KU’s Russell wins at NCAA Indoor

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. ? Kansas University’s Scott Russell won the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor with a toss of 80 feet, 1114 inches on Saturday to lead the Jayhawks to an eight-place finish in the team stadings.

KU pole vaulter Vadim Gvozdetskiy finished fifth at 17-1134.

In the 200-meter dash, Leo Bookman placed seventh in 21.12 seconds to join Russell as an All-American.

The Jayhawk men finished with 16 points and were the top placer for Big 12 schools.

Katie Eisenmenger finished ninth in the mile (4:16.01) for the KU women. KU’s Brooklyn Hann took 10th in the triple jump (41-1114).

When Tennessee’s Justin Gatlin caught teammate Leonard Scott in the final steps of the 60 meters, the Vols were on their way to their first men’s indoor title.

Those 18 points, plus eight from freshman Marc Sylvester who was only third in the 800 in the SEC gave the Vols a total of 52 points. Scott and Gatlin also produced 16 points with a 1-3 finish in the 200.

Though SEC pole vault champion Rocky Danners could do no better than a tie for sixth, his 212 points gave the Vols 541*2 and they were home free. LSU had 44 with 10 at stake in the 1,600 relay, and Alabama had 47 with no team entered in the final event.

Favored in the relay, LSU dropped the baton on the second exchange and did not score. The Tigers’ 44 points gave them a third-place finish in the meet.