Kansas Track & Field Roundup
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Over the course of the past week, numerous Kansas track & field student-athletes have been participating in meets around the world. Here is a collective summary of their work on the track and in the field, as well as their accomplishments achieved.
Bradford breaks Jordan Scott’s meet record, places second
QUERETARO, Mexico – For the second time in as many years, Zach Bradford competed for Team USA over the weekend, this time at the North American, Central American, & Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico, on Saturday, July 6.
Bradford, who just finished his freshman year donning the Crimson and Blue for Kansas, added another silver medal to his Team USA collection at the NACAC U-23s with his 5.60 meters (18-4.50 ft.) bar clearance. The mark tied him with Sam Houston State’s Clayton Fritsch at the top of the leaderboard, but Fritsch was crowned the champion based on misses. Bradford and Fritsch will now serve as the co-meet record holders, as both bested the previous high mark of mark of 5.56 meters (18-2.75 ft.), set by Jayhawk Jordan Scott, who won the event in 2010, the same season he was crowned the NCAA Outdoor Champion.
Also a two-time All-American and the University of Kansas pole vault record holder, Bradford had previously won a silver medal in the pole vault at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland during the summer of 2018.
Hoppel remains undefeated at 2019 Sunset Tour
AZUSA, Calif. – Kansas senior-to-be Bryce Hoppel kept his undefeated season in tact on the track Tuesday night at the 2019 Sunset Tour, a brand-new meet that brought together top professionals and NCAA stars in pursuit of honing their skills and times for upcoming meets later this summer. Hoppel boasted the best time heading into the race with a 1:44.41, but was going up against a loaded field which included the likes of Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, 3:51 miler Craig Engels and Josh Kerr (3:33 1500m PB) — as well as veteran half-miler Erik Sowinski, who has finished in the top-five at USA Outdoors for five-straight seasons.
In Heat 2 of the Run Gum Men’s 800 meters, Hoppel sat in third place after the first lap, but “ran the way a champion needs to run it” and was deemed “awesome down the backstretch” by the FloTrack announcers. The 2019 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor 800-meter Champion was able to hold off Engels to narrowly take the crown with a time of 1:44.48, just 0.07 off of his lifetime best, to claim his 20th-consecutive race victory. Engels was the runner-up at 1:44.68, while Kerr took third in 1:45.35.
Also in action at the Sunset Tour from Kansas track & field was Dylan Hodgson, who competed in the Kinetik Performance Men’s 3K Steeplechase. He finished in 13th place with a time of 9:17.33.
WATCH the “Insane Sprint To The Finish In Men’s 800!” from FloTrack.
WATCH Bryce Hoppel’s postrace interview from FloTrack.
Dudarev fourth at World University Games
NAPLES, Italy – The University of Kansas’ Gleb Dudarev was also in action Tuesday, competing for his home country of Belarus at the World University Games. The three-time Big 12 Conference Outdoor champion, two-time All-American and KU record holder in the hammer throw recorded a 72.35 meters mark to take fourth place overall.
On Monday in the men’s hammer throw Group B qualifying round, Dudarev came in third place with a toss of 69.54 meters to qualify for the final of the event the following day.
