UMKC T&F: Short PR and Men’s DMR Win Highlights UMKC Action at KU Relays
The UMKC track and field teams saw a successful weekend at the Kansas Relays, highlighted by the men’s distance medley relay winning the event, and multiple personal-records including a huge PR from Mallory Short in the 100-meter hurdles in the weekend’s finals on Saturday.
The highlight of Thursday’s action included a very competitive women’s 800-meter run, with the top three Division I finishers coming from UMKC. Junior Brooke Guiot finished in the top spot of the DI athletes, clocking in at 2:16.89, while Hanna Miller posted an outdoor personal record in the event at 2:17.83 for second, and Janelle Johnson took third in the Division I field with a time of 2:21.37.
Sophomore Traci Mills recorded the longest mark among Division I athletes in the long jump, posting a 5.61-meter mark.
Friday’s action got off on a high-note, with Short winning her heat in the 100-meter hurdles to qualify for Saturday’s final with a then-personal-record time of 13.92 seconds. The time moved her into second in UMKC’s all-time record book, behind Shanelle Williams, who set the record in 2014 (13.70 seconds).
Mills posted a qualifying time in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.17 seconds, placing second in her heat, with the seventh-fastest time overall in the preliminary round.
Senior Sydia Darker notched a personal-record time in the 400-meter hurdles in Friday’s preliminary round, taking second in her heat and qualifying for the finals with a time of 1:02.72.
The men’s 400 hurdles was chock-full of personal records, as seniors Jason Shaw (53.76) and Xavier Kenney (55.55) set new PR’s, while junior Devin Burton (55.97) tied his previous record. Despite the PR for Shaw, he missed the cut for the finals by just .09 seconds.
Freshman Matia Finley, who currently ranks second in the UMKC record books in the discus, made her way to the finals in the event with a qualifying throw of 45.97 meters, which would prove to be her best throw of the day, and she would go on to finish eighth overall in the event.
Sophomore Jeremy Harr placed third overall in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.37 meters, while freshman Dinsdale Morgan took sixth-place overall with an outdoor PR of 14.27 meters.
The ‘Roo distance medley relay teams saw some great success on the oval in Friday’s action, with the women’s team of Gabrielle Penaflor, Johnson, Miller and Sarah Fogarty finishing second with a time of 12:07.01, while the men’s team of Darrien Case, Shaw, Jackson Barbour and Kolton Sheldon won the event with a time of 10:06.12.
Freshman Jamarice Preston propelled his way up the UMKC charts in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at a blazing 47.90 seconds in the preliminary round, which ranks third in school history. Unfortunately for the freshman, the event was packed full of quality athletes, and he missed the cut for finals by .07 seconds.
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Short, Mills, Blessing Oparaji and Genel Rollins ran their way to an appearance in Saturday’s finals with a time of 47.50 seconds, while the men’s team of Justin Martin, Chadayne Walker, Morgan and Preston ran a 41.55-second time to also earn a spot in the finals.
The final event on Friday with ‘Roos making it into the finals was the women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Kylie Conrow, Johnson, Darker and Miller, who finished in sixth-place overall in the prelims with a time of 3:52.71.
Saturday’s action started with another PR from Short, a 13.78 second 100-meter hurdle time that placed her fourth overall in the meet.
Mills ran a 12.00-second 100 in the finals, a new personal record by .11 seconds. The time placed her fifth in event overall.
The women’s 4×100 relay team placed fourth with a time of 47.11, while the men’s team took eighth-place at 42.04 seconds.
The weekend concluded with the women’s 4×400 relay team taking seventh with a time of 3:55.45.
Next up for the ‘Roos is the Rock Chalk Classic on April 30, back at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
– 2015-16 UMKC Track & Field –