Manning and Scott Bring Home Gold Medals at NACAC Championships

July 20, 2008

TOLUCA, Mexico – University of Kansas track and field athletes Crystal Manning and Jordan Scott, competing for Team USA, each came away victorious this weekend at the NACAC Under-23 Track & Field Championships.

Manning, who just completed her senior season for KU, brought home the gold medal in the women’s triple jump Saturday with a leap of 13.52 meters (14 yards-02.36 ft.). Manning’s U.S. teammate in the event, Connecticut’s Tamara Highsmith, tied for second with a jump of 13.11 meters (14 yards-01.01 ft.) to give the Americans a 1-2 finish.

Scott, a junior-to-be for the Jayhawks, pole vaulted 5.50 meters (6 yards-00.04 ft.) on Friday to bring home the gold in his event. Clemson’s Paul “Mitch” Greeley, Scott’s U.S. teammate, was the runner-up with a vault of 5.20 meters (5 yards-02.06 ft.).

The NACAC Athletic Association’s U23 Championships are held every two years in one of the 32 member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association, one of six regional athletics associations affiliated with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Scott enters his junior season at KU coming off a NCAA outdoor regional championship in the pole vault as a sophomore. Manning capped off her successful KU career by earning two All-America honors at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (long jump and triple jump), one of just three women in KU history to do so.