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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017
After injury, Stigler set on proving he's not a 'fluke'
Former Jayhawk Michael Stigler leaps over a hurdle in the men's 400-meter hurdles on April 22 at the Kansas Relays
Missy Minear/KANSAN
► AMIE JUST
@Amie_just
The biggest track meet of Michael Stigler's life was roughly a week away.
The former Jayhawk was practicing 400-meter hurdle sets at Rock Chalk Park before the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. As Stigler was two hurdles into his second set, he heard his worst nightmare: a loud pop.
As Stigler's body hit the synthetic track, his dreams of making the 2016 Olympic
team popped along with his right hamstring.
At Rock Chalk Park, Stigler's name is already
"It turned me into a new man, having to start from rock bottom," Stigler said. "Making the Olympic team is everybody's goal. And not being able to do that really hurt. But I'm gonna be a fighter and fight back — let everybody know that I'm here to stay. My collegiate season wasn't a fluke. I am here to stay. The name Stigler will be known by the time my career ends."
known. It's etched into the Kansas history books along with fellow Jayhawk legends and NCAA champions in Jim Ryun and Cliff Cushman.
Stigler spent two months recovering from his injury, with help from a Kansas Athletics athletic trainer in Zack Sanchez and OrthoKansas sports medicine doctor Luis Sanchez before returning to the track. And when Stigler did return, he changed up his training regimen.
Instead of solely focusing on his speed and hurdle
My collegiate season wasn't a fluke. I am here to stay.The name Stigler will be known by the time my career ends."
Michael Stigler
Former Jayhawk
work, Stigler worked with coach Stanley Redwine and the distance runners in the fall. Come winter and spring.
Stigler began to work with sprints and hurdles coach Elisha Brewer.
Less than a year after his injury, Stigler returned to the track in which he currently trains to run the 400-meter hurdles in the 90th annual Kansas Relavs.
"I'm strong from coach Redwine. I'm getting the speed from coach Brewer," Stigler said. "It's something we've never done. It's gonna be something special when it all comes together."
Stigler wasn't the only Jayhawk in the race. Current
Kansas senior Alex Wilson was in the next lane over.
"I know what to expect," Wilson said of Stigler, as the two still practice together. "Coming out of the blocks, he likes to get out and really go for it."
That's just what he did.
Stigler blazed past the other competitors soon after the gun went off. He was nearly a hurdle ahead of everyone else on the back curve.
SEE STIGLER PAGE 7
KU men dominant as Kansas Relays come to a close
Senior Jacob Morgan crosses the finish line to place first in the men's 5,000-meter run on April 22 at the Kansas Relays.
SHAUN GOODWIN
@ShaunGoodwinUDK
The image of senior Jacob Morgan exerting every fiber of his being into the last 100 meters of his 5,000-meter race to clinch first place exhibited determination and grit. It was that same determination and grit that led the Kansas men to a first place finish in the scored quadrangular of the 90th Kansas Relays.
Track athletes greatly aided the effort, having 14 athletes finish in top-three positions, including seven first-place finishes. Their performances earned Kansas an additional 138 points to add onto the 93 earned by the field athletes.
The Jayhawk men swept away their competitors, finishing with 231 points, well ahead of second-placed Southern Illinois.
In one of the final events of the evening, Morgan raced out to an early lead in the 5,000-meter race and never looked back. Morgan finished the race in 14:19.59,2.8 seconds ahead of teammate Dylan Hodgson. The pair won 16 points between them.
Behind an exuberant home-crowd, several Kansas athletes contributed the home-track advantage to their strong performances. $ ^{a} $
Missy Minear/KANSAN
"I can't believe how loud
people were getting on that backstretch, I was like 'dang, is that for me?" Morgan said with a relieved smile on his face.
Morgan was also running in his fourth and final Kansas Relays, with the senior having just two words to describe the feeling:
"Too soon."
Sophomore Bryce Richards was another athlete who gave his all to earn points for his team. Heading into the final 100 meters of the men's 1,500-meter race, Richards trailed California's Thomas Joyce in a head-to-head finish. Richards stole first place from Joyce in by far the closest race of the relays. Coming in at a time of 3:53.57, Richards finished ahead of Joyce by .01 seconds.
"The cheering, I loved it. It was awesome," Richards said, looking toward the large crowd of Kansas fans.
"I can't believe how loud people were getting on that backstretch, I was like 'dang, is that for me?"
Jacob Morgan Senior
The Kansas women's team also put on a good
performance for the home crowd, finishing second in a hotly contested competition with 181.5 points. They trailed Minnesota by 14 points, which ended the night with 195.5 points.
Both the men's and women's team saw several athletes run multiple events throughout the day, one of whom was sophomore Gabbi Dabney.
Dabney, who placed seventh out of a field of seven in the women's 100-meter hurdles, also competed in the college open 100-meter hurdles event earlier in the day. Dabney finished the scored quadrangular race with a time of 14.48 seconds.
Junior Christian Hicks was another athlete to compete twice for the Jayhawks, competing in both the college
Dabney felt some pain in her groin area throughout the day,but didn't feel that performing twice in one day affected her performance.
"I really wanted to score some points for my team and finish out the weekend," Dabney said.
open and scored quadrangular men's 110-meter hurdles.
Hicks beat his personal-record in the college open with a time of 14.28 seconds, but unfortunately for the Derby native, the wind was over two meters per second, the limit for an official personal-record. Hicks then followed that performance up in the scored invitational, finishing second behind California's Ashtyn Davis. Although the wind was under two meters per second, Hicks finished his race in 14.46 seconds, .01 seconds behind his personal-record.
"I needed a lot of times under my belt so I can keep lowering it. This definitely really helped me," Hicks said, looking ahead toward the Outdoor Big 12 Championships.
Kansas will return to action next week with the Jayhawks staying in Lawrence for the Rock Chalk Classic on Saturday, April 29, with the hammer throw kicking the meet off at 11 a.m.
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