KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 / SPORTS
2
5B
DISCUS
Freshman thrower Mason Finley spins to throw the discus during the finals Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Finley threw for 57.15 meters to take first in the competition.
Weston White/KANSAN
Finley throws final disc 57.15 meters, clinches event
BY ANDREW WITUSZYNSKI
awitzusvnski@kansan.com
Freshman Mason Finley walked up to his last throw of the day, the last throw for any of the competitors in the discus finals at the 83rd Kansas Relays, and knew he had a ton of pressure on the weight of his broad shoulders. Finley has
been dedicated to throwing since he was a child.
the victory.
Finley's dad,
lared Finley, also competed in the
Kansas Relays
back in his college days.
After Mason's First
"It was going to take good form and nothing else", Finley said.
While he didn't come close to his father's performance, Finley said he knew that he had to do everything right on the last throw to win the event.
"I love that he came back to win on the last throw."
Junior Brian Bishop was the only other lavawk to compete in the
three throws, Jared noted his history in the event.
ANDY KOKHANOVSKY
Throws coach
event.
With the pressure of his dad and the rest of his family watching and the pressure of knowing he had to make the best throw of the day to win it all, he walked up to the throwing circle and made his best throw of the day. On that throw, Finley put up a distance of 57.15 meters to clinch
"He still hasn't beaten my score that I threw back in my day," Jared said.
"This was a lot more competitive than last year," Bishop said. "It was a great meet and a lot of fun."
Bishop's best throws were 55.21 meters and
53. 74 meters, just behind Finley,
Tim Koberna, Head Athletic Trainer at Warburg College, works on an athlete's call using a technique called graston. The technique requires special instruments, but Koberna said he did not bring them. Instead, he was using a pair of athletic sclips to mobilize soft tissues in the muscle.
Kansas throws coach Andy Kokhanovsky said he was impressed with Finley mainly for what he did at the end of the event.
Weston White/KANSAN
— Edited by Jesse Rangel
"I love that he came back to win on the last throw," Kokhanovsky said. "It shows he can compete at a high level."
Men and women grab gold in relay
4X1 MILE
The men's team started with sophomore Greg Bussing and senior Bret Imgrund standing their ground.
Both the men's and women's 4x1 mile teams took gold at the Kansas Relays Friday, but they did so in drastically different ways.
The third leg had sophomore Kaleb Humphreys establishing about a 10 meter lead by the time he passed the baton off. When sophomore Zach Zarda took off, the race became a thriller.
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
For four laps, Zarda kept Cowley County and Iowa Central runners at bay, even though they were nipping at his heels the whole way. Zarda broke away
"We've got a lot of family and friends here," he said. "We're not going to lose in a Kansas jersey. It's just not going to happen."
The women's race wasn't as intense. From the first leg starting with freshman Kathleen Thompson and on, there was nothing the two other teams could do to compete with Kansas.
just enough to win by two seconds, 17:25 as a team.
The rest of the relay team
the rest of the relay team — freshmen Kyra Kilwein and Tessa Turcotte and sophomore Corinne Christensen — kept up the momentum and won by 54 seconds.
None of the women had a time they were especially proud of, Turcotte said. Because they stayed so far in front during the race, they can't argue with the results when there was no sense of urgency.
"It's hard to push yourself"
Turcette said, "but it was fun."
Edited by Allyson Shaw
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