Three Jayhawks Earn Bids to NCAA Indoor Championships
LAWRENCE, Kan. –The Kansas track & field team will have three entries at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships to be contested March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama it was announced Tuesday night by the NCAA. All-American pole vaulter Casey Bowen punched his ticket to the indoor national meet for the second-straight year and will be joined by sophomore shot putter Nicolai Ceban, who will be competing in his first NCAA Indoor Championships, as the men’s team’s representatives. Senior Daina Levy is the lone qualifier on the women’s side after earning a trip in the weight throw.
Bowen will have the opportunity to attain First Team All-America status for the second-straight year as he earned a spot as the No. 11 seed in this year’s event. This season, the senior has cleared a top bar of 5.43 meters (17’9¾”) and has three event victories under his belt. At his first NCAA indoor meet a year ago, the Gardner, Kansas product vaulted to All-America honors by way of a seventh-place finish. The meet will mark the fourth-straight season a Kansas male or female pole vaulter will compete at the indoor national championships. Bowen will hit the runway inside the Birmingham Crossplex on Friday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m.
Levy will enter next weekend as the eighth-overall seed in the weight throw. The senior will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in her collegiate career. Last week at the Big 12 Championships, Levy posted the best mark of her career en route to the conference weight throw title, hitting a distance of 21.52 meters (70’7¾”). The NCAA’s weight throw field is slated to be one of the most competitive in the meet’s history, with the top-nine entrants having already topped the 70-foot mark at least once this season. Levy will look to become the second Jayhawk to attain All-America status in the weight throw when she steps into the ring on March 11 at 7:20 p.m.
Sophomore Nicolai Ceban will be making his first trip to the NCAA indoor meet after earning the qualification in the shot put. Ceban’s top mark this year, a toss of 19.25 meters (63’2″) at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13, earned him a trip to the meet as the No. 12 seed. An honorable mention All-American in the outdoor event a year ago, Ceban will look to give Kansas its 13th All-America honors in the indoor shot put jump. His event is scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 12 at 2 p.m.
The meet will kick off at 12 p.m. (CT) Friday, March 11 and will conclude at 6:55 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Stay updated on each of the Jayhawks’ performances by logging on to KUAthletics.com and following on Twitter and Instagram at @KUTrack.
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