February 15, 2017

RCW: Inside Track and Field 3.23

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
Freshman Gleb Dudarev tallied another historic mark in the weight throw last week when he posted a personal best toss of 23.44 meters (76-11) at the Tyson Invitational. The mark, which ranks second in the NCAA this year, was the best by a Big 12 weight thrower in 10 years

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The Jayhawks split for a pair of meets last weekend, with one KU contingent taking part in the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the other at the ISU Classic in Ames, Iowa.
Gleb Dudarev continued the impressive start to his collegiate career by pulling in another victory in the weight throw with another big mark. The freshman flung the 35-pound implement to a distance of 23.44 meters (76-11) on his last attempt to secure the victory. The throw was the second-farthest in the program’s history and put the Belarus native in second on the collegiate lists for 2017.
For the second-straight week, the Jayhawk men’s 4×400-meter relay turned in one of the best times in school history on its way to an event victory at the ISU Classic. Just seven days removed from breaking the school record at the Husker Invitational, the team of Ivan Henry, Tre Daniels, Jaron Hartley and Strymar Livingston broke the tape in 3:08.18. Though KU’s winning time was just shy of its school record mark from the week earlier, the foursome’s performance still sits as the third fastest on the program’s all-time 4×400-meter list.
Nicolai Ceban successfully defended his Tyson Invitational shot put title with a winning effort Friday. The junior unwound for a throw that measured 19.18 meters (62-11¼) on his last attempt of the day. The heave earned him the win by nearly four feet over the nearest competitor.
Strymar Livingston added another time to the school’s all-time top-10 800-meter chart with another strong outing in the event at the ISU Classic. The senior finished his half mile in 1:49.12, the second-fastest time of his KU career. The performance also sits fourth on KU’s all-time 800-meter list, a top-10 that now features four of Livingston’s times.
Senior Hannah Richardson enjoyed another impressive outing in the 3,000 meters as she posted one of the fastest times in KU history Friday night in Ames. In the national championship-caliber field, Richardson ran to a 16^th-place finish in the invitational section of the event, finishing her 1.8-mile race in 9:29.65. The time was nine seconds shy of surpassing her own school record and season-best mark posted earlier this year, but still puts her name among KU’s all-time top-10 3K times for the second time in a month. Her mark ranks as the fifth-fastest ever posted by a Jayhawk.
Hussain Al Hizam made headlines in his native Saudi Arabia with a career outing in the men’s pole vault at the Tyson Invite. The sophomore notched three clearances in the competition, including his final bar, a height of 5.30 meters (17-4½). That clearance was not only an indoor PR for Al Hizam, but also broke his own indoor national record for Saudi Arabia.
Whitney Adams saw one of the best indoor 800-meter performances of her career when she notched a season best in the event Friday in Fayetteville. Competing in the invitational section, Adams completed her half mile in 2:07.01 and finished third against the stellar field assembled. Adams now sits third on the conference’s yearly 800-meter list and in the top-40 of the NCAA chart.
Junior Barden Adams added another career-best outing as he went up against elite competition in the invitational section of the men’s triple jump at the Tyson Invitational. On his sixth and final sprint down the runway, Adams hopped, skipped and jumped to a mark of 16.01 meters (52-6½), a leap that surpassed his previous best by half an inch. The mark earned Adams a sixth-place finish and moved him to 11^th on the latest NCAA triple jump chart. His mark also ranks as the eighth-longest in Kansas program history.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay squad closed out the Tyson Invitational on a high note after it slid up the national rankings with its best clocking of 2017. The squad of Adriana Newell, Mariah Kuykendoll, Nicole Montgomery and Whitney Adams shaved almost two seconds off their previous season best, passing the baton around in 3:36.61, good enough for seventh place. The quartet’s time marked the ninth fastest in program history and the fastest by a Kansas 4×400-meter relay since 2013.
Jedah Caldwell took down her own week-old freshman record en route to a sixth-place finish in the Olympic Development section of the 200 meters on the oval inside the Tyson Track Center. The first-year Jayhawk finished her lap in 23.62 which shaved .07 seconds off her previous personal best. Her time moved her to fourth on the school’s all-time indoor 200-meter list and has her ranked third on the latest Big 12 performance list.
The Jayhawks will see their final tune-up before the Big 12 Indoor Championship, to be held next week, when they journey to a pair of meets this weekend. A KU group will head back to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Qualifier on Feb. 17, while another Jayhawk contingent will journey to the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Indiana on Feb. 18.