PAGE 8
MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013
KANSAS RELAYS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Glenn Cunningham mile race completed in under four minutes
COLIN WRIGHT
cwright@kansan.com
Cory Leslie broke the four-minute mark in the Glenn Cunningham Mile at the Kansas Relays. He is the sixth person in meet history to achieve that feat. His time on Saturday's windy afternoon was 3 minutes, 58.18 seconds, less than four seconds off Kansas alumus Jim Ryun's Relays record of 3:54.70.
"I wanted to get out here and compete," Leslie said. "It's such a great field but I didn't want to already mentally be beat by the caliber."
Kansas junior Josh Munsch, who set a personal record in the slightly shorter 1500 meters earlier this season with a time of 3:43, fell just short of his goal of reaching the four-mile mark. His time of 4:02.90 was a personal best in the 1600 meters and was good enough for seventh place.
"I'm a little bit frustrated," said Munsch. "but I got a couple more races, I'm mainly focusing on getting to regionals and nationals."
Munsch revealed in the moment as he ran against stiffer competition
than he does on a weekly basis, running toe-to-toe with professionals as opposed to collegiate athletes. He embraced the home crowd and was less than three seconds away from that coveted four minute mile.
Edited by Tara Bryant
"It's pretty awesome," added Munsch. "When they called my name out, I got a lot of love from the crowd, so it was really nice to have that, it's good to be here every once in a while."
KANSAS RELAYS
Three women tie for second in competitive pole vault event
TYLER CONOVER
tconover@kensan.com
tconover@kansan.com
On a balmy fourth day of Kansas Relay competition inside Memorial Stadium, the women
competed
competed in the pole
vault college division
finals. Two
Jayhawks
competed in the event.
Senior Sarah
Hedberg tied for second, and
Hedberg
The event wrapped up rather quickly as only five competitors — three of who tied for second — managed to clear the standard mark of 12'2.5". The winning height of 12'8.25" was set by Kayla Coffee, from the University of Sioux Falls.
junior Abby Row was unable to clear the opening height.
Coffee was relaxed throughout the competition after only five competitors cleared the initial height.
"This is my fifth year competing here, so it's really great to go out on a win. I knew I had already placed and so I wasn't thinking about that, I was just concentrating on my technique and really focusing on what I needed to do to make the next bar."
Edited by Tara Bryant
KANSAS RELAYS
Kansas sophomore sets record in men's 400 meter hurdles
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
Before the beginning of the men's 400-meter hurdles invitational, Kansas sophomore Michael Stigler and Michael Tinsley, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, went up to Bershawn "Batman" Jackson to exchange pre-race pleasantries.
With a 2008 Olympic bronze medal and seven Kansas Relays titles on his resume, Jackson is a crowd favorite and Relays legend. Tinsley, who said he's "pretty good friends" with Jackson, wanted to lightheartedly let the two-time defending champion know he was coming for him. Stigler's exchange with Jackson was bit more diplomatic.
"I always looked up to him and I told him that before we started and he knows me," Stigler said. "It was just great to go out there and race against him again. It felt like the USA trials over again from last year."
Unlike the 2012 Olympic trials, when Jackson placed fourth and Stigler finished seventh, the collegian came on top on Saturday. So too did Tinsley, who won those Olympic trials, earning himself a spot in London.
Tinsley crossed the Memorial Stadium finish line in 48.77 seconds. Stigler finished close behind at 49.42. As his time flashed on the scoreboard, Stigler broke into a wide smile and raised his
arms in celebration. He wasn't aiming for a particular time on Saturday, but he knew he had just broken the school record in the 400-meter hurdles. He broke his own record, in fact, having set it in 49.45 seconds at the Big 12 Championship last May.
"I knew what my time was
from last year
was," Stigler
said. "Once
I saw it was
a new school
record, I was
happy, and
pluswehaven't
really had that
many outdoor meets, so to do it here and set the school record at our own meet was great."
By the time Tinsley made the final turn Saturday, he had opened up a sizable lead. The only drama was if Stigler could hold off a charging Justin Gay-
"It felt like the USA trials over again from last year."
While Jackson, who finished fifth on Saturday, is a Kansas Relays regular, Tinsley had never competed at the Relays until Saturday. When his agent told him about the Relays, Tinsley decided it sounded like a good match and opted to make it his opening meet of the season.
mon, who finished third.
His first time at the Relays began precariously. He arrived in Lawrence Thursday night amid frigid temperatures and decided not to test the track on Friday. He said Saturday's conditions were conducive to running.
"My steps were pretty good today," Tinsley said. "I got out hard, kind of used the wind to my advantage on the backstretch. I wanted to stay real relaxed and comfortable in my race. I was able to come home strong. I knew the kid from KU was coming so
MICHAEL STIGLER Kansas sophomore
On the women's side, Ellen Wortham, who competed in the semifinals of the
Wortham was familiar with members of the five-runner field, having competed against both Ryan Krais and Wendy Fawn Door while at Tennessee.
"It itches that I'm in good competitive shape and have a strong mindset," Worthham said. "At the end of the race, I had a couple of bad hurdles and the girl on the outside was coming, but I just had to keep my head down and get to that finish line."
- Edited by Tara Bryant
KANSAS RELAYS
ERIN BREMFER/KANSAN
Senior distance runner Kathleen Thompson competes in the women's 3000 meter steeplechase friday at Memorial Stadium. Thompson finished the event with a final time of 11, minutes 23,63 seconds.
Kansas athletes compete in 3,000 meter steeplechase
Schneider ran hard the whole race but was unable to crack the
“It’s nice to have the support of all of our friends and family.” said Kansas distance runner Kaman Schneider after the race. “It just gives you that much more energy to go compete and do your thing.”
On a sunny third day of the Kansas Relays inside Memorial Stadium, the men and women competed in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase competition.
With the wind out in full force, the Jayhawk runners competed against national competition in their backyard, which meant a lot to the Kansas runners.
TYLER CONOVER
tconover@kansan.com
neider's focus was on trying his best regardless of the outcome or the conditions during the race.
top three as he finished the race with a time of 9:47.81, earning him a 14th-place finish. Sch-
"It's tough, but you just focus on com-
"It's nice to have the supports of all of our friends and family."
hurdles and land in the water.
For Kansas, Kathleen Thompson
finished the race in seventh place.
petting with the people in the same race as you," Schneider said. "The biggest thing is just compete and try and beat people, and once you do that, you won't worry about the extra stuff"
On the women's side, 14 competitors lined up to jump the
KAMAN SCHNEIDER Kansas senior
with a time of 11:23.63, which was 36 seconds slower than the lead.
ning.
Once the race started, Thompson was able to put the weather behind her and focus on run-
"I didn't really notice the wind too much actually. I noticed it a lot before the race but not during," Thompson said. "It was a little chilly in the water."
Edited by Allison Hammond
KANSAS RELAYS
Blade runner overcomes wind wins Paralympic 100 meter dash
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
Blake Leeper knows that as a double leg amputee, he is not going to beat opponents by getting a faster start than them. In the men's 100 meter Para Olympic Open at the Kansas Relays, Leeper showed his speed in the final 50 meters of the race, winning the event in 11.24 seconds.
"My start isn't going to be the
All four competitors in the
best, so I really focus on the end of the race," Leeper said. "I knew I would get behind, these guys are fast, but I still just had to run my race."
Saturday was Leeper's second time attending the Kansas Relays, and it was his third race of the season as he prepares for the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in July.
event on Saturday finished in less than 12 seconds while running into a headwind.
For Leeper, the race couldn't have gone any better. He was pleased with his time and ended the day with a victory. Though he wasn't able to reach the world record of 10.91 that he said he is always thinking about going into a race.
Edited by Tara Bryant