The Kansas Relays are back, and celebrating their 100th anniversary this week

LAWRENCE — Rylee Anderson and Chandler Gibbens said Wednesday they have an idea of what the Kansas Relays are like.

Anderson, a senior who competes in the high jump for the Kansas women’s track and field team, participated in it as a freshman back in 2019. She’s seen the number of fans who descend on Lawrence for the event. She’s seen the sheer number of alumni who make their way back into town.

Gibbens, a junior distance runner for the Kansas men's track and field team, participated in it a couple of times when he was in high school. It played a role in why he chose to compete for the Jayhawks at the college level. This week, as the event runs Thursday through Saturday at Rock Chalk Park, is his first chance to be involved while wearing a Kansas uniform.

But both understand, too, that there’s an added gravity to this year’s Kansas Relays. The event is celebrating its 100th anniversary. And it’s the first time it's been held since 2019.

“I mean, just from an athlete perspective, go out and perform as best as you can, and get people excited that Kansas is a place to come and compete and run fast and jump high and do well,” Gibbens said. “And as a, just a fan, showing up and cheering and being excited that this is back and build that legacy back again.”

Stanley Redwine, Kansas’ head coach, is excited for the opportunity to have fans come out and support their athletes. He’s excited about having Tim Byers as the meet director. Special, is a word Redwine settled on Wednesday when describing all that’s going to transpire.

Byers joined up at Kansas last fall, after spending close to a decade at Baker as the director of cross country and track and field there. He said Wednesday he rarely missed a Kansas Relays during his career as a coach. And a point of emphasis for him this year was taking care of the college and high school athletes who are going to be competing.

One part of that for Byers, as he looks to put his touch on the Kansas Relays as a whole, is scheduling the college and high school races to that the fans of both are able to be around each other. He noted that high school athletes love to see what they’re going to compete against in the future. He noted college athletes like to see who may be their teammates in the future.

“I think times have changed,” Redwine said, speaking to how they’re looking to operate a historic event that hasn't been held in a while. “You can’t go by doing old things and expecting great things to happen from it. And so, as times change, I think some of the things that we’re doing for the Relays will have to change. And so, I think bringing on Tim, that has fresh blood and new ideas. It’s a great opportunity for that to happen.”

Byers was optimistic about the number of athletes they’re going to have and said all the events are full across both high school and college. At the high school level, Redwine said there are out-of-state athletes set to compete from states like Colorado and Missouri. At the college level, Byers said there are athletes set to compete from states like Nebraska, Texas and Iowa.

For Anderson, her message to the younger athletes participating would be to take in how special it all is. Coming into college, she thought she’d get four or five Kansas Relays. This’ll be just her second.

“We want to see the Relays continue to succeed, and to continue to be one of the best Relays in the nation, bar none,” Byers said. “I think we have the location, we have the facilities, and the weather is what it is, right? Like coach said, everyone’s got to run in it, so you’re just going to have to suck it up and go and stuff. So, for me to continue this, this next 100 years — that’s kind of my thing I’ve been talking about. Yes, we are happy about the 100 years that happened before. But what are we going to do for the next 100 years now?”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: The Kansas Relays meet is back, and celebrating its 100th anniversary