👟 Anderson, Bradford Break Records at KU-KSU-WSU Triangular
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas men’s and women’s track and field teams finished second with 240 points at the eighth annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular in Lawrence, Kansas on Friday, which was highlighted by a pair of record-breaking performances from Kansas’ Rylee Anderson and Zach Bradford.
The Jayhawks tallied 13 event victories, scoring 240 points. The 240 points scored by KU were the most by the Jayhawks since the 2016-17 season. However, Kansas fell just short of Kansas State, who scored 246 points to take home the Triangular Cup. Wichita State finished in third with 183 points.
The Jayhawks wasted no time getting off to a hot start in the field events on Friday, where junior Rylee Anderson had a career-day in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.86m (6-1.25 ft.) to tie the Kansas school record set by Mary Beth Labowski in 1993. Anderson’s clearance also ties the NCAA lead entering this weekend.
Meanwhile, in the women’s pole vault, Samantha Van Hoecke led the Jayhawks to take the top three spots in the event by clearing 3.96m (12-11.75 ft.). Freshman Taylor Starkey followed in second with a top jump of 3.81m (12-6 ft.), followed by Gabby Hoke with the same mark.
The records continued to fall throughout the night, as Bradford set the Anschutz Pavilion Facility Record for the second-straight meet, clearing 5.67m (18-07.25 ft.) to better his record of 5.65m (18-6.5 ft.) set at the Bob Timmons Challenge on December 4. Bradford’s clearance on Friday also set the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular meet record and is the No. 2 mark in the NCAA so far this season.
In the men’s shot put, junior Patrick Larrison had a big day by throwing 18.25m (59-10.5 ft.), marking a new personal best while winning the event. Larrison improved his previous personal best by over a foot, while his mark ranks second in the Big 12 and 16th in the country this season. Larrison’s strong day continued in the men’s weight throw, where he set another personal best with a throw of 17.64m (57-10.5 ft.), placing third in the event and picking up some valuable points for KU.
Kansas’ success continued on the track on Friday, winning nine events on the 200 meter oval, including the women’s mile (Sommer Herner), men’s 60-meter hurdles (Cameron Wilmington), men’s 400 meters (Michael Joseph), women’s 600 yards (Honour Finley), men’s 800 meters (TJ Robinson), women’s 800 meters (Avryl Johnson), men’s 1,000 meters (AJ Green), women’s 3,000 meters (Lona Latema) and the mixed 4×400 meter relay.
The Jayhawks will be back in action on Saturday, January 15, as a group will travel to the Washburn Rust Buster in Topeka, Kansas. The Jayhawks will then travel to the DeLoss Dodds Invitational in Manhattan on January 21-23, before returning home to the Jayhawk Classic on January 28.
