SE: Ranae McKenzie’s Breakout Season in 400 Hurdles a ‘Long Time Coming’ for K-State Track and Field
May 30, 2018 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Asked to sum up her junior season for K-State track and field, Ranae McKenzie began her answer with, "it's been a long time coming."
McKenzie's third season with the Wildcats has certainly been her best.
The Jamaican started the outdoor season with a personal best in the 400-meter hurdles and broke that mark twice at the Big 12 Championship. Her latter performance of 56.06 seconds at the conference meet was nearly 1.5 seconds faster than her previous best. It earned her a Big 12 title and ranks third in the country as she enters the NCAA Championships next week in Eugene, Oregon, where 14 other Wildcats will also compete.
McKenzie's improvement, she said, was just a matter of training and confidence coming together.
"I could have been able to run the times that I am running now in the past and I know that I can go faster this year," she said. "I just got more confident this year and I'm more experienced on the track. I'm just able to go out there and be fearless now."
McKenzie said her newfound confidence stems from a number of areas.
For one, she said she's seen her training "paying off" in a big way. Plus, her twin sister, Shanae, who high jumps at K-State, provides constant internal fuel.
"She's my main motivation," McKenzie said of her sister. "She didn't get to do what she wanted to this year at regionals, so I'm just doing it for both of us."
Then there's how this year's indoor season went for McKenzie. She was limited during most of it by an injury and she was displeased with how she ran in the one event she competed in at the indoor conference meet, the 4x400-meter relay.
"I didn't split a fast time," she said. "So I was, like, 'You know what? That season wasn't for me. Outdoor is my season because that's when I get to do the 400 hurdles. Nothing can stop me.'"
McKenzie's mindset made for a memorable moment at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
When she won the finals of the 400 hurdles by more than a second, she recorded the second-fastest time in K-State history and earned 10 crucial points toward her team's second-straight Big 12 Championship. She also became the first Wildcat to win a Big 12 title in the event since Ryann Krais, whose school-record time of 55.68 may be in danger with McKenzie still having another year left in a Wildcat uniform.
"Coach (Cliff Rovelto) said I can run a 56, but when I saw the time, 56.06, I was, like, 'That's dang near 55, so what have I been holding back for?' That's a moment of realization for me that I've been holding myself back and I just need to go out there and be fearless all the time," she said. "I might not start well but I just need to finish and make sure I fight until the end all the time. That's what I'm trying to do going into next week, fight."
Seemingly all her life, the thinly built 5-foot-7 McKenzie has fought to prove she could compete in athletics. She's always been smaller than her sister, leading their mother to be more protective of her and keeping her away from most sports at an early age.
Then one day in primary school, McKenzie volunteered to run in a competitive cross-country race and her mother cautiously approved. McKenzie finished second.
"I was so tiny and everybody was surprised," she said. "(My track career) kind of started from there."
In high school, McKenzie went from running the 400 to the 800 to the 1,500. When coaches tried to convince her to train for the 3,000-meter race, she stepped away from the sport for a year.
"I was not about that life," McKenzie laughed at being pushed toward long-distance running.
She returned to the sport at a more comfortable distance, the open 400, but sustained a serious hamstring injury that sidelined her for another year. In her final season, she started working at the 400 hurdles because her team "needed points" in the event.
In the beginning, her times fell between 1:05 and 1:03. Each race, however, her time got lower. The event seemed to fit her personality perfectly, and still does.
"That's the only event that Coach (Rovelto) can put me in and I won't get nervous, not get scared. If you put me in the 400, I'll probably cry every time," she said, laughing. "The 400 hurdles, I love it. It's one race that anybody can win, and normally going into the race, they see me as the underdog, so that gives me more fuel and more motivation to show them what I can do. That just keeps me going."
To complete her last high school season McKenzie earned a medal at Jamaica's ISSA Boys and Girls Championships and achieved a pair significant goals in the process. First, was winning the medal at the country's elite high school meet. Second, she met K-State assistant coach Vincent Johnson at that meet, which opened the door for her and her sister to come compete at K-State.
"My sister knew about K-State because she's a jumper and K-State is known for the jumps program," McKenzie said. "That's where it all got started. We just knew that we wanted to go to a university and finish our track career at a good institute."
In many ways, McKenzie's time at K-State has been a continuation of her high school career. She's faced adversity, yet come out stronger than before. She's been doubted, both internally and by others, and continued to prove everyone wrong.
"I've always been the underdog. I'm always making sure I do my work and I know one day it will eventually pay off," she said. "Like in high school, I was just working and working. Some years it wasn't good, but I just kept my faith, kept motivated and just kept working hard, and then I ended up with a medal. That was one of my life goals. And then I got it."
Coming to K-State, McKenzie wanted to become an All-American and a Big 12 Champion. She's now achieved both. She earned Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman and second-team recognition last season when she finished 14th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
After crossing off the Big 12 title from her to-do list this season, McKenzie looks to take the next step, one that will land her on the podium in Eugene, Oregon.
It would only add to what's been her best collegiate season, which, as she put it, has "been a long time coming."
Asked to sum up her junior season for K-State track and field, Ranae McKenzie began her answer with, "it's been a long time coming."
McKenzie's third season with the Wildcats has certainly been her best.
The Jamaican started the outdoor season with a personal best in the 400-meter hurdles and broke that mark twice at the Big 12 Championship. Her latter performance of 56.06 seconds at the conference meet was nearly 1.5 seconds faster than her previous best. It earned her a Big 12 title and ranks third in the country as she enters the NCAA Championships next week in Eugene, Oregon, where 14 other Wildcats will also compete.
McKenzie's improvement, she said, was just a matter of training and confidence coming together.
"I could have been able to run the times that I am running now in the past and I know that I can go faster this year," she said. "I just got more confident this year and I'm more experienced on the track. I'm just able to go out there and be fearless now."
McKenzie said her newfound confidence stems from a number of areas.
For one, she said she's seen her training "paying off" in a big way. Plus, her twin sister, Shanae, who high jumps at K-State, provides constant internal fuel.
"She's my main motivation," McKenzie said of her sister. "She didn't get to do what she wanted to this year at regionals, so I'm just doing it for both of us."
Then there's how this year's indoor season went for McKenzie. She was limited during most of it by an injury and she was displeased with how she ran in the one event she competed in at the indoor conference meet, the 4x400-meter relay.
"I didn't split a fast time," she said. "So I was, like, 'You know what? That season wasn't for me. Outdoor is my season because that's when I get to do the 400 hurdles. Nothing can stop me.'"
McKenzie's mindset made for a memorable moment at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
When she won the finals of the 400 hurdles by more than a second, she recorded the second-fastest time in K-State history and earned 10 crucial points toward her team's second-straight Big 12 Championship. She also became the first Wildcat to win a Big 12 title in the event since Ryann Krais, whose school-record time of 55.68 may be in danger with McKenzie still having another year left in a Wildcat uniform.
"Coach (Cliff Rovelto) said I can run a 56, but when I saw the time, 56.06, I was, like, 'That's dang near 55, so what have I been holding back for?' That's a moment of realization for me that I've been holding myself back and I just need to go out there and be fearless all the time," she said. "I might not start well but I just need to finish and make sure I fight until the end all the time. That's what I'm trying to do going into next week, fight."
Seemingly all her life, the thinly built 5-foot-7 McKenzie has fought to prove she could compete in athletics. She's always been smaller than her sister, leading their mother to be more protective of her and keeping her away from most sports at an early age.
Then one day in primary school, McKenzie volunteered to run in a competitive cross-country race and her mother cautiously approved. McKenzie finished second.
"I was so tiny and everybody was surprised," she said. "(My track career) kind of started from there."
In high school, McKenzie went from running the 400 to the 800 to the 1,500. When coaches tried to convince her to train for the 3,000-meter race, she stepped away from the sport for a year.
"I was not about that life," McKenzie laughed at being pushed toward long-distance running.
She returned to the sport at a more comfortable distance, the open 400, but sustained a serious hamstring injury that sidelined her for another year. In her final season, she started working at the 400 hurdles because her team "needed points" in the event.
In the beginning, her times fell between 1:05 and 1:03. Each race, however, her time got lower. The event seemed to fit her personality perfectly, and still does.
"That's the only event that Coach (Rovelto) can put me in and I won't get nervous, not get scared. If you put me in the 400, I'll probably cry every time," she said, laughing. "The 400 hurdles, I love it. It's one race that anybody can win, and normally going into the race, they see me as the underdog, so that gives me more fuel and more motivation to show them what I can do. That just keeps me going."
To complete her last high school season McKenzie earned a medal at Jamaica's ISSA Boys and Girls Championships and achieved a pair significant goals in the process. First, was winning the medal at the country's elite high school meet. Second, she met K-State assistant coach Vincent Johnson at that meet, which opened the door for her and her sister to come compete at K-State.
"My sister knew about K-State because she's a jumper and K-State is known for the jumps program," McKenzie said. "That's where it all got started. We just knew that we wanted to go to a university and finish our track career at a good institute."
In many ways, McKenzie's time at K-State has been a continuation of her high school career. She's faced adversity, yet come out stronger than before. She's been doubted, both internally and by others, and continued to prove everyone wrong.
"I've always been the underdog. I'm always making sure I do my work and I know one day it will eventually pay off," she said. "Like in high school, I was just working and working. Some years it wasn't good, but I just kept my faith, kept motivated and just kept working hard, and then I ended up with a medal. That was one of my life goals. And then I got it."
Coming to K-State, McKenzie wanted to become an All-American and a Big 12 Champion. She's now achieved both. She earned Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman and second-team recognition last season when she finished 14th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
After crossing off the Big 12 title from her to-do list this season, McKenzie looks to take the next step, one that will land her on the podium in Eugene, Oregon.
It would only add to what's been her best collegiate season, which, as she put it, has "been a long time coming."
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