World champions Bershawn Jackson (400-meter hurdles) of the United States and Ladji Doucoure (110 hurdles) of France highlight entries for the GOLDZONE II Invitational hurdle-event portion of the Kansas Relays.

The field in the men’s Invitational 400-meter hurdles is perhaps the strongest in the history of the event. Jackson is coming off a solid 2005 season capped with a victory at the World Championships in Helsinki.

Other 400-meter hurdlers: Kenneth Ferguson, a world junior champion; Dwight Ruff, four-time Penn Relays champion; Jamaican Ian Weakly, an Olympian and veteran of two world championships; and standout Kansas University sophomore Julius Jiles.

The women’s invitational 100-meter hurdles will feature Jenny Adams and Nichole Denby. Adams was a finalist in two outdoor world championships. Denby is a former NCAA champion. Nadine Faustin, who has been on two Olympic and six world championship teams for Haiti, will bring her international experience to the event.

Doucoure, the 2005 world champion in the 110-meter hurdles, will again face Americans Dominique Arnold and Joel Brown. Arnold is a veteran who won the NCAA title in 1999 and placed fourth at the 2005 World Championships. This year, Arnold earned a silver medal at the U.S. Indoor Championships and a bronze in Moscow at the World Indoor Championships.

The 79th Kansas Relays will run from April 20-22; the showcase GOLDZONE II will run from 2-5 p.m. on April 22.