2007 Kansas Outdoor Track and Field Year-in-Review

June 27, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

The 2007 <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas outdoor track and field season was one for the record books, highlighted by five school records and eight All-Americans – the most number of individual outdoor All-Americans in KU history.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

The men’s team finished 18th at the NCAA Championships, its highest finish at the event since 1989. The women’s team took fifth place at the Big 12 Championships, its highest finish ever under head coach Stanley Redwine, and the men placed sixth. The Jayhawks boasted six Big 12 individual champions, the most the Jayhawks have had since the inception of the Conference.

Leading the way was junior Egor Agafonov, who claimed his fourth All-American award by finishing fourth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships. Agafonov also won both the Big 12 and Midwest Region titles, setting meet records in the process. Agafonov was also named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Team for his performance in the classroom.

Freshman Jordan Scott became the first freshman since 1996 to win both the Big 12 indoor and outdoor pole vault titles. For his efforts, he was named the Big 12 Outdoor Freshman Performer of the Year. He also set a new meet record at the USA Junior Championships in June, winning with a vault of 18-01.25.

Junior Julius Jiles finished eighth at the NCAA Championships, setting a school record in the 110-meter hurdles to become KU’s first ever All-American in the event.

Senior Eric Babb and junior Barrett Saunders earned All-America honors in the long jump when they took fourth and fifth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Saunders enjoyed a banner outdoor season in 2007, winning both the Big 12 and Midwest Regional titles. He became the first Jayhawk to win the conference long jump title since 1983. Babb burst onto the long jump scene by winning the Kansas Relays, and finishing third at the Midwest Regionals and fourth at the Big 12 Championships. He and Saunders became the first pair of KU men’s long jumpers to claim outdoor All-America distinction in the same year.

The women’s team took fifth place at the Big 12 Championships, its highest finish ever under head coach Stanley Redwine, and 35th at the NCAA Championships.

Junior Ashley Brown earned All-America honors by finishing 10th in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships. She broke school records in both the 100 and 400-meter hurdles. She also was the Big 12 champion in the 100-meter hurdles and Big 12 runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles.

Junior Kate Sultanova earn her second All-American award of the year.

Sultanova earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, tying for fifth place.

Junior Crystal Manning took the Big 12 title in the triple jump, setting a school record in the process. Her ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships made her and All-American.

Senior Abby Emsick, the school record holder in the discus, took home the first All-America honor of her career at the NCAA Championships, finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships. Emsick also displayed excellence in the classroom, receiving the Senior Student-Athlete Scholar Award and joining Agafonov on the Academic All-District Team.