Kansas Relays

The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in athletes ranging from Olympians to high-schoolers. Olympians such as Marion Jones and Maurice Greene compete in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators every year.[1] Competitors have also broken world records at the meet. The 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin, was a prominent athlete to fail a doping test at the Kansas Relays.

Kansas Relays
Tournament information
Location1651 Naismith Drive
Lawrence, Kansas
DatesThird Thursday in April–Third Saturday in April
Established1923
Administrator(s)University of Kansas
FormatTrack and Field

History

The Kansas relays were founded by John H. Outland, the head football coach at the University of Kansas, in 1923. He got the idea for the Kansas Relays from the Penn Relays. The Penn Relays are held at the University of Pennsylvania and is the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Outland attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school and where he first saw the Penn relays. John Outland thought that there should be an event like the Penn relays in Kansas so in 1920 he approached Kansas basketball coach Forrest Clare Allen, also known as Phog Allen, who was also the athletic director and football coach at the University of Kansas. Three years later in 1923 the Kansas relays were founded.[2]

More than 600 athletes participated in the 1st annual Kansas relays on April 20, 1923.[3] During the relays early years the meet featured collegiate athletes in track and field such as Tom Poor, Ed Weir, and Tom Churchill were some of the athletes who later competed in the Olympics.[1][3] Tom Poor was the first to win the high jump event in Kansas Relays, with a jump of six feet and a quarter inch.[3] He later went on to place fourth in the 1924 Olympics. Ed Weir set a world record for the 120 meter high hurdles at the Kansas Relays in 1926. With world-class athletes competing in the relays, the first decade of the relays paved the way for the Kansas Relays to be a major event in the track and field event in the Mid-West.

1962 was the first year that female athletes were able to compete in the Kansas Relays and by 1976 women were competing in a number of different events.[3] In 1996 a new event was added for women, the pole vault. Stacy Dragila was the first women to win this event and set an American record at the Kansas Relays. In 1997 the Kansas Relays added the 3000 m steeplechase to the women's events.

The Kansas Relays have been held every April with the exception of 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II. After World War II, Memorial Stadium, where the Kansas Relays are held, was used as housing for students. Since then, the Kansas Relays were held every year until 1998 and 1999, when the relays were cancelled because Memorial Stadium was being renovated.[3] The last time the relays were cancelled was in 2002. The officials were forced to cancel the last day due to severe weather.[1]

The Gold Zone

In 2005, the Kansas Relays added a new section: the Gold Zone. The Gold Zone was created because the relays started to lose the interest of spectators and athletes. Tim Weaver, then the meet director, created the Gold Zone to bring in more interest for the Relays[1] and create a three-hour meet-within-a-meet. The Gold Zone was a part of the meet that features some of the best athletes in track and field in the top events. 24,000 spectators came to see former American Olympians, world champions, and top NCAA athletes compete in various events in the first Gold Zone.[4] The events included in the Gold Zone include finals for all the dashes (100m, 400m, hurdles, etc.), 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay, the high jump, pole vault, the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and the men's one mile run.[5] Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Jearl Miles-Clark, Amy Acuff, and Nick Hysong are some of the Olympians and world record holders that have competed in the Gold Zone. Gold Zone II drew over 26,000 fans in 2006 making the track meet one of the top ten largest in the world.

Justin Gatlin doping test

Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter Justin Gatlin tested positive for testosterone at the Kansas Relays 2006. On April 22, 2006 Justin competed with his teammates, Sprint Capitol, in the 4x100 meter race at the Kansas Relays. Justin and his team took first place with a time of 38.16 seconds.[6]

On July 29, 2006, Justin Gatlin announced to the media that he had tested positive for high levels of testosterone at the Kansas Relays. Justin Gatlin was facing a lifetime ban from track and field, because he had already tested positive for an amphetamine 2001 at the Junior Olympics. It was determined that the amphetamine came from a prescription he had been taking for years.[7] Justin avoided the lifetime ban by cooperating with doping authorities. On December 31, 2007 it was announced that Gatlin would be banned from track for four years, which made him ineligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.[8]

Meet records

Men

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 9.95 (+0.8 m/s) Ivory Williams  United States 17 April 2010 [9]
200 m 20.15 James Mallard  United States 19 April 1980
400 m 45.12 Devon Morris  Jamaica 19 April 1986
800 m 1:48.22 Viktors Lācis  Latvia 15 April 2000
Wes Santee 1500 m 3:38.62 Rick Wohlhuter  United States 17 April 1976
Glenn Cunningham Mile 3:54.7 Jim Ryun  United States 15 April 1967
5000 m 13:40.35 Kipsubai Koskei  Kenya 19 April 1980
10000 m 28:56.9 Simon Kilili  United States 15 April 1978
110 m hurdles 13.26 Antwon Hicks  United States 19 April 2008
400 m hurdles 48.20 Bershawn Jackson  United States 21 April 2012
3000 m steeplechase 8:33.7 Randy Smith  United States 17 April 1976
High jump 2.31 m (7 ft 6 in) Hollis Conway  United States 18 April 1987
Pole vault 5.91 m (19 ft 4 in) Joe Dial  United States 16 April 1983
Long jump 8.14 m (26 ft 8 in) Kenny Harrison  United States 18 April 1987
Triple jump 17.04 m (55 ft 10 in) Kenny Harrison  United States 13 April 1986
Shot put 22.67 m (74 ft 4 in) Kevin Toth  United States 19 April 2003
Discus throw 67.13 m (220 ft 2 in) Mason Finley  United States 19 April 2019 [10]
Hammer throw 78.04 m (256 ft 0 in) Gleb Dudarev  Belarus 20 April 2018 [11]
Javelin throw 79.31 m (260 ft 2 in) Rice Karakolis  United States 2016 [12]
Decathlon 8380 pts Steve Fritz  United States 1997
100m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400m 110H (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500m
4 × 100 m relay 38.16 Sprint Capitol
Dwight Thomas
Rodney Martin
Shawn Crawford
Justin Gatlin

 Jamaica
 United States
 United States
 United States
22 April 2006
4 × 200 m relay 1:21.55 Philadelphia Pioneers
Steve Riddick
Fred Taylor
Herman Frazier
Tony Darden

 United States
 United States
 United States
 United States
18 April 1980
4 × 400 m relay 3:03.67 Philadelphia Pioneers
Tim Dale
Fred Taylor
Herman Frazier
Tony Darden

 United States
 United States
 United States
 United States
19 April 1980
4 × 800 m relay 7:21.2 Oklahoma State
Jim Metcalf
John Perry
Tom Von Ruden
Dave Perry

 United States
17 April 1965
Distance medley relay 9:20.10 University of Arkansas
Reuben Reina
Charles Williams
Robert Bradley
Joe Falcon

 United States
 United States
 United States
 United States
15 April 1989
4 × 110m Shuttle hurdles relay 57.69 University of Nebraska
David Davis
Nenad Loncar
Courtney Jones
Andy Nelson

 United States
 Serbia
 United States
 United States
19 April 2003

Women

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 11.04 Allyson Felix  United States 22 April 2006 [13]
200 m 22.32 (+0.9 m/s) Veronica Campbell-Brown  Jamaica 17 April 2010 [14]
400 m 51.19 Mary Wineberg  United States 21 April 2007 [13]
800 m 2:01.30 LeAnn Warren  United States 18 April 1981
1500 m 4:08.94 Nadezhda Ralldugina  Soviet Union 16 April 1983
5000 m 15:42.76 Sharon Lokedi  United States 20 April 2018
10000 m 34:41.33 Amber Anderson  United States 15 April 1995
100 m hurdles 12.72 Nichole Denby  United States 21 April 2007 [13]
400 m hurdles 55.67 Nawal El Moutawakel  Morocco 21 April 1984
3000 m steeplechase 10:07.30 Trina Cox  United States 21 April 2007
High jump 1.89 m (6 ft 2 14 in) Julieanne Broughton  United States 21 April 1990 [13]
Pole vault 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in) Kylie Hudson  United States 16 April 2011 [13]
Long jump 6.68 m (21 ft 10 34 in) Elva Goulbourne  Jamaica 19 April 2008
Triple jump 14.88 m (48 ft 9 34 in) Trecia Smith  Jamaica 20 April 2002
Shot put 17.39 m (57 ft 12 in) Kearsten Peoples  United States 21 April 2012
Discus throw 60.94 m (199 ft 11 in) Penny Neer  United States 20 April 1991
Hammer throw 69.66 m (228 ft 6 in) Amber Campbell  United States 20 April 2013
Javelin throw 58.73 m (192 ft 8 in) Dana Olson  United States 17 April 1982
Heptathlon 5740 pts Liz Roehrig  United States 2008
100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m
4 × 100 m relay 43.94 University of Nebraska
Janet Burke
Rhonda Blanford
Angela Thacker
Merlene Ottey

 Jamaica
 United States
 United States
 Jamaica
16 April 1983
4 × 200 m relay 1:33.63 Barton County CC
Sonia Williams
Natalee Sterling
Mikessia Triplette
Aleen Bailey

 Antigua and Barbuda
 Jamaica
 United States
 Jamaica
21 April 2000
4 × 400 m relay 3:31.87 University of Kansas
Denesha Morris
Paris Daniels
Shayla Wilson
Diamond Dixon

 Jamaica
 United States
 United States
 United States
21 April 2012
4 × 800 m relay 8:46.62 Villanova University
Mary Ellen McGowan
Debbie Grant
Joanne Kehs
Veronica McIntosh
 United States 21 April 1984
Distance medley relay 11:32.61 University of Michigan
Jessica Kluge
Richelle Webb
Karen Harvey
Molly McClimon

 United States
 United States
 Canada
 United States
17 April 1993
4 × 100m Shuttle hurdles relay 54.02 University of Nebraska 20 April 2001

References

General

Specific

  1. "Kansas Relays History". www.kuathletics.com. 2006. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013.
  2. "Unforgettable Hawks". www.kusports.com.
  3. "Kansas Relays History". www2.kusports.com.
  4. "U.S. stars to headline GOLDZONE II at Kansas Relays". www.coolruning.com.
  5. "2005 Gold Zone". www.kusports.com.
  6. "Kansas Relays Results". KUJH online. April 21, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2006.
  7. "Sprinter Gatlin fails doping test". www.rediff.com. July 30, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
  8. "With four-year doping ban, Justin Gatlin won't be eligible to defend Olympic 100-meter title". www.encyclopedia.com. January 1, 2008.
  9. "Jamaican sets 200 record at Kansas Relays". www2.kusports.com. April 18, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  10. "Lawrence -KS- (United States), 17-20.4.2019 -Kansas Relays-". trackinsun.blogspot.com. April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  11. Chris Duderstadt (April 20, 2018). "Dudarev delivers record-breaking performance for KU in men's hammer throw". kusports.com. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  12. http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/kuathletics.com/documents/2016/4/23/Compiled_Results.pdf
  13. http://www2.ljworld.com/track_field/kansasrelays/2009/records/
  14. "Jamaican sets 200 record at Kansas Relays". www2.kusports.com. April 18, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2004.
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