When Kansas track and field coach Stanley Redwine met with the media on Wednesday to preview the 100-year anniversary of the Kansas Relays, which begin on Thursday and run through Saturday evening, he joked that new meet director Tim Byers had an afro on top of his head when he took the job.
Now bald, Byers laughed when he heard Redwine’s quip, but he was willing to acknowledge that bringing back the historic Kansas Relays after a three-year hiatus came with a fair amount of pressure. KU has hosted the Kansas Relays every year since 1923 with the exception of 1943-1945 (World War II), 1998-1999 (stadium renovations) and 2020-2022 (COVID-19).
“They told me it’s a 12-to-18-month process (to plan the Relays) and you have six months,” Byers said Wednesday. “And I still took it.”
Byers, who called his new role “a dream come true,” officially accepted the position last August, and quickly found himself brainstorming ways to restore the meet to its former glory while also bringing it back from the COVID layoff.
Rather than bringing in big-name professionals or running the meet as more of an in-season quadrangular as had been done in the recent past, Byers said his top priority was to bring collegiate and high school runners together, giving the younger generation a chance to see what they should strive to become and the older track stars a first glimpse at what might soon be coming to push them.
“We kind of went back to, not old school, but what’s worked in the past,” Byers said. “We’ve intermingled the high school and collegiate races together and you could hear it in the crowds, when people were talking, coaches would talk and say, ‘Hey, I’d rather go back to this and do this.’ Of course, I talked to the coaching staff and everyone here before the final decision was made.”
Thursday’s events, which kick off with the field events and the hammer throw at noon, will feature the college athletes. The final two days, however, will be a mixture of boys and girls and men and women alternating races and events at Rock Chalk Park.
Byers said he was asked often about whether events like the shot put and long jump would return to Downtown Lawrence, where they drew big crowds and extra attention.
“I think that’s something we’d like to bring back,” he said. “But our first thing we wanted to do was to make sure we took care of our athletes here and the high school athletes.”
Throughout the years, the Kansas Relays have welcomed hundreds of Olympic athletes, national champions, All-Americans and more. Not only will the return of the Relays bring in some of the top high school talent from across the state of Kansas and beyond as well as some of the country’s top college teams, but it also will welcome a number of former Kansas track & field athletes back to Lawrence to compete.
“It’s amazing,” Redwine said of seeing so many former Jayhawks return for the meet. “I am excited that our former athletes are coming back. They know what it meant when they were there and they’re excited to see what it’s like now.”
Redwine, who said former KU All-American Sharon Lokedi spoke to the entire team about the Relays earlier this week, also said he was supportive of bringing new ideas to one of the nation’s most iconic college track and field meets.
“Times have changed,” he said. “You can’t grow by doing old things and expecting great things to happen from it. So, as times change, I think some of the things that we’re doing for the Relays will have to change. Bringing on Tim, who has fresh blood and new ideas, is a great opportunity for that to happen.”
Among the KU headliners at this year’s Relays are senior high jumper Rylee Anderson, who owns the school record in her signature event and is ranked No. 2 in the nation while also being the reigning Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week, and junior distance runner Chandler Gibbens, who recently set a school record in the men’s 5K run in 13:28.71, breaking the old mark held by legendary Jayhawk Jim Ryun.
“Being able to close out my fifth year and compete at the Kansas Relays is really special,” Anderson said on Wednesday.
Added Gibbens: “Kansas is a place to come and compete and run fast and jump high and do well. (We want) to build that legacy back again. It’s really exciting to wear Kansas (across my chest) and compete and have the home crowd and have everyone excited to watch the Kansas athletes compete. Having a chance to be a part of a tradition like the Kansas Relays and to have a really cool meet on the schedule every year was definitely a draw for me.”
Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics
