The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Manson places in top three at IAAF World Championships
03.08.2008 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
VALENCIA, Spain -- Texas ex Andra Manson, in his first year as a professional track and field athlete, confirmed on Saturday that he could jump with the best in the world.
Competing in his first international competition since finishing his four-year career in July of 2007, Manson (Brenham, Texas) cleared 7 feet, 6.25 inches (2.30m) to tie for third with Cyprus' Kyriakos Ioannou in the high jump at the 2008 International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Manson, who won U.S. indoor nationals on Feb. 23, shared the lead in the qualifying round on Friday with eventual 2008 World indoor champion Stefan Holm (Sweden), who won the event after jumping 7-9 (2.36m).
Taking the track for the first time on Saturday, redshirt senior Donovan Kilmartin (Eagle, Idaho) totaled 3,340 points for fifth place through the first four events of the heptathlon. Fellow American Bryan Clay led the group of seven competitors with a point total of 3,736.
Kilmartin opened the meet with a personal-best 7.02-second performance in the 60-meter dash. In the next event, he posted his farthest jump on his first attempt, landing in the sand at 24-2 (7.36m). He tossed 46-2.75 (14.09m) in the shot put. He ended the day with a personal-best clearance of 6-8 (2.03m) in the high jump. Kilmartin has one season of outdoor eligibility remaining after redshirting the 2007 outdoor campaign.
Kilmartin returns to competition on Sunday, the final day of the world championship meet, to compete in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run.
