Jayhawks record 8 event victories, KU men win Battle on the Bayou
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Kansas men’s and women’s track & field teams took home eight event victories at the Battle on the Bayou in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday. The KU men won the team title at the meet, scoring 129 points to beat Ohio State, LSU, Penn State and Alabama, while the Jayhawk women finished second in the team scoring to LSU.
Junior Bryce Hoppel highlighted the Jayhawk action, winning two events to extend his individual-race win-streak to 10 races. Hoppel first won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:47.98, which ranks No. 23 in the West Region this season. He later went on to win his primary race, the 800-meter run, clocking in at 1:49.69. Hoppel also helped the men’s 4×400-meter relay team to a third-place finish, running the anchor leg to post a combined time of 3:10.64.
Sophomore George Evans posted a personal-best performance in the discus to take the event title and become the No. 7 performer in KU history. Evans posted a throw of 59.84 meters (196-4 ft.) to win the event, which ranks No. 6 in the NCAA this season. Evans also placed fifth in the shot put with a PR mark of 17.05 meters (55-11.25 ft.).
Fellow sophomore thrower Alexandra Emilianov also put together an impressive day in both the discus and shot put rings. Emilianov won the women’s discus with a mark of 56.17 meters (184-3.5 ft.) before posting a second-place finish in the shot with a mark of 16.27 meters (53-4.5 ft.). Emilianov’s best mark in the shot put ranks No. 15 in the NCAA this season and was the No. 5 mark in KU history.
Rounding out the wins in the throws, junior Gleb Dudarev took home the men’s hammer throw title with a mark of 73.47 meters (241-0 ft.). Although it was not a season-best performance from the Vitebsk, Belarus native, Dudarev still leads the NCAA in the event with his mark of 74.39 meters (244-1 ft.) from the Florida Relays (March 29).
Senior Alexis Romero won the women’s pole vault with a mark of 4.17 meters (13-8.25 ft.) and sophomore Khristen Bryant posted a personal-best clearance of 4.12 meters (13-6.25 ft.) to finish runner-up in the event.
Kingston, Jamaica native Marleena Eubanks won the women’s 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.15 and freshman Treyvon Ferguson was the top finisher in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.83 meters (48-8 ft.).
NOTABLES
- Junior Jedah Caldwell placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.70 seconds, which ranks No. 17 in the West region this season.
- Sophomore Honour Finley and redshirt sophomore Mariah Kuykendoll each PR’ed in the 400-meter dash. Finley placed second with a time of 53.34 seconds, ranking her No. 6 in the West region and No. 21 in the NCAA. Kuykendoll’s time of 53.74 was good for fourth and ranks her No. 7 in the West region. Their performances made them the No. 4 and No. 9 performers, respectively, in KU history in the event.
- Cordell Tinch ran a wind-aided 14.04-second (+4.0 m/s) 110-meter hurdle time to place third. The time ranks No. 14 in the West Region. Tinch also placed third in the long jump with a wind-aided mark of 7.50 meters (24-7.25 ft.) (+3.0 m/s), which ranks 12th in the West this season.
- Cody Johnson became the No. 17 performer in the West region in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.77 seconds, which was good for second place.
- Caraline Slattery clocked in at 59.83 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles to place second and become the No. 15 performer in the West region.
- Freshman Zach Bradford place third overall, but was the top collegiate finisher in the men’s pole vault. After recording a no-height at the Texas Relays in his outdoor debut, Bradford bounced back with a clearance of 5.38 meters (17-7.75 ft.) to become the No. 8 performer in the West region this season.
UP NEXT
Kansas track & field will take a weekend off before hosting the 92nd Kansas Relays presented by RCB Bank, April 17-20, at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
