JANIC WINS KU RELAYS LONG JUMP; BIG DAY FOR DRAGONS
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
LAWRENCE – With her final attempt in the finals of the KU Relays women's long jump, three-time national champion Adriana Janic highlighted what turned out to be a big day for the No. 12-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's track and field team at Rock Chalk Park.
Janic won the long jump, nailing the winning jump on her final attempt in the finals at 19 feet, 4 3/4 inches, which is a personal best performance and the third-best performance in Blue Dragon women's track and field history. Janic qualified in the ninth and final slot for the finals at 18-2 1/2. She remained ninth into the final round of jumps, where she unleashed her winning jump. Her winning mark topped the field by four inches.
Janic will be in action on Friday with the high jump and the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries.
The Blue Dragons had one other Top 10 finish on Thursday as freshman Quin McKinnis placed eighth in javelin with a season's best of 128 feet, 9 inches, hitting that on her final preliminary throw. McKinnis, already a national qualifier, is ranked sixth in the NJCAA.
The Blue Dragons picked up her eighth national qualifier of the 2018 season when sophomore Maggie Lambert qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lambert qualified with a time of 12:06.51, which is the 11th-best in the NJCAA.
Also in the steeplechase, Maci Linnenberger posted the ninth-fastest time in Blue Dragon history with a 17th-place time of 13:02.24.
Aileen Gomez ran a 5,000-meter time of 19:21.49 to finish 30th on Thursday. Gomez posted the second-fastest time in Hutchinson history.
All-American Alex Rodriguez had a throw of 147-3 to finish 12th in the hammer throw. Rodriguez is ranked eighth in the NJCAA. Rodriguez will compete on Friday in the discus.