May 16, 2012

MANHATTAN, Kan. – More than 3,000 people saw the 2012 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships come to a close on Sunday at R.V. Christian Track Complex. Those fans and others who missed it can relive the excitement with broadcasts of the meet on Fox Sports Net. The network will air the championship meet four times in the Kansas area on Fox Sports Midwest.

The first scheduled airing of the Big 12 Championships on FS Midwest is set for Friday at noon. It will be aired again on Saturday 4 p.m. and Monday at noon. The final time slot for the meet on FS Midwest will be May 23 at noon. For fans in Oklahoma and Texas, Fox Sports Southwest will air the meet at the same times on Friday and Saturday and will have a third airing at noon on Tuesday. Check your local listings and kstatesports.com for air times on all FSN outlets.

This year’s Big 12 Championship boasted some of the best athletes in the nation with athletes from the league holding No. 1 rankings in seven of their respective events following the meet. Those athletes helped to break a total of 18 R.V. Christian Track Complex facility records in 17 events over the course of three days. Five Big 12 Championship meet records were also broken at the meet.

K-State’s men finished fourth with a total of 75 points. It marked the highest finish at the Big 12 outdoor meet for the Wildcat men since the first year of the league in 1997 when they finished third. The women’s team entered the championship meet ranked No. 25 in the nation and eighth in the conference. The Wildcats claimed a tie for eighth and saw senior Ryann Krais win the heptathlon. The men’s team was boosted by the wins from NCAA champion high jumper Erik Kynard and sophomore pole vaulter Kyle Wait.

The meet also marked the first time in league history a team not from the state of Texas won the women’s 4x400 relay. The Kansas Jayhawks ended the reign with what currently stands as the No. 7 time in the world this season. Texas A&M’s men made it an exciting close to the meet as well with the Aggies running the No. 12 time in the world in the 4x400.

The 2012 championship was one of the most competitive conference championship meets in the nation again this year. The Big 12 was the only conference to have 10 teams on the men’s side score at least 50 points at its championship meet. The women had nine teams score at least 50 points, and the difference between fourth and eighth place was only 14 points.