Simms Wins Second-Consecutive Title, Leads Jayhawks at Indoor Big 12's

Friday, February 28

Lubbock, Texas

University of Kansas

Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championship

Simms Wins Second-Consecutive Title, Leads Jayhawks at Indoor Big 12's

3/1/2025 7:41:00 PM | Track & Field

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LAWRENCE, Kan. - Clayton Simms of Kansas Track and Field won his second-consecutive Indoor Big 12 Men's Pole Vault title, helping propel the Kansas men to a sixth place finish as a team.

Kansas' men racked up a total of 55 points, putting them at No. 6 out of 13 total teams. On the women's side, the Jayhawks totaled 38 points to place 11th out of 16 total teams.

Simms qualified for his seventh-consecutive NCAA Nationals meet with a season-best 5.61m mark, doing so on his third attempt at that height to deliver in the clutch. In doing so, he surpassed teammate Bryce Barkdull, who cleared a personal best 5.51m to secure the silver medal at his first Big 12 Championship. Jake Freidel joined the two of them on the podium, finishing in sixth place overall with a season-best 5.16m clearance.

Three Jayhawk women also made it on the podium, with Mason Meinershagen taking second for a second-consecutive year. The sophomore out of St. Louis, Mo. broke her own school record twice (previously 4.47m) in the event, clearing 4.51m and then 4.56m to move even further up the NCAA leaderboard. Erica Ellis and Gabby Hoke joined Meinershagen in the PR's and podium spots trend, with Ellis clearing 4.46m and Hoke 4.36m to earn their medals at fourth and seventh place respectively.

Meinershagen also had a career-best showing in the women's high jump, entering the weekend with a personal best of 1.76m in the event. She took sixth place with a new personal best of 1.84m, and has put herself in the conversation to go to NCAA Nationals in both events in future seasons.

Along with Meinershagen's school records, Alexander Jung and Ryo Higuchi both achieved school records in their respective events. Jung broke his own school record in the heptathlon, finishing just shy of 5,800 points with his 5,797 points across the seven events. He finished fourth overall, joined by his teammate Tayton Klein on the heptathlon podium with his sixth place finish.

Higuchi ran in the 1000m final, where he unlocked a new personal best of 2:21.51 to finish in fourth place. Higuchi not only broke a school record that stood since 2001, but also a Japanese national record in the event.

Other noteworthy performances came from Maddie Fey, who took fifth place in her first-career Big 12 Championship shot put, and Kori Randle, who did the same in the women's triple jump. The men's and women's DMR went fourth and fifth respectively, and the men's 4x400m relay team finished sixth.

Madison Campbell took sixth place in the women's 600y, while Michael Joseph finished fifth in the men's 200m final. TJ Robinson took sixth in the men's 800m final, while Dillon Peters finished seventh in the men's triple jump and Tanner Talley eighth in the men's mile.