February 08, 2017

RCW: Inside Track and Field 3.22

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.
Track By the Numbers - 1 Number BY THE NUMBERS
If the NCAA Indoor Championships were held today, eight Jayhawks would qualify for the national meet set for March 10-11 in College Station, Texas, including senior Strymar Livingston, who ranks 11^th in the nation in the 800 meters. Kansas has seen at least one athlete earn All-America honors at the indoor meet for 20-consecutive seasons.

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Notes QUICK HITS

A trio of school records fell as the Kansas track & field teams competed at the Husker Invitational Feb. 3-4 inside the Bob Devaney Center. The Jayhawk men’s 4×400-meter relay took down the KU record in a victorious effort over Big 12 rival Texas, while seniors Strymar Livingston and Whitney Adams also entered the KU history books with record runs in the 600 meters.
The Kansas 4×400-meter team, comprised of sophomore Ivan Henry, junior Tre Daniels, Livingston and junior Jaron Hartley, rewrote both the school and meet record books with their winning time of 3:07.82 Saturday. The quartet’s performance topped the nearly four-year-old program record set by the Jayhawk team from the 2013 Big 12 Indoor Championship. It also has Kansas up near the top of the national rankings, with the team now sitting 14^th on the latest NCAA 4×400-meter chart.
Livingston had his hand in another school record earlier in the day. Competing in the not-often run 600 meters, Livingston was never challenged as he won the event in runaway fashion. He finished his three laps in 1:16.93, smashing the previous school record by more than three seconds. Even through the 600 meters is not an event held at the Big 12 or the NCAA Championships, Livingston’s record clocking is the fifth-fastest posted by a collegiate runner this season.
Senior Whitney Adams also enjoyed a school-record breaking outing in the 600 meters, however it was her own record that she was able to rewrite. Adams broke the tape in 1:30.05, shaving more than a second off her previous record. Adams’ time gave her the top collegiate finish in the event and is the No. 8 mark in the collegiate ranks this year.
Junior Laura Taylor found herself on the top step of the podium at day’s end following another premier showing in the pole vault. Her final clearance of the afternoon came on a new career-best height of 4.15 meters (13-7¼). That vault went on to earn her the third victory of her 2017 campaign and moved her name into the top-20 of the national rankings.
Jedah Caldwell continues to impress in her freshman campaign after another stellar showing in the 200 meters. Caldwell made program history in the event as she ran to a fourth-place finish against some of the country’s top sprinters. The Chanhassen, Minnesota product completed her lap in 23.69 seconds, the fastest indoor-200 meters ever posted by a Jayhawk freshman. Caldwell’s performance also moved her to No. 5 on Kansas’ all-time list and puts her third among Big 12 sprinters in 2017.
Just like their male counterparts, the women’s 4×400-meter relay tacked on a season-best at the end of the day, with the Jayhawks posting a runner-up finish. The squad of senior Adriana Newell, freshman Mariah Kuykendoll, sophomore Nicole Montgomery and Adams combined for the best time by a KU women’s relay since 2013 after the foursome passed the baton around in 3:38.05. The time has the Jayhawks as the third-fastest relay team in the Big 12 and 15^th in the NCAA DI standings.
Freshman Quentin Dancer sprinted to a new season best in the preliminary heats of the 60-meter dash. The West, Texas native broke the tape in 6.92, good enough to earn him a 15^th-place finish. Dancer’s time moved him to No. 8 on KU’s all-time 60-meter list and has him among the top-20 among Big 12 sprinters this season.
This weekend the Jayhawks will split for a pair of meets Feb. 10-11. One Kansas contingent will journey to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete in the Tyson Invitational, while the other Jayhawk squad will travel north to Ames, Iowa where it will take part in the ISU Classic. Get live updates and results from the Jayhawks’ performances by following on Twitter and Instagram at @KUTrack.