Kansas Relays
Encyclopedia
The Kansas Relays are a three day track meet every April held at the University of Kansas
in Lawrence, Kansas
. Since 1923 the Kansas relays has attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America; with athletes ranging from Olympians
to high school runners. Olympians such as Marion Jones
and Maurice Greene
compete in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators to the relays every year. Competitors have also broken world records at the meet. The 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin
, was a prominent athlete to fail a doping test at the Kansas Relays.
, the head
football
coach
at the University of Kansas, in 1923. He got the idea for the Kansas Relays from the Penn Relays
. The Penn Relays are held at the University of Pennsylvania
and is the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Outland attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school
and where he first saw the Penn relays. John Outland thought that there should be an event like the Penn relays in Kansas so in 1920 he approached Kansas basketball
coach Forrest Clare Allen, also known as Phog Allen
, who was also the athletic director
and football coach at the University of Kansas. Three years later in 1923 the Kansas relays were founded.
More than 600 athletes participated in the 1st annual Kansas relays on April 20, 1923. During the relays early years the meet featured collegiate athletes in track and field such as Tom Poor
, Ed Weir
, and Tom Churchill
were some of the athletes who later competed in the Olympics. Tom Poor was the first to win the high jump event in Kansas Relays, with a jump of six feet and a quarter inch. He later went on to place fourth in the 1924 Olympics. Ed Weir set a world record for the 120 meter high hurdles at the Kansas Relays in 1926. With world-class athletes competing in the relays, the first decade of the relays paved the way for the Kansas Relays to be a major event in the track and field event in the Mid-West.
1962 was the first year that female athletes were able to compete in the Kansas Relays and by 1976 women were competing in a number of different events. In 1996 a new event was added for women, the pole vault
. Stacy Dragila
was the first women to win this event and set an American record at the Kansas Relays. In 1997 the Kansas Relays added the 3000 m steeplechase
to the women’s events.
The Kansas Relays have been held every April with the exception of 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II. After World War II Memorial Stadium, where the Kansas Relays are held, was used as housing for students. After World War II the Kansas relays were held every year until 1998 and 1999 when the relays were cancelled because Memorial Stadium was being renovated. The last time the relays were cancelled was in 2002 on the last day of the relays. The officials were forced to cancel the last day due to severe weather.
The Gold Zone was a part of the meet that features some of the best athletes in track and field in the top events. 24,000 spectators came to see former American Olympians, world champions, and top NCAA athletes compete in various events in the first Gold Zone. The events included in the Gold Zone include finals for all the dashes (100m, 400m, hurdles, etc.), 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay, the high jump, pole vault, the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and the men's one mile run. Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Jearl Miles-Clark
, Amy Acuff
, and Nick Hysong
are some of the Olympians and world record holders that have competed in the Gold Zone. Gold Zone II drew over 26,000 fans in 2006 making the track meet one of the top ten largest in the world.
tested positive for testosterone
at the Kansas Relays 2006. On April 22, 2006 Justin competed with his teammates, Sprint Capitol, in the 4x100 meter race at the Kansas Relays. Justin and his team took first place with a time of 38.16 seconds.
On July 29, 2006 Justin Gatlin announced to the media that he had tested positive for high levels of testosterone at the Kansas Relays. Justin Gatlin was facing a lifetime ban from track and field, because he had already tested positive for an amphetamine
2001 at the Junior Olympics. It was determined that the amphetamine came from a prescription he had been taking for years. Justin avoided the lifetime ban by cooperating with doping authorities. On December 31, 2007 it was announced that Gatlin would be banned from track for four years, which made him ineligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
. Since 1923 the Kansas relays has attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America; with athletes ranging from Olympians
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
to high school runners. Olympians such as Marion Jones
Marion Jones
Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA...
and Maurice Greene
Maurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is a retired American track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion...
compete in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators to the relays every year. Competitors have also broken world records at the meet. The 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin is an American sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist, with a 100 m personal best of 9.85 seconds. He served a four-year ban from track and field for testing positive for a banned substance; Gatlin had appealed the ban in 2009, but it was later denied.- Biography :Gatlin attended...
, was a prominent athlete to fail a doping test at the Kansas Relays.
History
The Kansas relays were founded by John H. OutlandJohn H. Outland
-External links:...
, the head
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
at the University of Kansas, in 1923. He got the idea for the Kansas Relays from the Penn Relays
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. The Penn Relays are held at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and is the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Outland attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
and where he first saw the Penn relays. John Outland thought that there should be an event like the Penn relays in Kansas so in 1920 he approached Kansas basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach Forrest Clare Allen, also known as Phog Allen
Phog Allen
Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...
, who was also the athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
and football coach at the University of Kansas. Three years later in 1923 the Kansas relays were founded.
More than 600 athletes participated in the 1st annual Kansas relays on April 20, 1923. During the relays early years the meet featured collegiate athletes in track and field such as Tom Poor
Tom Poor
Tom Woodson Poor was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics.He was born in Bismarck, Missouri and died in Grove, Oklahoma....
, Ed Weir
Ed Weir
Samuel Edwin Weir was an American collegiate and professional football player.He was the first Nebraska Cornhusker football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is known as one of Nebraska's greatest athletes...
, and Tom Churchill
Tom Churchill
Tom Churchill was a native of Dubuque, Iowa, where he started in radio as on-air weatherman at WDBQ-AM Radio at the age of 13 in August 1974....
were some of the athletes who later competed in the Olympics. Tom Poor was the first to win the high jump event in Kansas Relays, with a jump of six feet and a quarter inch. He later went on to place fourth in the 1924 Olympics. Ed Weir set a world record for the 120 meter high hurdles at the Kansas Relays in 1926. With world-class athletes competing in the relays, the first decade of the relays paved the way for the Kansas Relays to be a major event in the track and field event in the Mid-West.
1962 was the first year that female athletes were able to compete in the Kansas Relays and by 1976 women were competing in a number of different events. In 1996 a new event was added for women, the pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
. Stacy Dragila
Stacy Dragila
Stacy Renée Mikaelsen is an American former pole vaulter.She won the first gold medal in women's pole vaulting at the 2000 Summer Olympics coached by Dave Nielsen...
was the first women to win this event and set an American record at the Kansas Relays. In 1997 the Kansas Relays added the 3000 m steeplechase
Steeplechase (athletics)
The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.-Rules:The length of the race is usually 3000 m; junior events are 2000 m, as women's events formerly were. The circuit has four ordinary barriers and one water jump. Over 3000 m, each...
to the women’s events.
The Kansas Relays have been held every April with the exception of 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II. After World War II Memorial Stadium, where the Kansas Relays are held, was used as housing for students. After World War II the Kansas relays were held every year until 1998 and 1999 when the relays were cancelled because Memorial Stadium was being renovated. The last time the relays were cancelled was in 2002 on the last day of the relays. The officials were forced to cancel the last day due to severe weather.
The Gold Zone
In 2005 the Kansas Relays added new section in the relays, the Gold Zone. The Gold Zone was created because the Kansas Relays started to lose the interest of spectators and athletes. Tim Weaver, then the meet director, created the Gold Zone to bring in more interest for the Relays and create a three hour meet-within-a-meet.The Gold Zone was a part of the meet that features some of the best athletes in track and field in the top events. 24,000 spectators came to see former American Olympians, world champions, and top NCAA athletes compete in various events in the first Gold Zone. The events included in the Gold Zone include finals for all the dashes (100m, 400m, hurdles, etc.), 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay, the high jump, pole vault, the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and the men's one mile run. Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Jearl Miles-Clark
Jearl Miles-Clark
Jearl Atawa Miles Clark is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 and 800 meters.She holds the American record in the women's 800m at 1:56.40....
, Amy Acuff
Amy Acuff
Amy Lyn Acuff is a track and field athlete from the United States. A high jump specialist, she competed in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics as a member of USA Track and Field...
, and Nick Hysong
Nick Hysong
Nick Hysong is an American athlete competing in the men's pole vault. Best known for winning the Olympic gold medal in 2000 with a personal best jump of 5.90 metres, he also won a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. Has excellent speed...
are some of the Olympians and world record holders that have competed in the Gold Zone. Gold Zone II drew over 26,000 fans in 2006 making the track meet one of the top ten largest in the world.
Justin Gatlin doping test
Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter Justin GatlinJustin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin is an American sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist, with a 100 m personal best of 9.85 seconds. He served a four-year ban from track and field for testing positive for a banned substance; Gatlin had appealed the ban in 2009, but it was later denied.- Biography :Gatlin attended...
tested positive for testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
at the Kansas Relays 2006. On April 22, 2006 Justin competed with his teammates, Sprint Capitol, in the 4x100 meter race at the Kansas Relays. Justin and his team took first place with a time of 38.16 seconds.
On July 29, 2006 Justin Gatlin announced to the media that he had tested positive for high levels of testosterone at the Kansas Relays. Justin Gatlin was facing a lifetime ban from track and field, because he had already tested positive for an amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
2001 at the Junior Olympics. It was determined that the amphetamine came from a prescription he had been taking for years. Justin avoided the lifetime ban by cooperating with doping authorities. On December 31, 2007 it was announced that Gatlin would be banned from track for four years, which made him ineligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Men
| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896... |
9.95 (+0.8 m/s) | Ivory Williams Ivory Williams Ivory Williams is an American sprint athlete who specialises in the 100 meters.Born in Jefferson County, Texas, Williams competed at the 2002 United States Junior Championships, taking bronze in the 200 meters and finishing in fourth place in the 100 m. His first major junior tournament was... |
17 April 2010 | ||
| Mile Middle distance track event Middle distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle distance event. The 880 yard run, or half mile, was the forebear to the... |
3:54.70 | Jim Ryun Jim Ryun James Ronald Ryun is an American former track athlete and politician, who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, representing the 2nd District in Kansas. In the 2006 election, Ryun was defeated by Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda... |
1967 | ||
| 400 m hurdles 400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly... |
48.32 | Bershawn Jackson Bershawn Jackson Bershawn Jackson is an American athlete, who mainly competes in the 400 m hurdles, but is also a capable 400 m runner.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Jackson won a bronze medal in the 400 m hurdles... |
19 April 2008 |
Women
| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first... |
22.32 (+0.9 m/s) | Veronica Campbell-Brown | 17 April 2010 |