Jayhawks Set Eight Personal Bests at ESU Spring Open

Friday, March 27

Emporia, KS

University of Kansas

ESU Spring Open

Photo by: Jordyn Pennington/Kansas Athletics

Jayhawks Set Eight Personal Bests at ESU Spring Open

3/28/2026 10:06:00 AM | Track & Field

Full Results Kansas Results ONLY

EMPORIA, Kan. - The Kansas Track & Field team continued its outdoor season Friday at the ESU Spring Open in Emporia, Kansas. The Jayhawks had six top three finishes and eight personal bests in the second meet of the season.

"For the athletes that competed it was a great opportunity to go against a lot of good competition with the large field sizes, and I thought they showed some great progress and development," Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine said. "The focus they had throughout the day was really good and I think helped them perform at a high level. We set some personal bests which was great to see and I thought Katie Wink especially had a tremendous day which was exciting."

The Jayhawks began the meet in the field with the women's hammer throw, where sophomore Addie Cline set a personal best to place seventh, while Kat Meacham placed 15th. Sophomore Oliver Duffy continued the events with a sixth place finish in the long jump, before Meacham picked up the first top three finish for Kansas with her third place discus throw. She achieved a personal best 47.95 meters on her way to the bronze.

Katie Wink and Charli Foreman finished seventh and 10th, respectively, in the women's long jump with Wink setting a personal best. Julia Chapman set a personal best in the women's javelin throw with a best mark of 39.94 meters and Payton Kasper achieved fourth place in the men's pole vault to wrap up the Jayhawks' field events.

Freshman Sydney Owens kicked off the Jayhawks with her first collegiate track event, finishing fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase before Bethany Druse finished seventh in the women's 1,500 meter
run.

Wink picked up a silver medal for the Jayhawks with her 14.39 second time in the 100 meter hurdles for her collegiate debut in the event. Madison Campbell and Jackson Belding both finished seventh in the women's and men's 400 meters while Dunback placed 12th.

Druse and Samantha Whittlesey finished as the fifth and 10th fastest women's 800 meter runners. Kaleigh Frazier picked up a third place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.40, while Dean McCune and Devan Mathis finished third and fourth on the men's side, with McCune setting a personal best 54.15 seconds time.

Lillian Harris finished sixth in the women's 200 meter dash and Lenny Njoroge achieved a personal best 5,000 meter time of 14:56.24 to place third among collegiate athletes. The Jayhawks finished strong with a gold medal in the 4x400 meter relay by Tristan Williams, Mathis, Belding and McCune.

"As we continue to move through the outdoor season we're going to see more large fields with some of the best competitors in them, and so this was a great opportunity to see our athletes stay focused and show personal progress," Redwine said.

UP NEXT:
Kansas will travel to LSU's Battle on the Bayou, the Stanford Invitational and the Mike Fanelli Track Classic on April 3-4. More information will be available on kuathletics.com closer to the meet. Fans can stay current with the team and events by following the official Kansas Track & Field and Cross Country X or Instagram account @kansastfxc.