RCW: Sport Spotlight 4.30 (Track & Field)

First place.
School record.
No. 2 in #ncaaTF.

Dudarev’s sophomore season is off to a good start!#KUtrack pic.twitter.com/4hqRJ65BUo

— Kansas Track & Field (@KUTrack) April 6, 2018

School record: Broken. Again. #KUtrack

A post shared by Kansas Track & Field (@kutrack) on Apr 6, 2018 at 4:01pm PDT

Kansas track & field student-athlete Gleb Dudarev’s sophomore slump – if you could even call it that – lasted all of three throws in the 2018 outdoor season.
 
After recording one of the most successful freshman seasons in Kansas history that saw him win the Big 12 hammer throw crown, break the school record and record the top-10 marks in KU history, as well as earn First Team All-America honors, the Vitebsk, Belarus native utilized his redshirt season for the 2018 indoor campaign, but made his sophomore debut at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona, on April 6.
 
Dudarev’s “sophomore slump” started with a throw of 72.33 meters (237-3 ft.) which was well short of his school record of 74.20 meters (243-5 ft.) set at the Big 12 Championship last year, but would have been a school record by more than a meter if it weren’t for his freshman campaign, as the previous school record, set by Egor Agofonov in 2006, was 71.01 meters (232-11 ft.).
 
After a foot foul on his second attempt, Dudarev wound up for a throw of 72.34 meters (237-4 ft.) on his third heave, bettering his leading mark in the premiere section of the event. And then Dudarev really did his thing.
 
The sophomore put all of his well-built, 6-foot-5 frame into his fourth attempt to break his own school record with a mark of 74.35 meters (243-11 ft.). The mark not only was the best in Kansas history, but currently ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this season.
 
Dudarev finished his day with “modest” throws of 74.32 meters (243-10 ft.) and 73.96 meters (242-8 ft.), which rank No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the Kansas all-time performance list. That list boasts only one name: Gleb Dudarev.
 
Expect to see that name more as the season progresses.
 
The Jayhawks will be in action at the 91st Kansas Relays Presented by RCB Bank, April 18-21 at Rock Chalk Park. Tickets for the KU relays can be purchased online at KUTickets.com.