Kansas set to host KU-KSU-WSU Triangular on Friday, vaulters trek to Reno

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas track & field returns to action after more than a month off since the last time the Jayhawks hit the track at the season-opening Bob Timmons Challenge on November 30. KU will host in-state rivals Kansas State and Wichita State for the Sunflower Triangular at Anschutz Sports Pavilion in Lawrence on Friday, January 18, while the Jayhawk pole vaulters trek to Reno, Nevada for the National Pole Vault Summit, January 18-19.
 
KU-KSU-WSU TRIANGULAR
The 2019 Sunflower Triangular will be the fifth installment of the meet, having started in 2015. The meet is slated to begin at 3 p.m. with the women’s weight throw and women’s long jump, with track events scheduled to start at 5 p.m. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ to give fans that aren’t able to make it to Anschutz Pavilion an opportunity to watch the meet in their homes.
 
NATIONAL POLE VAULT SUMMIT
Associate head coach Tom Hays’ pole vaulters will compete at the 2019 National Pole Vault Summit at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center in Reno, Nevada, January 18-19.
 
2018 NCAA indoor national champion Hussain Al Hizam is slated to vault in Reno for the Jayhawk men, as well as 2017 Big 12 indoor champion Paulo Benavides, sophomore Kyle Rogers and freshman standout Zach Bradford. Sophomore Khristen Bryant, 2018 NCAA Outdoor Honorable Mention All-American Andrea Willis and Nevada native Alexis Romero are all scheduled to compete for Kansas at the Summit.
 
KANSAS MEN RANK NO. 9 IN PRESEASON POLL
Stanley Redwine’s Kansas men’s program was ranked No. 9 in the USTFCCCA Preseason Poll, released January 10.
 
The Jayhawk men were ranked No. 11 in the 2018 indoor preseason poll and went on to finish in a tie for 17th at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year.
 
The last time either of the Kansas programs were ranking in the top-10 of the indoor preseason rankings was 2014 when the Jayhawk women were ranked No. 10. The year prior, 2013, the Kansas women clocked in at No. 2 in the indoor preseason rankings, and would go on to place second at the NCAA Indoor Championships before winning the outdoor title later that year.
 
The Kansas women landed at No. 27 in this year’s USTFCCCA preseason rankings.
 
KANSAS WOMEN POST RECORD-SETTING SEMESTER
The Kansas women’s track & field team were one of four KU teams to record a team-best semester in the classroom, leading to a department-record 3.11 all-sports combined GPA in the Fall 2018 semester. The KU women’s track & field team recorded a program-best 4.42 GPA for the Fall semester. The Kansas men’s team was able to notch a 2.91 GPA.
 
LOKEDI SHATTERS SCHOOL RECORD, RECORDS NO. 6 MARK IN NCAA HISTORY
Kansas senior Sharon Lokedi is off to a hot start in her final season competing for the Jayhawks. In her first and only race so far this indoor season, Lokedi shattered her own school record in the 5,000-meter run at the Boston University/Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Massachusetts on December 1. The Eldoret, Kenya native was the third-place finisher in the race, but clocked in at 15:15.47, which proved to be the No. 6 all-time mark in NCAA history. Her time proved to be nearly 25 seconds faster than her previous school record of 15:39.05, set last indoor season at the same meet. The raced boasted four of the top-seven all-time marks in NCAA history, with New Mexico’s Ednah Kurgat recording the No. 3 all-time mark of 15:14.78, UNM’s Weini Kelati posting the No. 5 time (15:15.24) and Boise State’s Allie Ostrander notching the No. 7 mark in NCAA history (15:16.38).
 
JAYHAWKS PICK UP NINE VICTORIES AT SEASON-OPENING BOB TIMMONS CHALLENGE
The Kansas track & field teams opened the 2018-19 indoor season by hosting the Bob Timmons Challenge at Anschutz Sports Pavilion in Lawrence on November 30, where the Jayhawks recorded nine event victories.
 
KANSAS WINNERS AT BOB TIMMONS CHALLENGE
Men’s 600-Yard Run – Xavier Wolf (Fr.) – 1:12.01
Men’s High Jump – Joel Long (Sr.) – 2.06m (6-8.25 ft.)
Men’s Pole Vault – Paulo Benavides (R-Jr.) – 5.29m (17-4.25 ft.)
Men’s Long Jump – Chris Gleghorn (Jr.) – 6.96m (22-10 ft.)
Women’s 600-Yard Run – Nicole Montgomery (Sr.) – 1:20.96
Women’s 800-Meter Run – Courtney Griffiths (Sr.) – 2:15.60
Women’s 4×400-Meter Relay – Mariah Kuykendoll (Jr.), Chloe Akin-Otiko (Jr.), Honour Finley (So.), Marleena Eubanks (Sr.) – 3:42.68
Women’s High Jump – Rylee Anderson (Fr.) – 1.78m (5-10 ft.)
Women’s Pole Vault – Andrea Willis (Jr.) – 4.11m (13-5.75 ft.)
 
JAYHAWKS IN NATION’S TOP-25
Five Jayhawks currently rank in the nation’s top-25 of their respective events. For the Kansas men, Paulo Benavides ranks No. 12 in the pole vault with a clearance of 5.29m (17-4.25 ft.) at the season-opening Bob Timmons Challenge. Freshman Treyvon Ferguson ranks No. 20 in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 15.21m (49-11 ft.), also recorded at the Bob Timmons Challenge.
 
Three Kansas women hold spots in the top-25, with Sharon Lokedi ranking No. 3 in the 5,000-meter run with her school record time of 15:1547 at the Sharon Colyear-Daville Season Opener, freshman Rylee Anderson holds the No. 11 mark in the high jump with a clearance of 1.78m (5-10 ft.) at the Bob Timmons Challenge, and junior Andrea Willis ranks No. 17 in the women’s pole vault with a jump of 4.11m (13-5.75 ft.).
 
Qualification to the NCAA Indoor Championships is based on the descending-order list for the season and adhering to the qualifying regulations/criteria published on www.NCAA.org. For each men’s individual event contested, including the heptathlon, the top 16 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each women’s individual event contested, including the pentathlon, the top 16 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 12 declared relay teams will be accepted into the competition. The stated maximums are absolute and will not be extended as a result of ties.
 
HOME GROWN
Stanley Redwine’s 2019 Kansas track & field teams boast 32 home-grown athletes from the state of Kansas. Each roster has 16 Kansas-bred athletes representing their home state when they don the Crimson & Blue.
 
FRESH FACES
A total of 30 new student-athletes are currently on the Kansas track & field rosters, including 19 new faces on the men’s team and 11 on the women’s squad.
 
REDWINE SIGNS NO. 3 MEN’S CLASS
According to Track & Field News, 19th-year head coach Stanley Redwine’s 2018 KU men’s recruiting class is the No. 3 signing class is the nation. Coming in behind Georgia and Texas A&M, the Jayhawks made the top-5 for the first time ever.
 
Highlighting the recruiting class is Zach Bradford, a pole vaulter out of Bloomington, Illinois, who represented the USA at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, where he earned a silver medal. Bradford posted the No. 8 all-time high school pole vault mark, clearing 18-2.5 ft. his senior season.
 
Also highlighting the signing class are Treyvon Ferguson, a triple jumper hailing from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Patrick Larrison, a thrower from Moore, Oklahoma and AJ Bennett, a hurdler out of Spring, Texas.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will host the Jayhawk Classic at the Anschutz Sports Pavilion, January 25-26. Events are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 25 and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, the 26th.
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