiles. “We’ve been trying to put everything together and his hard work in practice showed today.”
On advancing past his semifinal race Friday night at 8:05 p.m. Jiles said, “I have to run the same race – just faster.”
Junior Stephanie Horton qualified for the finals of the shot put with a school record toss. Her throw measured 16.52 meters (54-02.50 ft.), besting her performance from the Big 12 Championships last month by nearly two feet. The finals are at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Anderson duplicated her feat from the 100 meters on Wednesday as she advanced through two rounds of the 200 meters on Thursday. Anderson got through the first round, winning her heat in a time of 23.00. In the semifinals, Anderson, despite running in the heat with the strongest headwind, had the fastest time of any of her competitors by over a tenth of a second at 22.76.
“She knows how to get it done when it matters,” Brewer said of the Hanover, Jamaica native. “She thrives on competing against the best competition in the country. She doesn’t get intimidated and is putting together some of her best races.” Anderson has the finals of the 100 meters at 8:35 p.m. on Friday and the finals of the 200 meters at 3:37 p.m. on Saturday.
Senior Egor Agafonov, ranked third in the nation in the men’s hammer throw, competes in the finals Friday at 5:30 p.m. while Anderson, Manning and Jiles will compete during CBS College Sports Network’s live coverage in their respective events.
Be sure to log on to www.kuathletics.com for all Jayhawk news and information from Drake Stadium.
KU Results – 2008 NCAA Championships:
Men:
110-Meter Hurdles: Jiles (13.57)
Hammer Throw: Agafonov (67.24m)
Pole Vault: 16-Scott (5.10m)
Women:
100 Meters: Anderson (11.76p, 11.66s)
200 Meters: Anderson (23.00p, 22.76s)
400-Meter Hurdles: 23-Brown (1:00.12), 27-Butler (1:03.25)
Hammer Throw: 27-Tarasova (55.07m)
Long Jump: 9-Manning (6.26m)
Pole Vault: 15-Sultanova (4.00m)
Shot Put: Horton (16.52m)
