Dallas ? Kansas University senior thrower Scott Russell and freshman jumper Brooklyn Hann were selected the Big 12 Men’s Outdoor Performer of the Year and Women’s Freshman of the Year, respectively, the conference announced Wednesday.
Russell picked up the fifth and sixth individual league titles of his career in the hammer throw and the javelin last weekend at the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo.
He tossed the javelin 249 feet, 3 inches on the final day of the championships, an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark, season best and a Walton Stadium record.
Russell also threw the hammer 218-5 for his season best and a Walton Stadium record.
Russell compiled 20 points at the meet, earning a share of the Male High Point Scorer award with Nebraska’s Carl Myerscough. Russell also was the 1999 Big 12 Male High Point Scorer and Male Performer of the Year.
The Windsor, Ontario, native now owns three outdoor hammer throw and javelin titles apiece. Russell looks to win his first national outdoor crown at the NCAA championships May 17-19.
During the indoor season he captured the first indoor title of his career in the weight throw. In addition to the individual accolades Russell achieved during the championships, he also played a big role in the KU men’s fourth-place finish, the Jayhawks’ highest in the Big 12 to date.
Russell’s teammate, Hann, won her first league title in the women’s triple jump. She leaped a season-best and provisional-qualifying mark of 42-11 on her final jump for the victory. Hann entered the championships ranked second in the conference behind two-time indoor and defending outdoor champion Krisztina Kovesi of Nebraska, but Hann’s final attempt allowed her to defeat Kovesi’s best mark of the competition.
The Sacramento, Calif., native was the only woman on the Jayhawk team to win a title last weekend. She becomes the first KU woman to receive the Freshman of the Year award, and also the first to earn a postseason award since Candy Mason was named performer of the year in 1998.
Nebraska head coach Gary Pepin and Kansas State’s Cliff Rovelto were selected as Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year respectively by their peers.
The Wildcats’ Austra Skujyte was named the conference’s Women’s Performer of the Year for the second time this season. The Men’s Freshmen Performer of the Year went to Dathan Ritzenhein, a distance runner from Colorado.
