Meet Records Fall on Day Three of the 89th Kansas Relays Presented by Subway
Tim Nedow claimed the downtown shot put title Friday night in Lawrence.
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – A pair of meet records were rewritten along with a host of facility records as day three of the Kansas Relays commenced on a beautiful Friday at Rock Chalk Park. Former Kansas thrower Mason Finley took down the meet’s 40-year-old record in the discus, while one of this year’s top high school vaults was enough to earn Khristen Bryant the new meet record in the girl’s pole vault.
Seeing action in his first Kansas Relays in four years, Finley announced his return with a monumental performance in the men’s discus. Finley, who threw for the Jayhawks from 2010-12, came into the day already among the world’s elite discus specialists finding himself ranked among the top-15 in the latest standings.
The four-time Big 12 Champion began his day with a toss of 62.79 meters (206’0″), a throw that, by itself, would have won the competition for Finley with ease. It was his next throw however, that made history.
On his second trip into the ring, Finley hit a mark that measured out to 64.07 meters (210’2″), topping Jim McGoldrick’s throw of 63.63m (208’9″) from the 1976 Kansas Relays, which stood as the meet record for 40 years. Though he was unable to improve on the record mark, Finley went on to claim his third KU Relays discus title and first since winning back-to-back KU Relays trophies in 2010 and 2011.
Columbia Independent’s Khristen Bryant also rewrote the meet record books with one of this year’s top high school vaults. The junior topped the bar at 3.81 meters (12’6″) to take down Emily Brigham’s (Mill Valley) previous record from 2013 by .5 inches. The performance also moved Bryant among the top-25 high school vaulters on the year.
Though the majority of the quadrangular events are set to be held Saturday, the men’s and women’s hammer throws got the competition started. For the women, it was Kansas’ Daina Levy who claimed the crown with her mark of 64.34 meters (211’1″) on her first attempt of the day. The victory marked Levy’s second at the KU Relays in three years.
On the men’s side, Colorado State’s Tyler Schultz was the top hammer thrower when he posted a mark that measured 60.83 meters (199’7″).
With two events scored on either side the Kansas women (23 points) and the Nebraska men (26 points) will go into the final 18 events Saturday with the leads in the quadrangular team race.
Several collegiate relays took center stage on the track Friday, with the Jayhawks striking gold more than once. The Kansas men and women swept the 4×800-meter relays, both for the second-straight years. The Jayhawks men’s time of 7:35.33 was the fastest by a winning team at the KU Relays since 2000.
One final days awaits at the 89th Kansas Relays presented by Subway. High school events get underway at 10 a.m., Saturday with the first quadrangular collegiate events on the track at 4:37 p.m. Log on to KansasRelays.com for updates and follow on Twitter at @KU_Relays.
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