Burrell Leads K-State Participants at Track Nationals
Jun 22, 2002 | Track & Field
June 22, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - Kansas State assistant track and field coach Shelia Burrell won her second national title in the heptathlon this week at the U.S. National Combined Event Championships held at the University of California, Berkeley.
Burrell's performance led those of Wildcat student-athletes and alumni at the outdoor nationals this week. All but the combined-event competitions are being hosted by Stanford University.
On Saturday, K-State sophomore Joseph Lee finished eighth in his heat of the men's 800-meter semifinals, failing to qualify for Sunday's final. Lee ran 1:51.05 on Saturday after qualifying for the semis with a run of 1:49.21 in Friday's opening round. His time was the eighth-fastest of the first round.
Also Saturday, Wildcat alumna Vanitta Kinard placed second and current K-State freshman Chaytan Hill was 13th in the women's triple jump. Kinard had a mark of 45-4.50, placing behind only Yuliana Perez of Pima Community College, who won at 46-7.25. Hill had a mark of 41-9.75.
Burrell won the heptathlon with 6,299 points. DeDee Nathan was second with 5,995, with Kim Schiemenz in third at 5,840. Burrell, who also won the national title in 1999 and was a runner-up three times, won two of the final three events of the competition. She took the javelin by nearly 10 fet at 148 feet, 3 inches, and won the long jump at 21-6.75.
On Friday, Wildcat sophomore Morgan High failed to clear the opening height in the women's high jump, while K-State alumna Gwen Wentland finished second. High missed the opening height of 5-10.75, but Wentland went all the way to 6-4 before losing to eventual winner Tisha Waller, who cleared 6-5 on her second attempt.
In the women's shot put, K-State junior Rebekah Green had three fouls on her attempts in the qualifying round and did not advance. Teri Steer of Nike won the women's shot at 63-0.
Wildcat freshman Dylan Schmidt placed seventh in the men's pole vault at the U.S. Junior Nationals, being hosted concurrently by Stanford. Schmidt cleared 15-9, but missed at 16-2.75, which could have placed him in fourth. The men's junior vault was won by Tommy Skipper, who cleared 17-6.50.
K-State freshman Charlie Robben placed fifth in the men's junior high jump on Saturday, clearing 6-10.75 earning a new career-best. Robben had the Wildcats' best mark of the 2002 outdoor season when he went 6-10.25 at the Big 12 Championships. Andra Manson won the high jump for juniors at 7-2.50.
The Junior Nationals are for athletes who have not yet reached their 20th birthday.
The U.S. Nationals continue through Sunday.
--ksu--
