EUGENE, Ore. -- Defending Olympic champion Aries Merritt rushed back from a kidney transplant to be ready for Rio. He wont let Zika stand in his way, no matter how much his doctors object.Qualifying in the 110-meter hurdles at Olympic track and field trials begins Friday. Should Merritt make the U.S. team, he said he wont think twice about racing in Rio even though the mosquito-borne virus could pose a greater risk to him than most because of the transplant.Theyre very, very concerned. Theyve asked me many, times: Have you considered not going? said Merritt, who holds the world record in the hurdles (12.80 seconds in September 2012). Im like, Well, thats not an option. If I make it, Im going.The reason is simple: At 30, he doesnt know if this sort of chance will come around again.Merritt won bronze at last years world championships in Beijing with his kidneys barely functioning because of a genetic disorder. He received the transplant from his sister less than a week later. He had another follow-up surgery in October because of complications.He is still healing.Doctors told me I was supposed to be running maybe next year, not this year, Merritt said. I really dont have that option to skip Olympic Games. Its not something I can skip. ... I dont have time to be skipping stuff.He got a late start on training because of the transplant, and other than a groin strain that cost him a few weeks, he says hes in competition shape.Its definitely been an uphill battle, Merritt said. There are minor setbacks that happen. Every athlete goes through [something]. It wouldnt be a journey if we didnt have something. It just cant be perfect all the time.Merritt didnt let anyone know until just before worlds last August, but he was suffering from a rare genetic disorder that was diagnosed in 2013. For years, it turns out, his kidneys have been faltering, to the point where he ran the final at worlds on Aug. 28 at about eight pounds under his normal weight and with his kidneys barely functioning.He finished 0.01 seconds behind Hansle Parchment of Jamaica for second. Sergey Shubenkov of Russia took gold.Competing at worlds last season with no kidney function was horrible, Merritt said. There was a 90 percent chance Id never run again. I just so happened to beat those odds. Kind of like the odds of going to the Olympic Games.Contrary to a handful of golfers and other athletes who are skipping the Olympics because of fears of the illness, Merritt says hell be there if he qualifies.Hell take plenty of precautions: wearing long sleeves, applying insect repellent and planning to stay indoors as much as possible.Other than that, theres not much he can do.We have Zika back in America, he said. I havent gotten it yet. I dont think its that big of deal. 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LAWRENCE, Kan. -- After he had finally waded through the mass of humanity at midfield, and survived more back slaps than a mixed martial artist, David Beaty walked into the Kansas football complex and exhaled.I feel better being in here right now, he said, than a few of the other showings.Pretty much every other showing.After taking over arguably the worst program in major college football, Beaty endured a winless first season that tested the resolve of even the most optimistic of coaches. And after a season-opening win over lower-level Rhode Island, nine more losses followed in quick succession.The signs of progress were evident, but close losses to TCU and Iowa State only seemed to underscore the monumental building job that Beaty had undertaken.Not to mention raise the frustration level surrounding the program.So when the Jayhawks rallied from a 21-10 second-half deficit to beat Texas in overtime on Saturday night, there was a palpable release of pent-up frustration. Many fans took it out in the most joyous of ways on Beaty, engulfing the personable coach on the turf in Memorial Stadium.Man, it was awesome. It was so cool to see them smiling and to see them having fun and enjoying themselves, Beaty said. They kept coming. They kept coming. Every week there was a ton of students up in that student section. And as a coach you keep thinking, `You know, man, are these kids going to continue to do that? And they did. They did. They kept coming.In black-and-white terms, it was only one victory against a downtrodden program that seems likely to fire its coach . But in grander terms, it was an important benchmark for the Kansas program.The Jayhawks had not beaten a Big 12 opponent in 19 tries. They had dropped 23 consecutive games to fellow Football Bowl Subdivision members. They hadnt beaten the Longhorns since 1938.It feels like more than just a win, Kansas safety Fish Smithson said after Matthew Wymans field goal gave them the 24-21 overtime victory. You get all the aspects into it -- senior day, conference win, our first real win for Coach Beaty. We thought about all of that.The win should pay dividends going forward, too.ddddddddddddeaty cobbled together his first recruiting class in a compressed timeframe after being hired to replace the failed Charlie Weis. His second class was recruited on the heels of a 0-12 season, when all he had to sell prospective athletes was a promising vision and some blind faith. Now, Beaty can point to a victory over one of college footballs blue-bloods.It says a lot about the direction our program is headed, he said. The coaches that we have around here, these coaches are terrific. Our administration, all the support we get from these people even when you dont think they are -- man, our administration, they support us like you wouldnt believe.Our kids, theyre treated like gold, Beaty added. If youre a recruit and you dont want to come here, youre crazy, because, man, we take care of our guys like nobody else.Beaty made it a point to thank those who laid the foundation for his first Big 12 win, including the senior class of a year ago. Many of them, including defensive lineman Ben Goodman, sat in the stands on Saturday, then joined in the delirious celebration on the field.But like any coach, Beaty also sought to keep things in perspective.The Jayhawks are still 1-7 in the conference, 2-9 overall, and have a tough test ahead of them in their season finale Saturday. Theyll head down Interstate 70 to face Kansas State, their bitter rival, a team thats coming off an impressive win over Baylor on Saturday.Weve got a lot of momentum on our side, Kansas defensive lineman Dorance Armstrong said. If we just execute our game plan for both sides of the ball like we did this week, we can get the win.That would be back-to-back wins for the Jayhawks for the first time in five years. Another benchmark for a program now seeking the next one.We got a huge, huge mountain we got to climb to get ready to play these guys, Beaty said, but its a lot easier and a lot more fun preparing with the result we got.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '