Seven NCAA Regional Qualifiers for Jayhawks This Weekend

Sultanova was third with a regional qualifying mark in the pole vault.

April 5, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas - In all, seven members of the University of Kansas track and field teams set NCAA regional qualifying marks this weekend. Seniors Kate Sultanova, Crystal Manning, Ashley Brown, Julius Jiles and sophomores Kirk Cooper and Jordan Scott all set or improved their regional marks at the Texas Relays while senior Paul Hefferon qualified at the Stanford Invitational.

Manning and Sultanova each placed third in their respective events. Each one of Manning's completed jumps was past the regional mark. Her best effort was her last, as she leaped 13.17 meters (42 feet, 2 ½ inches) on her final attempt to in the women's triple jump. Sultanova vaulted past 4.20 meters (13-09.25 ft.) in the women's pole vault on her third and final attempt.

Jiles duplicated his preliminary and NCAA regional time of 13.95 in finishing fourth in the men's 110-meter hurdles. Hefferon qualified in Stanford, Calif. with his 14^th-place time of 14:10.17 in the men's 5,000-meter run.

Brown bettered the regional mark she set in the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday with a fourth-place finish of 58.82 in the finals on Saturday.

In the men's pole vault, both Cooper and Scott reached the NCAA regional mark of 5.05 meters (16-06.75 ft.). Cooper was fifth with that height in section `B' of the event on Thursday while Scott was eighth in section `A' on Saturday afternoon at Mike A. Meyers Stadium.

Next on the schedule for the Jayhawks is the John Jacobs Invitational hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. on April 12. Following that trip is the Kansas Relays April 16-19 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.

KU Results:

Women:

100m Hurdles: 11-Brown (13.69)

400m Hurdles: 4-Brown (1:00.09p, 58.82), 12-Butler (1:01.44)

400m Hurdles Invitational: 5-Butler (1:01.29)

400m Relay: 8-KU (45.19)

3,200m Relay: 4-KU (9:04.47)

Distance Medley Relay: 6-KU (11:56.36)

Sprint Medley Relay: 4-KU (3:56.11)

Pole Vault: 3-Sulatanova (4.20m)

High Jump: 5-Erb (1.65m)

Triple Jump: 3-Manning (13.17)

Men:

110m Hurdles: 4-Jiles (13.95p, 13.95f)

400m Hurdles: 17-Jiles (53.05)

5,000m: 14-Hefferon (14:10.17)

1,600m Relay: 19-KU (3:16.68)

3,000m Steeplechase: 9-McGowan (9:29.01)

Distance Medley Relay: 9-KU (10:16.09)

Sprint Medley Relay: 7-KU (3:26.16)

Pole Vault `B': 5-Cooper (5.05m)

Pole Vault `A': 8-Scott (5.05m)