Successful weekend around the world for Kansas track & field

LAWRENCE, Kan. – It was a busy weekend around the globe for some current Kansas track & field student-athletes, as many competed in national championships in their native counties. In the end, two Jayhawks came away with titles and thus advance to the next round of action in their respective parts of the world.

MOLDOVA
Alexandra “Sasha” Emilianov, who just completed a successful sophomore campaign donning the Crimson and Blue for Kansas, won the Moldova Women’s Discus National Championship with her toss of 61.62 meters (202-5 ft.), which not only bested the competition field, but also set a new KU record in the event. Emilianov also held the previous school record in the event, with a mark of 60.24m (197-8 ft.) at the 2018 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship. With her win, Emilianov achieved the standard for the IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar, September 27-October 6 later this year.

USATF U20 OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Coming off successful freshman campaigns, Treyvon Ferguson and Rylee Anderson both made the trip to Miramar, Florida, for the U20 national championships June 21-23.

Ferguson claimed KU’s second national championship of the weekend with his victory in the men’s triple jump in The Sunshine State. Now the top teenage triple jumper in the USA, Ferguson recorded two jumps of over 16 meters on the day, the only competitor in the field of 11 to accomplish the feat. His best mark came on his first attempt at 16.13m (52-11.00 ft.), which in the end gave him the crown by three centimeters. With his win, Ferguson has earned a spot on Team USA to the upcoming Pan American Under 20 Championships in Costa Rica, July 18-21.

Meanwhile, Anderson competed in the women’s high jump at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, where the Longmont, Colorado, native cleared a height of 1.70m (5-7.00 ft.) to place ninth overall.

JAMAICA 
In Kingston, outgoing senior Marleena Eubanks and redshirt-senior-to-be Ivan Henry both competed in the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association/SVL National Senior & Junior Championships. Due to not enough competitors for a semifinal round, Eubanks ran just once, the final of the women’s 800-meter run. She posted a time of 2:06.22 to finish fourth overall. Running his first 400-meter race since August of 2018, Henry completed the quarter mile fifth in his heat with a time of 47.77, which put him in 18th place after the preliminary round, but did not qualify him for the final of the event.

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