Emilianov, Evans ready for European Athletics U23 Championships

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Two Kansas track & field student-athletes are set to compete in the European Athletics U23 Championships 2019 at Gavlehov Stadium Park in Gavle, Sweden, July 11-14.

Coming off successful sophomore campaigns in 2018-19 for Kansas, Alexandra Emilianovand George Evans will both make the trip to Sweden to compete in their countries’ U23 Championships respective discus throws.

Moldova national champion, Alexandra “Sasha” Emilianov, has the top entry in the women’s discus field heading into the U23 Championships with her 61.62 meters (202-5 ft.) mark, which she achieved at the Moldova National Championships in June. That particular toss not only bested the field of competition, but also set a new KU record in the event.

Emilianov will compete in the women’s discus qualifying round Group B on Thursday, July 11 at 4 p.m. local time in Sweden (9 a.m. CDT). Should she be one of the top-12 performers out of the 21 total competitors entered from 16 countries, she will advance to the final on Friday, July 12, which is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. CDT).

George Evans, from Inverness, Scotland, is set to compete for Great Britain and will have his men’s discus qualifying round on Friday, July 12 at 12:35 p.m. local time (5:35 a.m. CDT). Should he advance, the final of the event is scheduled for Saturday, July 13 at 6:55 p.m. local time (11:55 a.m. CDT).

Evans is one of 24 athletes from 18 different countries vying for the U23 discus title this weekend. A 2018 Outdoor Second Team All-American in the discus, Evans enters the U23 Championships eighth in the field of two dozen competitors with his lifetime best mark of 59.84 meters (196-4 ft.). In addition, that mark ranks Evans No. 7 on the all-time KU list of top-10 performers.

Meet Schedule: https://www.european-athletics.org/mm/Document/EventsMeetings/General/01/28/63/19/EU23CH2019-Timetable_Graphics_Final_Neutral.pdf

Entries: https://www.european-athletics.org/mm/Document/EventsMeetings/General/01/28/73/05/EU23CH2019-FinalEntriesLisforwebsite-Updated_English.pdf

Results: https://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-u23-championships/2019/schedules-results/

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