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MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016 | VOLUME 131 ISSUE 01
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Photo Gallery: Kansas City PrideFest 2016
The 41st annual Kansas City PrideFest took place June 3-5 at Berkley Riverfront Park. The event was organized by volunteers and board members of Gay Pride Kansas City.
Alex Robinson/KANSAN
A group poses for a picture at KC Pride. People of all identities, orientations, genders and age attended.
SEE PRIDE PAGE 5
At night, the stage came alive with local drag queens and kings, singing and dancing for a large dancing crowd.
Alex Robinson/KANSAN
Nine Jayhawks qualify for NCAA Championships
DYLAN SHERWOOD
@dsherwoodku
In the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary meet, held at Rock Chalk Park, the Kansas track and field team only had one qualifier heading into the final day. At the end of the meet, Kansas would qualify eight more athletes in three different events.
Saturday morning was an emotional one for Kansas senior thrower Dasha Tsema. After throwing a 53.46 meters （175'5") Tsema went to the officials to see where she finished. She and her teammate, senior Dania Levy, finished 11th and 12th respectively to claim the final two spots to Eugene, Oregon.
"That's the most nervous I've ever been in a meet, but I gave it all I got, because this is the end," Tsema said.
Tsema and Levy are not the only throwers heading to Eugene. Both junior
Mitch Cooper and sophomore Nicolai Ceben were the next to qualify for nationals.
Cooper won the regional meet with a throw of 195'-0", while Ceban had a throw of 192'-9", finishing in fourth place. The throw by Ceban was a personal best. He had been practicing throwing the discus and was glad his performance was good enough to qualify for nationals.
"It was a good thing this happened at the regional meet, which secured me a spot at the national championships," Ceban said. "I'm pretty happy about it."
Cooper came into the meet with the nation's second throw, and said he felt a bit nervous being the best thrower in the regional meet.
"The start of the meet did not go as planned," Cooper said. "I finished strong and I was happy with that."
The final qualifiers were the men's 4x400 meter relay. The team consisting of Ivan Henry, Tre Daniels, Jaron Hartley and Strymar Livingston had the fastest qualifying time among teams that did not receive an automatic bid to Eugene.
"We were very confident we were going to make nationals," Hartley said. "We all decided that if we all split our PRs we would definitely be far enough ahead of what we just did. We wanted to win it, but I think it's a start."
Even with the meet on their home track, Kansas
coach Stanley Redwine said that this was a learning experience for his teams.
"There was definitely added pressure, because you're at home and I think that's going to be a learning experience for when we host more meets of this size in the future," Redwine said in a KU Athletics release.
Sophomore Sharon Lokedi was the lone qualifier on Friday in the 10,000 meter run.
The NCAA Championships will take place June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
QUALIFIERS (EVENT, DATE)
Track:
- Men's 4x400 meter relay: Henry, Hartley, Daniels & Livingston
Semifinal Wednesday June 8 9:48 p.m. CDT
- Women's 10,000 meter run: Sharon Lokedi
Finals Thursday June 9 9 p.m. CDT
Field:
- Men's Discus : Mitch Cooper & Nicohai Ceban Finals Friday June 10 8 p.m. CDT
- Women's Discus: Dasha Tsema & Daina Levy Finals Saturday June 11 4:15 p.m. CDT
Hannah Edelman/KANSAN Junior Mitchell Cooper flings the disc at the KU Relays.