PAGE 4B
MONDAY. APRIL 23, 2012
THE UNIVERSI
KANSAS
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Trevor Wallace competes in the paralympians' sprint from the starting blocks of the 200-meter dash, Saturday afternoon at the Kansas Relays.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Teammates Denesha Morris, Diamond Dixon, Shayla Wilson and Paris Daniels hug at the finish line after placing first in the women's 4x400 meter relay on Saturday afternoon at the Kansas Relays. The Kansas women set a new KU and Kansas Relays record with a time of 3.31.87.
Third straight win for senior
mgoodwin@kansan.com
MAX GOODWIN
After falling short of victory in her own 1500-meter race, Rebeka Stowe stood at the edge of the track Saturday to watch the men's competition.
She watched as senior Donny Wasinger achieved what she had hoped to by winning his third straight 1500-meter race at the Kansas Relays.
Stowe, also a senior, set a personal record Saturday in 1500-meter, with a time of 4:22.50 minutes. But she didn't win the race. She was passed on the final stretch by Amanda Dunne, a former Missouri Tiger and current professional runner. A victory for Stowe would have made three consecutive titles.
"I've been a little off this last week, so to get that P.R. [personal record], that's exciting for me as well," Stowe said. "You win some, you lose some."
With just one meet left before the Big 12 Championships in Manhattan, Stowe's goal is to continue setting personal records. She has set Olympic trial standards but not yet the actual Olympic standards, which would allow her to focus on finishing in the top three at trials and not have to deal with the pressure of running a standard time.
Stowe said she enjoys running the 1500-meter because it is a faster-paced race than the 3000-meter steeplechase that she usually runs,
but not quite as fast as the 800-meter that she also has run.
"Ultimately this race isn't the end-all be-all." Stowe said. "We've got a lot of meets left to go and it's just another step in the process of building into the season."
Wasinger ran his fastest race of the year, recording a time of 3:47.76 minutes. But he was hoping to run faster. He took the lead early and for the rest of the race ran by himself ahead of the pack.
It can be a challenge to run by yourself like that, Wasinger said. Following his victory in the 1500-meter, in his final Kansas Relays as a Jayhawks, Wasinger reflected on the event's tradition at Kansas.
"The 1500 has been a strong Kansas event ever since KU has been around, you know," Wasinger said. He talked about runners from the Kansas Hall of Fame, — such as Jim Ryun, Wes Santee and Glen Cunningham — names he also saw on the Track and Field Hall of Fame at Armory, New York. If he could run as fast as those runners, Wasinger said, it would be an honor. And that is his goal.
KU men and women win the final races
Wasinger accepted his third Kansas Relays 1500-meter trophy at the Champion's podium after the race.
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
"It's been a great four years," Wasinger said. "The coaches, and the support system, and the fans have given me great memories. It's made me a better athlete, a better person, and I'll always remember KU."
The 4x400-meter relay races brought the 85th Kansas Relays to a close Saturday in a very fitting way. The Kansas teams won both men's and women's races, and the women's group, which competed in the NCAA indoor championships for the 4x400-meter relay, even set a meet record at 3:31.87 minutes.
"I saw the time so I was pushing for it," sophomore Diamond Dixon said of the meet record time after running the final leg of the relay.
"We actually weren't focused on the meet record; we were trying to break our time from yesterday"; junior Paris Daniels said. "We all came out and competed well and I'm happy."
— Edited by Ian Cummings
surrounded by his three teammates.
"The sky's the limit now, because they're only freshmen."
In the prelimbs on Friday, the four women ran a time 3:39.34 minutes, which they improved upon by 7.5 seconds in Saturday's finals. This was really the first meet for the team that consisted of senior Shayla Wilson, juniors Danesha Morris and Paris Daniels, and sophomore Diamond
"It's crazy because I know it's only going to be better." Clemons said,
Morris said the time was much lower than the team expected coming into the finals. Now that they have seen what they are capable of, the women exp ect to continue to lower their time. This team appears capable of once again competing for the NCAA championship at nationals after running what as the sixth fastest time in Division 1.
The men's 4x400-meter relay race began next with freshman Michael Stigler in the blocks for Kansas, looking to build momentum from the women's win. The team gained the lead several times early but struggled to maintain it, with the three freshmen Stigler, Michael Hester and Kenneth McCuin. McCuin pulled into the lead before handing the baton to junior Kyle Clemmons who ran to the finish for the lajhwakes.
Dixon, running together.
"This is our first real 4x4 for the outdoor season, and our first time running 3:31." Danesha Morris said. "That's just awesome. That means we're ready for big things."
The win on Saturday came with a time of 3:08.67 minutes, which was their fastest of the season. It was an improvement of almost five seconds from their time of 3:13.66 minutes, which sophomore Dominique Manley ran as a replacement for Clemmons.
The men's team is focused on racing at nationals this season, and they think they have an idea of what it will take for the team to reach that level.
It may be too soon to ask the question, but after the performances by both men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams, one must wonder if both teams could compete for an NCAA national title this year.
"To get into nationals, probably low 3:05, but we're trying to take it meet by meet." Clemmons said. He is excited about the potential of such a young relay group.
Edited by Nadia Imafidon
The performance in the long jump gives her confidence going into the most important meets of the season—the Big 12 and national championships.
"Just coming out here and convincing myself that I could still long jump and that I still had it in me was really good." Geu-belle said.
by jumping well over that mark. She twice jumped right at 6.5 meters.
Junior wins long jump, sets personal best 100m
Her specialty is the triple jump, in which she holds the NCAA indoor national champion title, but Geubelle also finished eighth in the long jump at indoor nationals. Her 6.5-meter jump on Saturday is the second-ranked long jump in the Big 12 conference this year.
Geubelle was consistent in her long jumps at the Kansas Relays. She did not have a single foul in the competition and her fourth and the worst of her six jumps, still would have tied for the lead in the competition. Instead Geubelle left no doubt
Junior Andrea Geubelle ran her fastest time ever at 11.72 seconds in the preliminaries of the women's 100-meter dash on Friday. She said she has not run a time below 11.8 seconds since high school.
— Max Goodwin
Geubelle's speed also launched her to a victory in the women's long jump competition on Saturday with a jump of 6.5 meters.
"I'm a lot faster than I was in indoor and ever." Geubell said.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Senior Shayla Wilson hands off the baton to sophomore Diamond Dixon to run the final lap in the Women's 4x400 Meter Relay on Saturday afternoon at the Kansas Relays. The Kansas women set a new KU and Kansas Relays records with a time of 3:13.87
Freshman Alisha Keys wins 200m in first Relays appearance
Freshman spinner Alisha Keys ran the fastest time Saturday of the final round of the women's 200-meter, winning the event title in 24.36 seconds. Keys won by just six-tenths of a second over second-place winner Latoya King, a junior running for Lincoln University.
Keys is from Junction City and said her high school never competed
Instead of focusing on mechanics in her winning 200-meter race. Keys said, she has been concentrating on the experience of her first Kansas Relavs.
at the Kansas Relays while she was a student there. She said she was excited to win a title in her first final at an outdoor meet as a Jayhawk.
"I was just focused on having a good time here." Keys said. "There's only so much you can do, and focusing on mechanics can really mess you up, so I just decided to do what I do in practice and come out here and
do the same thing."
Keys ran the fastest high school 200-meter time in the state of Kansas in 2011 before coming to the University. The preliminary time of 24.10 seconds that she ran on Friday to put herself in the finals was the fastest women's 200-meter time to the Relays as well as her own personal record.
- Max Goodwin