RCW: Inside Track and Field 3.20

Get a quick look inside your favorite Kansas Jayhawk programs each week with Rock Chalk Weekly’s Inside Sports pages. Notable statistics, quick hits and the top social media posts get every Jayhawk fan up-to-speed and ready for another week of thrilling competition.
 Number BY THE NUMBERS
Senior Strymar Livingston became just the third Jayhawk to record a sub-1:48 in the 800 meters on an indoor track, recording a time of 1:47.95 in a runner-up finish at the Rod McCravy Memorial Saturday. The time ranks Livingston fifth on the NCAA’s latest 800-meter rankings.

UPCOMING HOME MEETS
Jayhawk Classic (Jan. 26-27)

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Notes QUICK HITS

• Last weekend the Kansas track & field produced a school record, eight NCAA top-10 performances and a collection of some of the top marks in program history as the Jayhawks competed at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Kentucky.
• Seeing her first competitive track event in over 19 months, senior Hannah Richardson rewrote the school record book in the 3,000 meters with her time of 9:20.22, a 30-second personal best. Her time narrowly upended Natalie Becker’s former record of 9:20.84, posted at the 2014 Big 12 Indoor Championship.
• Richardson’s performance ranks ninth-fastest in NCAA DI so far this season and is No. 1 among Big 12 runners.
• Pole vaulter Jake Albright picked up the third event victory of his senior campaign with the help of a career-best clearance. He surpassed the 18-foot milestone for the second time in seven days when he got over 5.54 meters (18-2). The vault not only moved him to No. 1 on the latest national pole vault rankings, but also inserted his name to fourth among the rich history of Kansas pole vaulters.  
• Junior Barden Adams continued his torrid start to his 2017 campaign as he picked up his fourth triple jump win in as many tries this season. Adams got out to a mark of 16.00 meters (52-6) to earn the win and move himself to No. 6 in the national standings. The performance was the best by a Jayhawk on an indoor track in 27 years.
• In his first 800-meter outing of the season, Strymar Livingston made a statement en route to a career best in the event. Livingston crossed the finish in 1:47.95 to claim second in the race that produced five of the eight fastest 800-meter marks of 2017. Livingston’s run ranks fifth in the nation and third on Kansas’ all-time 800-meter list with only Jeremy Mims and Jim Ryun ahead of him.
• The Jayhawks saw another stellar outing from its women’s pole vault crew with three posting season-best performances that gave them spots inside the top-20 of the NCAA rankings. Junior Laura Taylor, sophomore Alexis Romero and freshman Andrea Willis all made it over the bar that measured 4.10 meters (13-5¼) with Taylor claiming a fourth-place finish and Romero and Willis tying for fifth.
• The women’s distance medley relay team of Riley Cooney, Megan Linder, Hannah Dimmick and Malika Baker completed the 4,000-meter race in 11:26.93, finishing third behind Big 12 foes Baylor and Texas. The quartet’s time moved the Jayhawks to third in the NCAA this season and was the eighth-best time ever produced by the Kansas women.
• The KU men’s 4×400-meter relay team closed the meet out on a high note with one of the best times in the history of the program. The squad of Ivan Henry, Isaiah Cole, Livingston and Jaron Hartley passed the baton around in 3:09.29, good for a fifth-place finish. The quartet’s mile relay marked the third-fastest ever on an indoor track and sits the Jayhawks eighth in the NCAA this season.
• Kansas will return to Lawrence for its final home meet of the indoor season when KU plays host of the Jayhawk Classic Thursday-Friday, Jan. 26-27. The event is slated to begin with the first four events of the men’s heptathlon on Jan. 26 with the remaining events set for Jan. 27 in Anschutz Pavilion.