Dual event winner: Kansas State graduate Austra Skujyte, who won the first women’s decathlon ever held in the United States last week in Columbia, Mo., won both the Relays long jump (20-81/2) and shot put (51-5) events Friday.
She won the long jump on her final attempt, passing K-State’s Candice Mills (20-41/4).
“She (Mills) is from K-State, and I train with her. She said, ‘You are going down,”’ Skujyte said. “I said I’d fight to try to win. It’s important when somebody motivates you.”
Skujyte enjoyed winning the historic decathlon.
“It was fun, but took a lot of energy out of me. I’m tired. My body is sore,” she said.
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Just for Marion?: Featured sprinter Marion Jones walked into the interview room Friday with an entourage, but it was her attire that stood out right away.
Jones, a North Carolina graduate and proud fan, was wearing what appeared to be a Tar Heel-blue shirt with “Kansas Relays” across the front in navy.
Obviously, Jones was paid a nice check — thought to be more than $10,000 — to appear in the Relays, but did the contract also call for a custom-made shirt with UNC colors?
Not quite.
“Those were made about a year ago because that was the old ‘pink-and-blue’ blue,” meet director Tim Weaver said, referring to the colors of KU track gear during the Bob Timmons era. “Our alumni just ate them up, but I decided since Marion was from Carolina, we could get one for her.”
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Rabbit on hand today: Look for a rabbit to run ahead of former Olympian Charlie Gruber in today’s Gold Zone mile competition (3:55 p.m.).
“I believe in having a rabbit for sure for a sub-four-minute mile,” Gruber said of a runner who enters the race just to take the early lead and set a speedy pace.
“I’m going to just focus on winning the race. I’ve found out when in this race and others, if you focus on winning and competing, I do much better.”
Gruber’s best time at a Relays is 4:03, but he has run 3:58 in the mile before.
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Jones mates: Jones will run anchor on the 800 relay, set for 4:55 p.m. The other runners are Muna Lee, a former K.C. (Mo.) Central High standout who competed in the 2004 Olympics; Lashinda Demus, an Olympic hurdler; and Stephanie Durst, NCAA champ from LSU.
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Bookman unfazed: Maurice Greene will run in the invitational 100 at 3:20 p.m. today.
“Who?” former KU runner Leo Bookman said with a big grin, asked about Greene’s participation in the race. “I love it. The better the competition, the better I compete myself. They (competitors) have two legs just like me, they start at the same line as me. I can beat ’em on any given day.”
Bookman, a former KU football player who runs for Nike, said he would continue in track in the immediate future.
“I will take it one year at a time. Four years is a long time,” he said of waiting for the next Olympics. “I do miss football, too. If I decide to go back to football, I’d have to go to the combine (pre draft-workout camps). Not right away. This is my focus now.”
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Adams elated: World-class hurdler Jenny Adams of Houston is happy to be a part of today’s Gold Zone.
“Competing against all these other great athletes inspires me,” she said. “It is very special to have all of us together here at a meet in the United States. It’s early in the season, so people are going to be a little more relaxed. We’re not going to be stressed out because we are just getting our season kicked off.”
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Miller likes Relays: Olympic sprinter Inger Miller is taking part in her second Kansas Relays.
“The crowd is wonderful. It’s nice to be able to compete in the United States where the crowd is knowledgeable as well as favorable toward the big stars. I think it is great we can get together in the States to run against each other and with each other for the great hometown crowd.”
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KU champions: There were a couple of close calls, but the only event Kansas University won Friday was the last of the night — the men’s four-mile relay.
KU took first in a time of 17:50, pulling away from the pack for the easy victory.
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That’s not nice: Ottawa High senior Caleb Blakesley, who signed to play football at Kansas University next year, nearly took out half of his fan base Friday.
While doing warmups for the shot put, Blakesley heaved an errant toss right of the pit, causing a group of fans to run for their lives. They all were wearing Ottawa gear.
No one was injured, and Blakesley placed third in the event after a toss of 58-111/2.
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Area winner: The lone area prep athlete to place first Friday was De Soto senior Casey Johnson, who won the 800-meter run in 1:53.52.
Johnson came within two seconds of the Relays record, set in 2003.
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Lister out: Long jumper and triple jumper Melvin Lister of Leavenworth has pulled out of the Relays because of what KU officials called “training issues.”