Kansas picks up pair of wins on final day of National Relay Championships
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Kansas track & field high jumpers picked up a pair of wins on the final day of action at the National Relay Championships at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas. KU senior Joel Long won the men’s competition, while freshman Rylee Anderson took first and jumped up to No. 5 on the Kansas women’s all-time performers list in the event.
Anderson, a native Longmont, Colorado and 2019 NCAA indoor Second Team All-American in the high jump, won the event on Saturday with a clearance of 1.82 meters (5-11.5 ft.) to move into fifth on the all-time performers list at KU. The clearance was also tied for the ninth-best mark ever cleared by a KU women’s track & field athlete and currently ranks second in the Big 12, sixth in the West region and 10th in the NCAA this season.
Long’s picked up the win at 1.85 meters (6-0.75 ft.), but the Topeka, Kansas product was able to clear two more bars after the next-best competitor was eliminated, finishing with a best clearance of 1.95 meters (6-4.75 ft.).
On the track, the men’s 4×800-meter relay team of Marcus Quere, Bryce Hoppel, Jack Young and Ethan Donley took second, clocking in with a combined time of 7:44.01, while the women’s 4×800 squad of Wumi Omare, Courtney Griffiths, Catherine Liggett and Avryl Johnson placed fourth with a time of 9:08.15.
Freshman Treyvon Ferguson took advantage of the windy conditions at John McDonnell Field on his way to a personal-best mark in the triple jump. Ferguson placed fifth with a wind-aided (+4.4 m/s) mark of 15.55 meters (51-0.25 ft.).
Senior Alexis Romero placed fifth in the women’s invitational section of the pole vault, clearing 4.15 meters (13-7.25 ft.). The Reno, Nevada native took three attempts at a PR bar of 4.30 meters (14-1.25 ft.), but was unable to clear the height.
The KU 4×400-meter relay teams finished the day with a pair of sixth-place finishes. The men’s quartet of Marcus Davis, Ethan Fogle, Cody Johnson and Hoppel crossed the line in 3:11.54, and the women’s team of Mariah Kuykendoll, Honour Finley, Nicole Montgomery and Marleena Eubanks combined for a time of 3:38.96.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will conclude regular season action at the Ward Haylett Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, May 3-4, before heading to Norman, Oklahoma for the 2019 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 10-12, at Oklahoma’s John Jacobs Track & Field Complex.
