Multi-Events kick off 91st Kansas Relays presented by RCB Bank
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The 91st Kansas Relays presented by RCB Bank kicked off Wednesday at Rock Chalk Park with the start of the women’s heptathlon and men’s decathlon events. On a cool and windy day, Central Missouri sophomore Hannah Vanbuskirk and Central College’s Will Daniels wound up on top of the leaderboard of their respective events.
Daniels had an impressive day from the outset, posting top-five finishes in all but one of the five opening-day decathlon events. The sophomore out of Geneseo, Illinois began by garnering 841 points in the 100 meters by way of a personal-best sprint of 11.09. Daniels flew above the other competitors three events later in the high jump. He got over a top bar of 2.05 meters (6-8.75 ft.) to rocket his name to the top of the leaderboard. He closed out his afternoon with a fifth-place finish in the 400 meters, completing his lap in 52.87 to pull in his final 687 points of the day and bring his total to 3,633 points.
Daniels holds a 191-point lead over Nebraska freshman Zach Padraza, who closed out his first day with 3,442 points. The Fort Hays State duo of Matthew Pieper and Derek Maydew sits third and fourth with scores of 3,360 and 3,216 points, respectively.
Vanbuskirk posted top-three finishes in three of the four opening-day heptathlon events and totaled 2,814 points. She kicked off the day by running the second-fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.01, good for 840 points and a personal record. She then jumped to a mark of 1.65 meters (5-5 ft.) in the high jump, a mark no other competitor could come within three inches of.
St. Cloud State junior Natalie Gottschalk is 71 points behind Vanbuskirk with 2,743 points after day one. She was the only competitor to post top-five finishes in all four day-one events. The top Jayhawk in the heptathlon is Teri Huslig, who closed out the day strong with the field’s fastest 200-meter clocking. The Kansas junior rounded out her day-one score of 2,592 points after earning 730 with her time of 26.78, just shy of a personal record.
The heptathlon and decathlon events will continue Thursday morning with the women’s long jump and the men’s 110-meter hurdles kicking off at 9 a.m. Thursday will see the collegiate distance carnival take over the Rock Chalk Park oval in the evening. It is set to begin at 5 p.m., with the 800 meters, and concluding at 8:30 p.m., with the 10,000 meter races. Thursday also features the Street Pole Vault event to be held near Sixth and Wakarusa in west Lawrence. A star-studded field of world-class female pole vaulters are set to hit the runway at 5:30 p.m.
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