Kansas women's DMR breaks school record at Alex Wilson Invite

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – For the second time in as many years, the Kansas track & field women’s distance medley relay team competed at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, and left the Loftus Sports Center with a school record performance.
 
The Jayhawk women’s DMR team finished third in the event on Saturday and shaved .66 seconds off of the one-year-old school record to finish in 11:01.19. Senior Courtney Coppinger opened the race for Kansas, running the 1,200-meter leg before handing off to junior Nicole Montgomery, who was the only member of this year’s DMR squad that was also a part of last year’s record-breaking team, to run the 400-meter leg. Montgomery then handed off to senior Hannah Dimmick for the 800-meter leg. Dimmick, who is the No. 8 performer in the open 800 in KU women’s indoor history, cleared the way for junior Sharon Lokedi to finish the event as the anchor leg running the final 1,600 meters.
 
The school record marks the third that Lokedi has broken or been a part of this season, as she previously set the school record in both the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000 meters. The quartet’s time not only broke the school record, but currently ranks fifth in the NCAA this season and should hold up to qualify the team for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas, March 9-10.
 
Montgomery was also a member of the women’s 4×400-meter relay team that went on to clock the third-fastest time in women’s indoor history at Kansas, winning the event in 3:33.53. Montgomery was joined by Megan Linder, Mariah Kuykendoll and Honour Finley to combine for the first-place time, and the squad currently ranks No. 12 in the NCAA.
 
The men’s 4×400 relay team was able to notch a top-three time in KU history of its own, finishing in 3:06.76 as the second-fastest time recorded in school history. Isaiah Cole, Jaron Hartley, Ivan Henry and Tre Daniels combined for the impressive performance, which ranks 11th in the NCAA this season.
 
Junior Marleena Eubanks was the only Jayhawk to compete in an individual event at the Alex Wilson Invitational, running the 800 meters. Eubanks clocked in at a personal-best time of 2:09.13 to finish third in the event and become the No. 5 performer in KU women’s indoor history in the event.
 
Though the men’s distance medley relay team was unable to accomplish a record-breaking performance like its counterparts, it did set a top-10 time in the KU records. Bryce Hoppel, Ivan Henry, Jacob Goldberg and Dylan Hodgson notched the 10th-fastest time in Jayhawk history, clocking in at 9:45.62 to finish 14th in the event.
 
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will travel to Ames, Iowa for the Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championship at the Lied Recreation Center in Ames, Iowa, February 23-24.
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