Jayhawks close NCAA Indoors with two top-eight finishes
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Two more Jayhawks earned the title of First Team All-American as the Kansas track & field team concluded competition Saturday at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships inside Gilliam Indoor Stadium. Junior Barden Adams claimed a fifth-place finish in the triple jump, while freshman Gleb Dudarev threw to a sixth-place finish in the weight throw.
The Kansas men’s squad finished the meet tied for 27th place, the program’s best NCAA Indoor finish since 2011. The Jayhawk women claimed a 52nd-place finish, which marked the seventh time in eight years the team has scored at the indoor national championships.
STANLEY SAID IT
“This has never been an easy meet and I guarantee every team here says they wish they could have done a few things better, and we’re obviously included in that. Our kids fought their hearts out but, unfortunately, they didn’t place as high as we wanted them to. As we go into the outdoor season we have to remember this and remember this feeling of when you set goals and don’t attain those goals. We just need to use this as a reality check and work to get better because of it.”
- Head coach Stanley Redwine on the men’s team’s performance
“Barden had a great meet and he really stepped up. That’s what this competition is all about – being both physically and mentally ready. He showed and proved today that he was mentally ready and physically prepared.”
- Redwine on junior Barden Adams’ performance in the triple jump.
ADAMS MAKES KANSAS TRIPLE JUMP HISTORY
Adams hopped, skipped and jumped his way into the Kansas track & field history books with the best finish by a Jayhawk triple jumper in over three decades. The West Orange, New Jersey product entered the meet as the 13th-ranked jumper in the nation this season, but far exceeded those expectations on his way to earning the title of All-American.
After a foul on his opening attempt, Adams flew to a mark of 15.99 meters (52-2½) on his second trip down the runway. That jump was just an inch short of his career best and moved his name up to fourth on the leaderboard after two rounds of jumps.
Despite posting two more jumps over 51 feet over his last four attempts of the competition, Adams lost ground in the standings, but was overtaken by only one jumper, leaving him with a fifth-place finish to close out his evening.
Adams’ performance earned the junior first team All-America honors for the first time and gave Kansas its fifth All-American in the indoor triple jump. His outing was also a notable one in that it marked the highest by a Kansas jumper at the NCAA Indoor Championships since Sanya Owolabi earned a runner-up finish in the event in 1981.
DUDAREV OVERCOMES EARLY FOULS, TAKES SIXTH IN THE WEIGHT THROW
Dudarev entered his first NCAA Championship meet ranked second among the 16-man field assembled inside Gilliam Stadium, this after just seeing action in only three competitions in his debut indoor campaign. Though he had dominated the events leading up to Saturday, the Belarus native showed some nerves early in the competition, fouling on each of his first two attempts. He came up big on his third trip into the ring though, heaving the 35-pound implement a distance of 21.96 meters (72-0¾). That attempt immediately moved his name to fifth on the leaderboard and earned Dudarev three more attempts in the finals.
Gleb DudarevIn the fourth and fifth rounds, Dudarev was unable to move his name up the standings after again having difficulty keeping the weight inside the sector, posting two more fouls. He managed to notch his best throw on his final attempt, however it was an improvement of less than one inch. On his sixth throw he posted a mark of 21.97 meters (72-1), a throw that secured him a sixth-place finish.
The performance earned Dudarev First Team All-America status, marking the 10th time a Jayhawk has attained All-American honors in the event and the sixth time since 2005.
4×4 RELAY LANDS ANOTHER TOP TIME IN CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE
The men’s 4×400-meter relay squad closed out the night with an 11th-place performance in the meet’s final event. The foursome of Ivan Henry, Tre Daniels, Jaron Hartley and Strymar Livingston finished the 1,600-meter race in 3:07.87, good enough to finish third in their heat and 11th overall. The quartet’s time was the third-fastest ever posted by a Kansas squad and made that group the owner of five of the six fastest 4×400-meter clockings in program history, all of which came this season.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will now turn their attention to the outdoor portion of the 2017 campaign. Kansas is slated to open the outdoor season March 29-April 1 in Austin, Texas at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and will also have contingents in action at the Stanford Invitational March 31-April 1 in Palo Alto, California as well as the Emporia State Relays on April 1 in Emporia, Kansas.
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