Kansas splits for Tyson Invitational, ISU Classic

TYSON INVITATIONAL
  Feb. 8-9, 2019
  Fayetteville, Ark.
  Randal Tyson Track Center
  Meet Schedule
  Friday Live Stream
  Saturday Live Stream
  Live Results
  Heat Sheets

 

ISU CLASSIC
  Feb. 8-9, 2019
  Ames, Iowa
  Lied Recreation Center
  Meet Schedule
  Live Stream
  Live Results
  Heat Sheets

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas men’s and women’s track & field teams will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational and to Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Classic, February 8-9, in a weekend of split squad action.
 
FOLLOWING THE TYSON INVITATIONAL
The Tyson Invitational is scheduled to be a highly competitive meet with a number of nationally recognized programs making the trip to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Among the teams competing at the Tyson Invitational will be 15 of the top-30 men’s programs in the nation and 10 of the top-30 women’s programs.
 
A live broadcast of the meet will be available on the SEC Network+ via WatchESPN.com. Access to the live stream is available to fans with a qualifying cable plan or with a subscription to ESPN+.
 
Live results of the Tyson Invitational will be available at FlashResults.com.
 
FOLLOWING THE IOWA STATE CLASSIC
Kansas will send 36 athletes, primarily middle distance and distance runners, to the Lied Recreation Center on Iowa State’s campus for the ISU Classic. ISU’s facility includes a 300-meter, eight-lane track that is known to be great for middle distance and distance events, and attracts a large number of high-profile distance programs to the ISU Classic every year.
 
A live stream of the ISU Classic will be available with a subscription to FloTrack Pro. Plans can be purchased at FloTrack.org starting at $12.49/month. Live results for the meet will be also be provided by FloTrack at Results.FloTrack.org.
 
LOKEDI TO COMPETE AT MILLROSE GAMES
Kansas standout distance runner Sharon Lokedi is set to run in the Fred Lebow women’s 3,000-meter race at the prestigious Millrose Games on Saturday, February 9 in Manhattan, New York’s Washington Heights at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory. The race is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. CST start.
 
DUDAREV NAMED BIG 12 CO-MEN’S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Kansas redshirt sophomore Gleb Dudarev was named Big 12 Co-Men’s Athlete of the Week on February 6. The weekly honor marks the fifth of Dudarev’s career and comes after his season debut at the Texas Tech Open in which he won the weight throw with a mark of 23.08 meters (75-8.75 ft.). The throw proved to be the No. 3 mark in the NCAA this season and No. 4 on the KU all-time performances list.
 
BOTH KANSAS TEAMS IN TOP-25
The Kansas men’s track & field team rose three spots from last week’s USTFCCCA weekly ratings to No. 16 on the week three charts. The Kansas women also moved up the rankings list, jumping nine spots to No. 22, cracking into the top-25 for the first time this season.
 
CALDWELL FINDING HER RHYTHM
Junior Jedah Caldwell is starting to find her rhythm this season. The Chanhassen, Minnesota native notched a career-best time of 7.47 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the Texas Tech Open to become the No. 7 performer in Kansas women’s history in the event. Also at the Texas Tech Open, Caldwell won the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 23.61 seconds and was a member of the second-place 4×400-meter relay team.
 
HOPPEL OFF TO FAMILIAR START
In 2018, Bryce Hoppel kicked off his indoor season with wins in both the one-mile run and the 800-meter run at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular, and went on to win five of the first six individual races he competed in. The only race he didn’t win in that six-race stretch was the prelims of the 800-meter run at the Big 12 Indoor Championship – which he then went on to win the conference title in the event. This season, Hoppel also started the season with wins in the 800 meters and mile at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular and went on to win the 800 at the Texas Tech Open. He will look to keep the streak alive this season when he competes in the 800 meters at the ISU Classic.
 
EUBANKS, MONTGOMERY MOVING UP ALL-TIME 800 LISTS
Seniors Marleena Eubanks and Nicole Montgomery altered the Kansas women’s all-time 800-meter run lists at the Texas Tech Open. The pair finished first and second, respectively, in the event in Lubbock. Eubanks hit the finish line in 2:07.94, which proved to be the No. 8 performance in Kansas women’s history and made her the No. 3 performer all-time at KU. Montgomery’s second-place time of 2:08.79 made her the No. 6 performer in KU history.
 
MEN’S VAULTERS CHASING HISTORY
Associate head coach Tom Hays has high expectations for his group of men’s pole vaulters this season. Hays thinks his squad has potential to make history and be the first team to have four vaulters clear 5.60 meters (18-4.5 ft.). So far this season two of vaulters have reached that mark, with Hussain Al Hizam and Zach Bradford clearing 5.61 meters (18-4.75 ft.) at the Texas Tech Open. Kyle Rogers has jumped 5.50 meters (18-0.5 ft.) this year and Paulo Benavides holds an indoor best of 5.47 meters (17-11.25 ft.).
 
WILLIS CLIMBING VAULT CHARTS
Junior Andrea Willis continues to climb the Kansas all-time charts in the women’s pole vault. The Colorado Springs, Colorado product moved up to No. 3 on the KU all-time performers list and notched the fifth-best mark in program history with a clearance of 4.37 meters (14-4 ft.) in a win at the Texas Tech Open. Willis needs to add just 3.25 inches to her vault to move into a tie with Kansas alum Natalia Bartnovskaya for the school record of 4.45 meters (14-7.25 ft.).
 
ANDERSON UNDEFEATED IN HER CAREER
In four collegiate appearances, freshman Rylee Anderson has yet to come out of a meet as anything other than the top women’s finisher in the high jump. In her collegiate debut, Anderson posted a win with a clearance of 1.78 meters (5-10 ft.). In her second outing, Anderson matched her collegiate debut with a win at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular. She upped the ante at the Jayhawk Classic with a career-best mark of 1.79 meters (5-10.5 ft.) to become the No. 4 performer in KU women’s history, and continued her undefeated streak at the Texas Tech Open with a jump of 1.74 meters (5-8.5 ft.).
 
JAYHAWKS IN NATION’S TOP-25
Eight Jayhawks currently rank in the nation’s top-25 of their respective events. For the Kansas men, Hussain Al Hizam and Zach Bradford rank No. 5 in the pole vault with clearances of 5.58 meters (18-3.75 ft.) and Paulo Benavides ranks No. 25 with a mark of 5.29m (17-4.25 ft.), while Bryce Hoppel ranks No. 11 in the 800-meter run with an altitude-adjusted time of 1:48.13.
 
Four 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. 16 mark in the high jump with a clearance of 1.79m (5-10.5 ft.) at the Jayhawk Classic, junior Andrea Willis ranks No. 8 in the women’s pole vault with a jump of 4.26 meters (13-11.75 ft.) and senior Marleena Eubanks holds the No. 24 mark in the 800-meter run with an altitude-adjusted time of 2:07.57.
 
PAIR OF VAULTERS BREAK ANSCHUTZ PAVILION RECORD
Senior Hussain Al Hizam and freshman Zach Bradford broke the Anschutz Sports Pavilion facility record in the men’s pole vault at the Jayhawk Classic on January 26. Al Hizam and Bradford cleared 5.58 meters (18-3.75 ft.), bettering the previous record of 5.57 meters (18-3.25 ft.) set by Jake Albright in December of 2017.
 
FINLEY SETS SUNFLOWER TRIANGULAR MEET RECORD
For the second time in as many years, Honour Finley set the meet record at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular in the 400-meter dash. As a freshman in 2018, Finley tied the meet record by clocking with a time of 55.49 seconds. In 2019, Finley broke that record with a time of 55.23 seconds.
 
KANSAS WOMEN POST RECORD-SETTING SEMESTER IN THE CLASSROOM
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 got 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).
 
FRESH FACES
A total of 31 new student-athletes are currently on the Kansas track & field rosters, including 20 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 track & field is scheduled to compete at the Arkansas Qualifier in Fayetteville, Arkansas on February 15 and the Alex Wilson Invitational on February 16. The weekend will serve as a final tune-up before the Big 12 Indoor Championship, February 22-23, in Lubbock, Texas.
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