May 10, 2017

RCW: Inside Track & Field 3.34

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 Number Number BY THE NUMBERS

This weekend league foes will return to Lawrence for the first time in 23 years when the Jayhawks host the Big 12 Championship at Rock Chalk Park May 12-14. Kansas last hosted a league meet in 1994 when the Big Eight Championship was held inside Memorial Stadium.

Schedule UPCOMING HOME MEETS
Tickets Big 12 Championship (May 12-14)

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Notes QUICK HITS

The Jayhawks got their final tune-up prior to the league championship when they competed at the Ward Haylett Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas last Saturday, May 6.
Kansas notched nine victories on the day, including a pair of career-best performances from senior Sydney Conley.
Conley posted a winning long jump mark of 6.62 meters (21-8¾) to not only secure her second win in as many weeks, but also insert her name at No. 5 on the most recent NCAA DI long jump rankings.
Conley also turned in a jump of 6.60 meters (21-8) on her fifth attempt. That jump was within the allowable wind limits and moved her to No. 3 on the program’s all-time long jump list with only two over Jayhawks having managed better marks in their KU careers.
Conley returned to the track just an hour later and snared her second gold medal of the day. The senior sprinted across the finish line in 11.49 to win the 100 meters, the fastest non-wind-aided time of her KU career. The clocking was just .05 seconds from being one of the 10-fastest in Kansas history.
Sophomore Paulo Benavides claimed victory in the pole vault after he cleared an outdoor personal best of 5.40 meters (17-8½) and became the third Jayhawk vaulter to surpass the 5.40-meter barrier this season. He now finds himself inside the top-20 of the most recent collegiate pole vault rankings and is in the top-10 of the all-important West Region standings.
Freshman Andrea Willis got over a season’s-best height of 4.07 meters (13-4¼) to claim the women’s pole vault victory over sophomore teammate Morgan Griffiths. The performance moved Willis into the top-30 of the latest NCAA West Preliminary rankings and to eighth among Big 12 pole vaulters. Kansas will enter next weekend’s Big 12 Championship with three vaulters ranked among the top-10.
Hannah Dimmick turned in a career-best outing and her second win of the year in the 800 meters. Dimmick finished her two laps in 2:09.28 to shave .3 seconds off her previous best. That performance has the junior sitting 13^th in the conference with the Big 12 meet looming next weekend.
Other Jayhawks to head home with hardware from Manhattan included junior Nick Giusti in the 110-meter hurdles (14.62), junior Marcus Davis in the 400 meters (47.62), senior Alex Wilson in the 400-meter hurdles (52.25) and junior Ezekiel Welch in the triple jump (14.97m [49-1½]).
The Kansas track & field teams will return to Rock Chalk Park to host the 2017 Big 12 Outdoor Championship May 12-14. Keep track of all the Jayhawk performances by logging on to KUAthletics.com for complete updates and results and follow through Twitter at @KUTrack.