Dudarev snares second Big 12 weekly honor of 2017

IRVING, Texas – For the second time in three weeks, freshman thrower Gleb Dudarev was named the Big 12’s Male Track & Field Athlete of the Week it was announced by the league office Wednesday. Last Friday, Dudarev moved to No. 2 in the NCAA ranks with a personal-best weight throw toss at the Tyson Invitational. It was the second weekly award of his young KU career and the third time a Jayhawk male has been honored this season.
 
Dudarev continued the impressive start to his collegiate career by pulling in another victory in the weight throw Friday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. On his final attempt of the competition, he flung the 35-pound implement to a mark of 23.44 meters (76-11), securing his victory and once again moving his name near the top of NCAA seasonal chart. The throw was the second farthest in the school’s history and put the Belarus native in second on the collegiate lists for 2017. He currently sits as the league’s top-ranked weight thrower with the mark that proved to be the farthest by a Big 12 thrower since 2007.
 
The award marks the third time a Jayhawk has been honored this indoor season as the league’s male athlete of the week following pole vaulter Jake Albright’s selection on Jan. 24 and Dudarev’s first award on Feb. 1. The three KU honors are the most earned by a Jayhawk squad in a single season – indoors or outdoors – since the conference began giving weekly awards in 2002.
 
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 Kansas contingent will journey to the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Indiana on Feb. 18.
 
 
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.