Kansas track & field record books altered on day 1 of Tyson Invitational, ISU Classic
In the first day of split squad action at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, seven Kansas track & field athletes altered the school record books and moved up the KU all-time lists in their respective events.
At the Tyson Invitational, sophomore Honour Finley became the No. 2 performer in KU women’s history in the 400-meter dash, finishing fourth overall in the invitational section. The Bloomington, Minnesota native recorded a personal-best time of 53.34 seconds to move up the all-time charts. The time moves Finley into the No. 13 spot on the NCAA’s descending order list, putting her in potential position to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, March 8-9.
Originally scheduled to compete at the prestigious Millrose Games in New York City but had plans altered due to a canceled flight, senior Sharon Lokedi ran at the ISU Classic on Friday evening, making her 3,000-meter season debut. Despite driving up to Ames the day of the race, Lokedi was able to clock the No. 3 time in KU women’s history, placing second in the race at 9:06.65. The time is No. 13 in the NCAA this season.
Dylan Hodgson became the No. 3 performer in KU history in the men’s 3,000-meter run at the ISU Classic, clocking in with a time of 8:00.13. The time proved to be the No. 7 mark in program history.
In Arkansas, freshman Zach Bradford continued his historic freshman season, upping his own KU freshman record in the pole vault to 5.63 meters (18-5.5 ft.). The clearance was good for third place in the invitational section of the men’s event, and was a tie for fourth on the KU all-time performance list and made him the No. 4 performer in program history.
Another pair of women’s distance runners moved up the record books at the ISU Classic, with Cameron Gueldner recording a PR in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:35.72 to improve to No. 9 on the all-time list. Megan Paule also etched her name in the record books, becoming the No. 7 performer in the 5,000-meter run in program history with an eighth-place finish and final time of 17:08.70.
Freshman Cordell Tinch, who transferred to Kansas in January, has been on the rise since his arrival in Lawrence. Showing his improvement on the track, the rookie moved into a tie as the No. 10 performer in program history in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.14 seconds in the qualifying round at the Tyson Invitational.
NOTABLES
- Cody Johnson PR’ed in the 400-meter dash at the Tyson Invitational, clocking in at 49.13 seconds.
- Cordell Tinch matched his personal record in the long jump at 7.28 meters (23-10.75 ft.) to place fourth in Arkansas.
- Jedah Caldwell recorded an auto-qualifying time of 7.56 seconds in the 60-meter dash in the qualifying round at the Tyson Invitational by finishing first in her heat, but was unable to make it to the final after finishing 18th overall in the preliminary round.
- Catherine Liggett notched a personal-best in the 3,000-meter run at the ISU Classic, clocking in at 9:42.45. Running in the first heat of the event, Liggett moved into the No. 10 spot on the KU all-time performers list before getting knocked back out of the top-10 by Cameron Gueldner in the second heat.
UP NEXT
Kansas will conclude the split squad action for the weekend on Saturday, with action scheduled to get underway in Fayetteville at 10:30 a.m. and in Ames at noon. The Tyson Invitational will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+ via WatchESPN.com and a live stream of the ISU Classic is available through FloTrack.
FOLLOW
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
