👟 Kansas Set for NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene
EUGENE, Ore. – The Kansas men’s and women’s track and field teams are set to compete on collegiate track and field’s highest stage this week when the Jayhawks take part in the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 8-11.
The four-day meet officially kicks off on Wednesday and runs through Saturday. The 2022 NCAA Track and Field Championships will air live on ESPN family of networks, with a full schedule of events available here.
The Jayhawks will be represented by six individual entries and one relay at the Championships, including Zach Bradford (pole vault), Clayton Simms (pole vault), Alexander Jung (decathlon), Alexandra Emilianov (discus), Rylee Anderson (high jump), Honour Finley (800 meters, 4×400), Mariah Kuykendoll (4×400), Anna Siemens (4×400) and Satanya Wright (4×400).
Bradford, of Bloomington, Illinois, enters his seventh-career NCAA Championships, where he is a six-time NCAA All-American in the pole vault. Bradford is coming off a season where he vaulted 5.51m (18-1 ft.) to win his third-career Big 12 title, while he owns both the indoor (5.81m (19-0.25 ft.) and outdoor (5.81m (19-0.75 ft.) school records at KU, while he has finished in the top-six of the pole vault at the NCAA Championships in both of his outdoor appearances.
As a freshman out of Watson, Louisiana, Simms enters his first NCAA Outdoor Championships in the men’s pole vault after earning first team All-America honors during the indoor season. Clayton has cleared a personal best 5.41m (17-9 ft.) outdoors at the Big 12 Championship, which placed him as the runner-up behind his teammate, Zach Bradford. Simms enters the Championships ranked 18th in the country, which is the best ranking by a freshman in the event.
Jung has had a historic freshman season for the Jayhawks, scoring 7,606 points in the decathlon at the 2022 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, which is the third-best performance in school history and the most by a freshman. Jung’s performance at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship earned him a spot at the 2022 NCAA Championships, where he comes in ranked 20th in the country, which is the highest ranking as a freshman.
As a junior out of Longmont, Colorado, Anderson enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the top clearance in the women’s high jump at the NCAA West Preliminary, clearing 1.81m (5-11.25 ft.), while not missing a single bar at the NCAA West Prelims. Rylee is a four-time NCAA
All-American and three-time Big 12 Champion, winning the 2022 Big 12 Indoor Championship with a school record 1.87m (6-1.5 ft.) to break the 30-year-old school record of 1.86m (6-1.25 ft.) set by Marybeth Labowski in 1992.
Emilianov enters her fifth-career NCAA Championships, including her fourth-career outdoor Championship in the discus. Sasha enters the event with the second-best discus throw in the NCAA this outdoor season at 60.51m (198-6 ft.) set at the Michael Johnson Invitational. She went on to win the discus at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship for the third time in her career. At the 2022 West Prelims, Sasha threw 58.47m (191-10 ft.) to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Sasha is a five-time NCAA All-American, Olympian at the 2020 Olympic Games, representing Moldova, and a school record holder in the discus, shot put (outdoors) and shot put (indoors).
Finley, of Bloomington, Minnesota, qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800 meters and 4×400 meter relay. At the NCAA West Preliminary, Finley ran the school record in the 800 meters at 2:03.87, breaking the 2016 record of 2:04.43 set by Whitney Adams. Finley’s record-breaking performance came in just her third 800-meter meet of her career. She had previously run the half mile at the Michael Johnson Invitational (2:08.07) and Big 12 Championship (2:05.05), prior to the NCAA West Preliminary. After qualifying in the 800 meters, Finley returned to anchor Kansas 4×400 meter relay to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 3:32.41. Honour is a four-time NCAA All-American and Big 12 Champion in the 4×400 meter relay.
Kansas’ women’s 4×400 team of Finley, Kuykendoll, Siemens and Wright qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in thrilling fashion, running a season best 3:32.41 at the NCAA West Preliminary, which is almost five seconds faster than their previous season best. The 4×400 meter relay team enters this year’s championships ranked 15th in the country, as they look to put together another strong finish.
The 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships will mark the end of the collegiate competition season for the Jayhawks, while many will compete for their respective countries throughout the summer.
