👟 Kansas Men's Track and Field Finishes Third at Big 12's
NORMAN, Okla.– The Kansas men’s track and field team placed third at the 2023 Outdoor Big 12 Championships, led by Chandler Gibbens’ second conference title of the weekend.
The Jayhawks compiled 117 total points on the men’s side, which is the most points they’ve scored since 2017 and the second most in Big 12 championship history.
Gibbens was the second-highest scorer at the meet, tallying 20 points after winning both the 5k and the 10k. The junior out of Columbia, Mo. set a new meet record in the 5k, running a 13:48.49.
He is the first Jayhawk in program history to execute the distance sweep, winning both titles in the same conference-championship weekend.
The other Big 12 Champion of the day was Rylee Anderson, winning the women’s high jump with her 1.83m clearance. The senior standout now has five conference titles to her name, including two this season. She maintains her No. 4 NCAA ranking, sitting in a great spot heading into both prelims and nationals.
Kansas men who contributed to the team score on the last day include Dimitrios Pavlidis, who placed second in the men’s discus with his 57.90 mark, and Patrick Larrison, who placed eighth in the same event by throwing 52.81m.
Michael Joseph was the runner-up in the men’s 400m with a 44.78, as well as seventh in the 200m with his 20.92 time.
The men’s pole vault crew took second, third and fourth in the event, with Andrew Saloga clearing 5.36m, Jake Freidel 5.26m and a new PR and Clayton Simms 5.26m as well for fourth place.
A.J. Green took sixth place overall in the men’s 800m with a personal best time of 1:47.66.
Cameron Wilmington made three trips to the podium on Sunday, finishing fifth in the 400m hurdles (50.89, new PR), sixth in 110m hurdles (13.92) and sixth in the men’s 4×1 as well. He was joined by Tayton Klein, Jaden Patterson and Joseph in this relay lineup.
The men’s 4×4 team of Grant Lockwood, Ethan Fogle, Jameir Colbert and Justice Dick also found their way onto the podium with a fifth-place finish (3:08.50).
Some more women who scored include Saudia Heard (seventh in the triple jump, 12.75m) and Tori Thomas (fifth in the discus throw, 51.28m mark).
Ashley Wallace and Kaycee McCoy each made two trips up to the podium. They were a part of the sixth-place women’s 4×1 squad, joined by Anna Siemens and Satanya Wright, as well as six and seven in the 110m hurdle finals. McCoy recorded a new PR in the event with her 13.74 time.
The women finished the meet in eighth place overall with 46 total points.
Kansas will next head to the NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, California on May 24-27.
