Kansas University athletic director Sheahon Zenger shook the hand of women’s track coach Stanley Redwine and hugged him after Redwine’s Jayhawks on Saturday won the NCAA Outdoor title at University of Oregon’s track.

“I told him how proud I was of him,” Zenger said in a phone interview with the Journal-World. “From where I sit, it was a great effort from coach Redwine to his staff to every last kid on that team — just an awful lot of hard work, heart. It was a group effort.”

It was the first women’s team national championship of any kind in KU history.

“I’m practically speechless,” Zenger said. “I had the opportunity to get to know some of these young ladies. They are as good as gold. Their heart, soul, their work ethic makes you proud to be in the business of education and college athletics.”

He recognized how special it is for a team to win a national title.

“There are only so many sports and so many national championships,” Zenger said. “From my vantage point, it’s certainly not about me, but I’ve always felt track and field is the purest of all sports. It goes back to the history of humankind. To win a championship in that … we’ve all grown up watching the Olympics.

“This is a special moment, it is what we strive for each and every day — championships and particularly national championships.”