The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in athletes ranging from Olympians to high-schoolers. Olympians such as Marion Jones and Maurice Greene compete in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators every year. Competitors have also broken world records at the meet. The 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin, was a prominent athlete to fail a doping test at the Kansas Relays.
History The Kansas relays were founded by John H. Outland, the head football coach at the University of Kansas, in 1923. He got the idea for the Kansas Relays from the Penn Relays. The Penn Relays are held at the University of Pennsylvania and is the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Outland attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school and where he first saw the Penn relays. John Outland thought that there should be an event like the Penn relays in Kansas so in 1920 he approached Kansas basketball coach Forrest Clare Allen, also known as Phog Allen, who was also the athletic director, football and basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Three years later in 1923 the Kansas relays were founded.
More than 600 athletes participated in the 1st annual Kansas relays on April 20, 1923. During the relays early years the meet featured collegiate athletes in track and field such as Tom Poor, Ed Weir, and Tom Churchill were some of the athletes who later competed in the Olympics. Tom Poor was the first to win the high jump event in Kansas Relays, with a jump of six feet and a quarter inch. He later went on to place fourth in the 1924 Olympics. Ed Weir set a world record for the 120 meter high hurdles at the Kansas Relays in 1926. With world-class athletes competing in the relays, the first decade of the relays paved the way for the Kansas Relays to be a major event in the track and field event in the Mid-West.
1962 was the first year that female athletes were able to compete in the Kansas Relays and by 1976 women were competing in a number of different events. In 1996 a new event was added for women, the pole vault. Stacy Dragila was the first women to win this event and set an American record at the Kansas Relays. In 1997 the Kansas Relays added the 3000 m steeplechase to the women's events.
The Kansas Relays are held normally every year, but were cancelled in 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II; in 1998 and 1999 because Memorial Stadium was being renovated; and in 2020, 2021, and 2022 because of issues presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The last day of the relays was also cancelled in 2022 because of severe weather.
The Gold Zone In 2005, the Kansas Relays added a new section: the Gold Zone. The Gold Zone was created because the relays started to lose the interest of spectators and athletes. Tim Weaver, then the meet director, created the Gold Zone to bring in more interest for the Relays and create a three-hour meet-within-a-meet. The Gold Zone was a part of the meet that features some of the best athletes in track and field in the top events. 24,000 spectators came to see former American Olympians, world champions, and top NCAA athletes compete in various events in the first Gold Zone. The events included in the Gold Zone include finals for all the dashes (100m, 400m, hurdles, etc.), 4 × 100 meter relay, 4 × 400 meter relay, the high jump, pole vault, the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and the men's one mile run. Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Jearl Miles Clark, Amy Acuff, and Nick Hysong are some of the Olympians and world record holders that have competed in the Gold Zone. Gold Zone II drew over 26,000 fans in 2006 making the track meet one of the top ten largest in the world.
Justin Gatlin doping test
Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter Justin Gatlin tested positive for testosterone at the Kansas Relays 2006. On April 22, 2006, Justin competed with his teammates, Sprint Capitol, in the 4 × 100 meter race at the Kansas Relays. Justin and his team took first place with a time of 38.16 seconds.
On July 29, 2006, Justin Gatlin announced to the media that he had tested positive for high levels of testosterone at the Kansas Relays. Justin Gatlin was facing a lifetime ban from track and field, because he had already tested positive for an amphetamine 2001 at the Junior Olympics. It was determined that the amphetamine came from a prescription he had been taking for years. Justin avoided the lifetime ban by cooperating with doping authorities. On December 31, 2007, it was announced that Gatlin would be banned from track for four years, which made him ineligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Meet records
Men
+Men's meeting records of the Kansas Relays Event Record Athlete Nationality Date 100 m9.95 Ivory Williams17 April 2010200 m20.15James Mallard19 April 1980400 m45.12Devon Morris19 April 1986800 m1:48.22Viktors Lācis15 April 2000Wes Santee 1500 m3:38.62Rick Wohlhuter17 April 1976Glenn Cunningham Mile3:54.7Jim Ryun15 April 19675000 m13:40.35Kipsubai Koskei19 April 198010,000 m28:56.9Simon Kilili15 April 1978110 m hurdles13.26Antwon Hicks19 April 2008400 m hurdles48.20Bershawn Jackson21 April 20123000 m steeplechase8:33.7Randy Smith17 April 1976High jumpHollis Conway18 April 1987Pole vaultJoe Dial16 April 1983Long jumpKenny Harrison18 April 1987Triple jumpKenny Harrison13 April 1986Shot putKevin Toth19 April 2003Discus throwMason Finley19 April 2019Hammer throwGleb Dudarev20 April 2018Javelin throwScott Russell22 April 2011Decathlon8380 ptsSteve Fritz19974 × 100 m relay38.16Sprint Capitol:Dwight ThomasRodney MartinShawn CrawfordJustin Gatlin22 April 20064 × 200 m relay1:21.55Philadelphia Pioneers:Steve RiddickFred TaylorHerman FrazierTony Darden18 April 19804 × 400 m relay3:03.67Philadelphia Pioneers:Tim DaleFred TaylorHerman FrazierTony Darden19 April 19804 × 800 m relay7:21.2Oklahoma State:Jim MetcalfJohn PerryTom Von RudenDave Perry17 April 1965Distance medley relay9:20.10University of Arkansas:Reuben ReinaCharles WilliamsRobert BradleyJoe Falcon15 April 19894 × 110m Shuttle hurdles relay57.69University of Nebraska–Lincoln:David DavisNenad LončarCourtney JonesAndy Nelson19 April 2003
Women
+Women's meeting records of the Kansas Relays Event Record Athlete Nationality Date 100 m11.04Allyson Felix22 April 2006200 m22.32 Veronica Campbell Brown17 April 2010400 m51.19Mary Wineberg21 April 2007800 m2:01.30LeAnn Warren18 April 19811500 m4:08.94Nadezhda Ralldugina16 April 19835000 m15:42.76Sharon Lokedi20 April 201810,000 m34:41.33Amber Anderson15 April 1995100 m hurdles12.72Nichole Denby21 April 2007400 m hurdles55.67Nawal El Moutawakel21 April 19843000 m steeplechase10:07.30Trina Cox21 April 2007High jumpJulieanne Broughton21 April 1990Pole vaultBrynn King18 April 2024Long jumpElva Goulbourne19 April 2008Triple jumpTrecia Smith20 April 2002Shot putKearsten Peoples21 April 2012Discus throwPenny Neer20 April 1991Hammer throwAmber Campbell20 April 2013Javelin throwDana Olson17 April 1982Heptathlon5740 ptsLiz Roehrig20084 × 100 m relay43.94University of Nebraska–Lincoln:Janet BurkeRhonda BlanfordAngela ThackerMerlene Ottey16 April 19834 × 200 m relay1:33.63Barton County CC:Sonia WilliamsNatalee SterlingMikessia TripletteAleen Bailey21 April 20004 × 400 m relay3:31.87University of Kansas:Denesha MorrisParis DanielsShayla WilsonDiamond Dixon21 April 20124 × 800 m relay8:46.62Villanova University:Mary Ellen McGowanDebbie GrantJoanne KehsVeronica McIntosh21 April 1984Distance medley relay11:32.61University of Michigan:Jessica KlugeRichelle WebbKaren HarveyMolly McClimon17 April 19934 × 100m Shuttle hurdles relay54.02University of Nebraska–Lincoln:20 April 2001
References General Kansas Relays records Kansas Relays results archive Specific
External links Official website