PAGE 8
MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TRACK & FIELD
ERIN BREMFER/KANSAN
Sophomore distance runner, James Wilson, hands the baton off to Evan Landes during the men's 4x1-mile relay on friday at Memorial Stadium. The Kansas Relays took place from Wednesday through Saturday in Lawrence.
Women win Big 12 title again with outdoor championship win
COLIN WRIGHT
cwright@kansan.com
The stage was different, but the results were the same. The Kansas women's track and field squad made it a complete season sweep by winning the team title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship on Sunday evening. The team scored 158 team points to defeat the University of Texas, the defending outdoor champion, which scored 145 points.
It had been 30 years since any Jayhawk squad — men or women, indoor or outdoor — had won a conference championship. Exactly 10 weeks after capturing the Indoor Championship in Ames, Iowa, the women's team added another title in Waco, Texas.
In the finale in Ames, it came down to the women's 4x400-meter relay, which Kansas ran fast enough to claim the title. On Sunday, the Jayhawks clinched the title before the 4x400 squad stepped on to the track. With the championship already in hand, the team ran its fastest time of the year and won the relay.
The Jayhawks hoisted a number of individual championships that helped them claim the Big 12 title and solidify their place on top of the league and their top-five national ranking.
Senior Francine Simpson won the long jump on her final attempt, knocking her teammate and fellow senior Andrea Guebelle down to second place. Simpson's jump of 6.67 meters (21 feet, 10.75 inches) set a new school record and the duo added a combined 18 points in the long jump. Guebelle later claimed the
title in the triple jump with a jump of 13.59 meters (44'77") more than two and a half feet better than the next best jump.
Sophomore Lindsay Vollmer won the heptathalon, earning the most total points in the seven-event competition, adding to her Big 12 indoor title in the pentathlon. According to a KU Athletics news release, Vollmer is the first Jayhawk to grab the heptathalon title since 1999. Vollmer also finished fourth in the high jump with a jump of 1.75 meters (5'8.75").
The women also captured the conference title in the women's 4x10 meter relay. The quartet of senior Paris Daniels, freshman Tianna Valentine, senior Denesha Morris and junior Diamond Dixon ran finished in 43.89 seconds to pick up 10 points.
Junior Jessica Maroszek won the discus event with a throw of 56.81 meters (186'5"), nearly 10 feet farther than the second place throw. Junior Natalia Bartnovskaya finished second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.26 meters (13'11.75").
Daniels won the 200 meters, tying a stadium record with a time of 22.73. Her 100-meter time of 11.34 seconds earned her second place in the dash.
Olympic gold medalist Dixon claimed another title, winning the 400 meters in a time of 51.73, less than a half second off the stadium record.
On the men's side, sophomore Michael Stigler and senior Kyle Clemons led the Jayhawks. The duo won the 400-meter hurdles and 400 meters respectively.
Stigler came in 49.79 in the hurdles, while Clemons won the
400-meter race in 45.10, adding a combined 20 points to the men's total. The men finished the weekend in fifth place after scoring a total of 82.5 points.
Senior Jesse Vaughn won the javelin throw for the Kansas men, topping the rest of the field with a throw of 67.86 meters (222'08") more than 13 feet farther than the second place throw.
Themensteam also claimed the 4x400-meter title. Sophomores DeMario Johnson and Kenneth McCuin joined Clemons and Stigler in the relay, winning the event in a time of 3:07.72.
The women achieved the goal of winning the Big 12 in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, but they still have unfinished business. The NCAA Outdoor Championships is a month away, and the title is attainable after a performance like the women had this weekend.
The women's 4x400-meter team of Morris, Dixon, Daniels and senior Taylor Washington didn't have to run a 3:32.00, their fastest time of the year, but they did. They didn't have to beat the Texas 4x400-meter team to win the team conference crown, but very fittingly, they did.
Before this weekend, the women's track and field team had already gathered hardware and received national rankings that no track and field women's team had ever done at Kansas. After this weekend, they will go down in history as the best women's track and field team in school history, and deservedly so. They left no doubt in anyone's mind. They are the Big 12 Champions.
- Edited by Tara Bryant
ROWING
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The Kansas rowing team receives its medals after finishing third at the Big 12 Championship on Saturday in Kansas City, Kan. The Oklahoma Sooners, the conference favorite, placed first in the championship's fifth year.
Kansas finishes third in Big 12 Championship
STELLA LIANG
sliang@kansan.com
Kansas started the Big 12 Championship strong by winning the fourth varsity eight race in a close fashion. Down the stretch, the three competing boats, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, each had a chance to win. When it was announced that Kansas had won with a time of 6:41.72, the rest of the team erupted in cheers.
Kansas finished third overall in the Big 12 Championship Saturday in Kansas City, Kan., out of five teams. With the addition of West Virginia to the conference, this was the first time five teams competed. This is the fifth year of the tournament and the third time Kansas has hosted it.
This year, Oklahoma came in ranked 20th in the country and was the favorite to win the conference championship; the team didn't disappoint. Oklahoma won with 136 points. Texas came in second with 117, Kansas had 81, West Virginia had 75 and Kansas State had 66.
This was the first time that Texas did not win in the five-year history of the event.
The regatta consisted of six events: fourth varsity eight, third varsity eight, second varsity four, first varsity four, second varsity eight and first varsity eight. Fourth and third varsity eight were races by the novice teams. Teams earned points based on their standings in each race.
On a dark, overcast day on the river, under a steady drizzle, the Kansas team was happy with its performance.
"Today we went and we just wanted to race our own race," junior Caty Clements, who was the coxswain on the second varsity eight boat, said. "I think with the conditions, we did really well, and there was good clean water. We went out there and proved what we wanted to prove."
Texas won the third varsity eight race. The second varsity four race gave Texas its second race victory in a row. Kansas finished third in that race with a time of 7:34.67.
finishing just .5 seconds behind Oklahoma. From there, it was all Oklahoma. The Sooners won the last three races.
The next best showing for the Jayhawks was the second varsity eight boat, which has had success all season. Saturday, Kansas finished second behind Oklahoma with a time of 6:41.14. The field also included West Virginia's second varsity boat, which had been named the Conference USA boat of the week. Rowers on the Jayhawk boat were seniors Cheyenne Verdoorn and Danielle Adam, junior Amanda Lewis, and sophomores Julia Alvey, Claudijah Lever, Erin Brogan, Jenni Hartzler and Jade Lambkins. Clements was the coxswain.
"The 2V8 boat has only been beat by one team that is not ranked in the top 20." Kansas coach Rob Catloth said in a Kansas Athletics news release. "They are doing a really good job of attaining their goals."
The Kansas competes at the Big 12 Championship Saturday in Kansas City, Kan.
The Jahawks placed third in the championship's fifth year.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Throughout the event, rowers on the all-academic team were recognized. After the regatta, members of the Big 12 all-conference first and second teams were recognized. Senior Olivia Kinet earned a spot on the first team, and two Jayhawks, juniors Alex Torquemada and Liz Scherer, were named to the second team.
The Big 12 Championship was held on Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, Kan. All of these teams will meet again at the Conference USA Championship May 18 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where they will compete for the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Championship. Until then, the team will be working hard to prepare.
"I think we are just going to work on peaking and finding that extra little tid bit of speed on our sprint, and we will be ready for Conference USA," Clements said.
Edited by Allison Hammond
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McLemore's former coach accepted bribes
A USA Today piece by Eric Prisbell reports that Ben McLemore's Amateur Athletic Union coach received gifts and financial aid from a middleman on behalf of a sports agency looking to sign the Kansas freshman.
to Los Angeles from Rodney Blackstock, the CEO and founder of Hooplace Academy, in exchange for his influencing McLemore to sign with an agent who has not been named.
The report also notes that Richard Boyd, a cousin of McLemore, accompanied Cobb on two of his trips to California. Boyd denied the accusation to USA Today.
Darius Cobb, who coached McLemore in St. Louis, says he accepted $10,000 cash and three all-expenses-paid trips
Blackstock had also received tickets to three Kansas basketball games this
season, complimentary of McLemore, yet the piece notes the Jayhawks' leading scorer is unaware of Blackstock's intentions, nor the arrangement with Cobb.
In a statement to USA Today, Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger said the school was also unaware of any wrongdoing and has launched an investigation into the matter.
NCAa BAY 12.3,1.2 states that she is athletic if he or she, or friends
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The NCAA has not said if it is launching an investigation into McLemore's eligibility.
or relatives, receives benefits from an agent. Under Bylaw 12.02.1, an agent is any individual who seeks to obtain any type of financial gain or benefit from securing a prospective student-athlete's enrollment at an educational institution or from a student-athlete's potential earnings as a professional athlete.
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