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| The women’s DMR team claimed their sixth KU Relays title in eight years.
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RESULTS | NOTES | GALLERY
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Another dominant performance by Jayhawk freshman Gleb Dudarev, along with a host of qualifying runs on the track, highlighted another successful day for KU track & field at the 90th Kansas Relays. Dudarev got the Jayhawk men on the board in the scored quadrangular, while the KU women’s distance medley brought home its sixth title in eight years.
The collegiate quadrangular team race kicked off Friday with the men’s and women’s hammer throws. The Jayhawk men dominated the event, taking the top-two spots behind stellar outings from Dudarev and senior Mitch Cooper. The duo contributed 16 points by way of their 1-2 finish, putting the Jayhawks in first place as they head into the final day.
In just his second collegiate outing, Dudarev again turned in a collection of some of the top hammer throw marks in program history. On his third attempt, he flung the implement to a distance of 72.65 meters (238-4), a mark that was just two inches short of his week-old school record. The freshman went on to post three additional throws over 230 feet and easily claimed his second victory in as many outings of 2017. Two competitions into his first collegiate outdoor season, Dudarev holds nine of the top-10 throws in KU history.
Cooper added a career-best throw of 60.06 meters (197-0), good for a runner-up finish to his freshman teammate. The performance made him just the eighth Jayhawk to surpass the 60-meter mark in the event and made him the second KU male to achieve 60 meters in both the discus and the hammer throws.
On the track, the college open races took center stage Friday and, as has become somewhat of a tradition at the KU Relays, the Kansas women’s distance medley relay walked away with gold. The quartet of junior Courtney Coppinger, senior Whitney Adams, sophomore Riley Cooney and sophomore Lauren Harrell passed the baton around in 12:04.95 to claim the event crown by 17 seconds. The win marked the sixth time in eight years Kansas has taken first in the event at the KU Relays.
The Jayhawks had four other relay teams post strong preliminary outings, good enough to advance to Saturday’s finals.
The women’s 4×100-meter relay claimed first place in a time of 46.61, while the women’s 4×400-meter relay took third by way of a 3:46.75 clocking.
On the men’s side, the 4×100-meter relay squad crossed the finish line in 41.40, earning third place overall. The men’s 4×400-meter team also qualified, posting a third-place time of 3:15.69.
In addition to the relays, the KU track & field team had nine individuals qualify for finals in the open division.
The women took four of the top-ten spots in the 400 meters, with junior Megan Linder taking third (56.03), sophomore Wumi Omare placing fourth (56.63), senior Adriana Newell claiming fifth (56.84) and freshman Zantori Dickerson in seventh (57.47). In the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Gabbi Dabney finished eighth after a personal-best time of 14.57.
Junior Marcus Davis, senior Strymar Livingston, junior Christian Hicks and senior Alex Wilson round out the list of Jayhawks advancing to the college open finals. Davis and Livingston took second and third, respectively, in the 400 meters. Davis’ time of 47.73 marked his personal best, while Livingston clocked in at 47.83.
Wilson recorded a runner-up finish in the 400-meter hurdles after completing the race in 53.14. Hicks competed in the 110-meter hurdles, taking sixth with a time of 53.14.
One final day awaits at the 90th Kansas Relays. Collegiate finals get underway at 1:11 p.m., with the first quadrangular event starting at 6:35 p.m. For updates and results throughout the day, visit KansasRelays.com and follow on Twitter @KUTrack.
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