Football presence at Kansas Relays

By Matt Tait     Apr 22, 2011

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It may have just been the prelims, but Olathe North High senior and Kansas University football signee Adonis Saunders clearly was fired up by standing inside the venue he’ll be playing in for the next four seasons on Friday.

Running in a light mist in the boys 100-meter dash, Saunders ripped off the fastest time in the state by a prep sprinter this year by finishing in 10.63 seconds and advancing to Saturday’s finals.

After the race, Saunders (#2 in red and white in above photo) admitted to being pumped up by Memorial Stadium.

“I can’t wait to come up here and play football right out there on that field,” he said.

Saunders, a defensive back who stands 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, said he didn’t expect such a blazing fast time so early in the meet, but that he was pleased to add another line to his impressive athletic resume.

As a sophomore, Saunders won state titles in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay en route to being named the Kansas Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year.

This season, he earned all-state honors from the Wichita Eagle and Topeka Capital Journal on the gridiron, where he rushed for 1,554 yards and recorded 70 tackles to go along with three interceptions.

He said Friday that he’s a football player first and foremost and that, while he’s looking forward to finishing the track season in style, he can’t wait to get up to KU this summer to start working out with the team.

In addition to the 100, Saunders plans to run the 200, 400, 4×100 and 4×400 this weekend.

We’ll have more from Saunders’ run at the Relays when the weekend’s over so be sure to check back with KUsports.com.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.