Jayhawk Track & Field Heads to Oregon for USA Senior and Junior Championships
June 21, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The Jayhawk men’s and women’s track teams will send a strong contingent to the USA Senior and Junior Championships this week in Eugene, Ore. The meet will exhibit hundreds of the nation’s tops athletes at both the junior and senior levels and will include 10 athletes from the University of Kansas.
The KU men and women will be competing for the right to represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea in late August. The top-three finishers of each event at this week’s meet will automatically become members of team USA for the World Championships. On the junior level, the top three finishers of each event with qualify to represent the U.S. at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico at the end of October.
Leading the way for the KU men this week will be sophomore Mason Finley who will be competing in both the discus and the shot put at the senior level. Finley has the seventh-farthest shot put mark in the country this year with a toss of 20.71 meters (67-11.25 ft.), thrown during the indoor season. The Salida, Colo., native will begin his week in the discus, where he finished third at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago. His first throws will begin on Wednesday, June 23 at 8:10 p.m. (CST). He will conclude his week in the shot put at 2:55 p.m. (CST), Sunday, June 26.
Also competing for the men will be senior pole vaulter Jordan Scott. The 2011 Big 12 Outdoor Champion in the event, Scott has notched the seventh best vault in the country this year at 5.56 meters (18-02.75 ft.). He will take to the pole vault pits at 2 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, June 25.
Other KU men making the trip to Eugene will be senior Brian Bishop (discus), junior Donny Wasinger (1,500 meters) and freshman Dalen Fink (800 meters) who will be competing at the junior level.
On the women’s side, Diamond Dixon will try to continue her stellar freshman season by taking home a title in the 400 meters at the junior level. Dixon, the 2011 Big 12 Champion in the 400 meters, has the fastest time among juniors (ages 14-19) this year at 51.55. Her week will begin at 3:45 p.m. (CST), on Friday, June 24, in the first round of the junior 400 meters. The El Paso, Texas native has already taken home Big 12 Female Freshman of the Year honors and was recently named the Midwest Region Female Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
Other Jayhawk women who will be competing this week are sophomore Andrea Geubelle (triple jump), junior Rebeka Stowe (3,000m Steeplechase), sophomore Heather Bergmann (javelin throw) and freshman Jessica Maroszek (discus).
Maroszek will kick-off the week for the Jayhawks in the junior discus throw at 11:45 a.m. (CST), on Wednesday and will conclude with Stowe in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase at 3:45 p.m. (CST), Sunday. For live results and updates log on to kuathletics.com or follow on twitter at KUGameday.
Also competing this weekend in the Jamaican National Championships will be sophomore Francine Simpson. The Chapelton, Jamaica native will be competing in the long jump in hopes to represent her country in the upcoming World Championships in Daegu, South Korea Aug. 27-Sept. 4.
