The last time Kansas University’s Andrea Bulat and Kansas State’s Kendra Wecker threw the javelin at the Kansas Relays, both emerged victorious.

Naturally, when the two were listed in the same flight Friday a possible showdown for the title looked likely.

But like most other KU-KSU challenges in recent history, this one didn’t offer any serious competition. Neither of the two throwers won the event  nor did they ever challenge each other. Bulat finished fourth, while Wecker took second, missing first by an inch.

Iowa freshman Alana Redfern of Duncan, British Columbia, overwhelmed the field with a throw of 163-feet, 8-inches to win the event.

Unlike last season when Bulat, then a junior, won the javelin at the Relays, things didn’t go so smoothly Friday.

After fouling on her first throw, Bulat threw her best mark of the day with a throw of 149 feet that easily pushed her into the final round.

Once there, Bulat’s shot at a second consecutive title worsened when she fouled on two straight throws before ending with a heave of 145-4.

“It’s frustrating because you want to throw far, but right now I need to throw well to throw far,” said Bulat, who hails from Windsor, Ontario. “I’m struggling with my technique right now, so I’m really trying to focus on my technique and what I’m doing. I really wasn’t thinking about competition.”

In her first meet of the season, Bulat threw an NCAA provisional mark at Southern Illinois. But at that time she was also working with a shorter approach; now she uses the length of the track to gain extra time to set up her throw.

“It’s a barrier for me, but it’s going to get better,” Bulat said. “Right now I’m anxious and I have to learn how to be more patient.”

Patience seemed a virtue for K-State freshman Wecker, who won the Relays as a junior and last year as a senior while at Marysville High.

Wecker also is a standout KSU basketball player.

Wecker matched her top mark of 162-9 inches Friday on her final throw.

“It looked pretty good coming out and felt pretty good when I let go,” said Wecker, who also qualified for the NCAAs in her first meet this season. “But that’s the way it goes.

“I knew I had only one final chance to beat that girl from Iowa. I don’t think I did, but everything seemed to come together on that final throw.”

While Bulat, an All-American last season, ended her Jayhawk career at the Kansas Relays in disappointing fashion, she still thinks she might have gained some valuable experience Friday that will aid her achievement of her final goal of an NCAA championship.

“I’m not trying to kill anyone out there,” Bulat said. “I’m just trying to throw well. My year is not going the way I wanted it to, but it all comes down to the end.”

KU NOTES

Hull high: KU senior Jeremy Hull recorded a personal-best mark of 17-feet,34-inch to finish second in the men’s pole vault. His feat just missed the provisional mark for the NCAA championships.

Both cleared the bar at 5-714, but Schraeder finished one spot lower because she missed her first two attempts at 5-514, while Rauterkus cleared that height on her second try. Schraeder’s mark bettered her season-high by 214 inches.

Triple-threat triple-jumpers: KU’s Brooklyn Hann placed fifth in the women’s triple-jump, while Benaud Shirley took seventh in the men’s triple-jump but in doing so qualified for the NCAA championships with a provisional mark of 51-9. Freshman Brian Franklin rounded out the group with a ninth-place finish on the men’s side. Jamaica’s Trecia Smith won the event with a new meet-record jump of 45-73*4.

Other Kansas finishers: Senior Pete Prince finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:29.86. Â Junior Luke Steinbrink finished fourth in the 800-meter run. Â Freshman Chris Jones, the Big 12 leader in the 3,000-meter run, took seventh in the 5,000-meters in 15:10.54. Â Kerry Fink and Abbey Ferris both barely missed qualifying in the women’s 400-meter hurdles preliminaries while Shanetta March missed qualifying in the 200-meters by .08 seconds.