By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University track and field stars Romain Henry and Virgi Scardanzan will compete on the international stage this weekend, vying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Scardanzan will compete in the Absolute Italian Championships in the pole vault while Henry will compete in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles in the French National Championships.
Washburn University star pole-vaulter Virgi Scardanzan will compete for a berth in the Olympics this weekend in Italy. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Scandanzan's event will take place on Sunday at 10:50 a.m. Central Standard Time (5:50 p.m. in Italy) in Rovereto, Italy, with Scardanzan the fifth overall seed in the pole vault entering the competition.
Scardanzan has been a three-time All-American for Washburn, recording the fifth-best mark in NCAA D2 history with a vault of 14 feet, 3.25 inches (4.35 meters) at Nebraska-Kearney, a mark that was the eighth-best mark by an Italian pole vaulter.
Scardanzan holds the WU women's pole vault school record in both indoor (13-6.25) and outdoor competition (14-03.25) and has six of the top 10 indoor marks (including the top three) and the top four outdoor marks.
As of 2021, she has been the only Washburn track and field athlete, male or female, to automatically qualify for both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships. She has seven individual titles competing in 33 events and has been a six-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.
Washburn star hurdler Romain Henry will compete in France's Olympic Trials this weekend. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Henry will be competing in Angers, France, beginning with preliminary action in the 400 hurdles on Friday at 11 a.m. Topeka time (6 p.m. in France. He is the No. 11 seed overall in the event.
Henry is the No. 11 seed in the 110 hurdles and his preliminary run will be at 4 a.m. Topeka time on Saturday morning.
Henry has been a combined three-time All-American in his first season as an Ichabod and holds the school record in the 60 hurdles (8.02 seconds) and the top 10 times in program history in the event as well as the school record in the indoor 400 hurdles at 48.75 and the top five times in program history.
He owns the school record in the 110 hurdles (13.86) and the 400 hurdles (51.97) and the second-best time in the outdoor 400-meter dash at 50.26. Henry has the fastest seven times in program history in the 110 hurdles and the top six times in the 400 hurdles.
