It was a monster week in track and field for the Kansas Jayhawks, who hosted the 101st edition of the Kansas Relays and also did their share of damage on the medal stands.
This week’s Monday Morning Wheaties will feature a heavy nod to the KU track team, which now has just two meets remaining before the start of the postseason.
There’s also some golf, baseball and soccer sprinkled in for good measure.
The KU track team will host the Rock Chalk Classic on Saturday and follow that up with a trip to Arkansas on May 3 before the Big 12 Championships begin on May 9.
You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.
Each Monday, we take one last look back at the week that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.
So, be sure to come get your Monday Morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.
Picture on the box
• Yoveinny Mota & Sidney Smith – With teammate and school record holder Gabbie Gibson out with an injury, Mota, a transfer from Arkansas, made sure the Jayhawks held on to the top spot in one of the meet’s most exciting events. She finished first with a time of 13.25 in the 100-meter hurdles, adding to her own haul of memorable performances in her signature event so far this season. Throw Smith on this week’s Wheaties box next to her, as she took first place in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58.60.
A full bowl
• Devin Loudermilk – The native of Howard, Kansas was the only high jumper in the field to clear 2.16 meters, giving him the title at a time when he was starting to taper down a little bit in preparation for the postseason. Big time performance by Loudermilk.
• Emmaculate Jemutai – In one of the sport’s most grueling races, the KU freshman picked up the gold medal in the 800 with a time of 2:05.53.
• Tayton Klein – The KU long jumper flew to a top leap of 7.52 meters to take home first place in his signature event.
• Throws champs – Senior Tori Thomas and junior Dimitrios Pavlidis both took first place, respectively, in the women’s shot put and men’s discus events at this year’s Relays. Thomas took home first place with a top mark of 15.63 meters while Pavlidis launched the discus 60.68 meters to win the men’s event.
• Relay champions – Senior Marcus Freeman Jr., freshman Ryo Higuchi, sophomore Garrett Wilmes and sophomore Tanner Talley teamed together in the 4x800-meter relay to take the top prize in a time of 7:41.71. On the women’s side, Sidney Smith, Aaliyah Moore, Deshana Skeete and Addison Brooks ran a 3:42.96 to take gold in the 4x400-meter relay.
Nighttime snack
• Slam Brothers – The Kansas baseball team took two of three games from Baylor in Waco, Texas over the weekend, and the grand slam was a big part of their victories. Both Jake English and Ben Hartl hit the big bombs in separate games, as the Jayhawks took Game 2 from the Bears, 8-4, and Game 3, 12-2, via run rule. The wins moved Kansas to 21-15 overall and 9-9 in Big 12 play. The nine conference wins are the most by KU since winning 12 in 2019. The grand slams were the fifth and sixth of the season by the Jayhawks, marking the most by a KU team in a single season since at least 2003.
• Sophomore golfer Amy DeKock – The KU women finished in 7th place at the Big 12 Championship over the weekend, setting a program record for best 54-hole total at the Big 12 tournament with a team score of 867, besting the old mark of 886 set in 2014. DeKock, who had competed for the Jayhawks in just three rounds all season prior to this weekend, led the Jayhawks with a 3-over par 216 for the tournament, putting her in a tie for 12th place. DeKock shot rounds of 74, 69 and 73. Junior Lauren Clark was right behind her at 4-over par, putting her in a tie for 17th place. “Amy had another solid round,” KU coach Lindsay Kuhle said of DeKock's showing. “She really hasn't been in our lineup this year but stepped up at the end and played hard for KU. Incredible performance by her all three days.”
Drink the milk
• The entire KU women’s soccer roster – They’ll go down in history as the first group to play a home match for newly hired KU coach Nate Lie. Even if Sunday’s game against Washburn was a part of the Jayhawks’ spring exhibition schedule, it’s still significant enough to point out. Hired in December, Lie came to KU from Xavier. In addition to moving his family and buying and selling houses, Lie has jumped feet first into putting his stamp on the KU program. “We’ve truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the team these first few months,” Lie said ahead of Sunday’s exhibition match. “We believe we’ve grown in multiple ways, but there’s only so much you can do with limited numbers and playing ‘against ourselves’. As such, we’re very excited to compete against quality teams with different styles, tactics and philosophies. Hopefully these play dates will expedite the growth process and help prepare us for the summer and fall.” KU played at Creighton in late March, at Missouri State on April 6 and at Nebraska on April 13. They’ll play at Minnesota this Sunday.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kutickets.com
