K-State Looks for Big 12 Titles This Weekend in Lincoln
Feb 23, 2005 | Track & Field
MANHATTAN - Kansas State will travel to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the second time this season to compete in the 9th Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, Feb. 25-26 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. All teams are limited to a roster of 52 athletes, 26 female and 26 male.
The Wildcats will look to repeat its performance of a year ago as the men finished second (77 points) and the women captured third (69 points). Defending champions on both sides are the Cornhuskers, who scored 141.66 points for the men’s title and 171.50 points for the women’s trophy. Nebraska has won seven of eight men’s Big 12 indoor titles, including five straight. During the 2004 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Wildcats captured four individual event titles. Event winners from 2004, who are tenatively scheduled to return to defend their titles are: senior Joseph Lee (600-yard run), junior Christian Smith (1,000-meter run) and senior Tarl Vetter (weight throw). Overall there will be 12 athletes returning to defend their 2004 Big 12 indoor titles.
Live stats for the weekend can be found at www.huskers.com by clicking on the Live Stats’ tab in the menu bar on left side of the site. Then scroll to the appropriate date and click on the camera to view the day’s results.
Cost, Heller Named Big 12 Athletes of the Week
Junior thrower Coby Cost and redshirt freshman thrower Laci Heller were named Big 12 athletes of the week for their efforts during the week of Feb. 14-20.
Cost, who earned his third career Big 12 tribute, set a new Kansas State school mark in the weight throw with a winning toss of 70-11.25 during the KSU Open. The El Dorado, Kan., native’s previous school-record was 69-04.25 during the UNI Invitational earlier this season. Cost was named Big 12 athlete of the week for his effort at UNI and is the only two-time recipient of the honor this season.
Heller earned her first career Big 12 citation with her seventh straight weight throw title and personal best throw of 65-07.00 during the KSU Open. The toss by the Meriden, Kan., native ranks as the second-longest in school history, trailing only Renetta Seiler’s school record of 69-02.50 during the 1998 NCAA Indoor Championships.
In Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors, Kansas State leads the conference with five awards, three men and two women. The only other schools to have a multiple winner on the women’s side is Nebraska and Texas A&M on the men’s side with two apiece.
NCAA Automatic Qualifier Profiles
Entering this weekend’s Big 12 Indoor Championships, the Wildcats are assured four spots in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., March 11-12. The following is a capsule of each NCAA automatically qualified athlete.
Coby Cost, Jr., Weight Throw, El Dorado, Kan.
Cost reset the K-State record in the weight throw during last weekend's KSU Open with an NCAA automatic qualifying toss of 70-11.25...the distance was the second-longest in the nation this season...ranked second in Feb. 22 Trackwire “Dandy Dozen” in weight throw...was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week for Jan. 25-30 and Feb. 14-20 , only two-time recipient this season... has won seven straight weight throw titles this season and 20 of 25 in his career...finished 14th as a freshman at 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships (65-01.50).
Breanna Eveland, Jr., Pole Vault, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Eveland, who was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week for Jan. 18-23, set and reset the K-State record in the women's pole vault for most of the season, finally settling at 13-09.25...ranked sixth in Feb. 22 Trackwire “Dandy Dozen” in pole vault...enters the weekend ranked fifth in the nation in the event, with her NCAA automatic qualifying height...has won five of seven event titles this season.
Chaytan Hill, Sr., Triple Jump, Kirby, Texas
Hill, a K-State team captain, is ranked second in the nation in the triple jump with a Big 12 indoor season-best of 44-08.75...ranked second in Feb. 22 Trackwire “Dandy Dozen” in triple jump...finished second in last year's Big 12 Indoor Championship with a school record triple jump of 44-09.50...finished fifth at 2004 United States Olympic Trials in triple jump (44-02.50)...2004 NCAA All-American with a second-place finish (44-08.25)...Earned 10th place finish at 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships as a sophomore...finished second in 2003 Big 12 Indoor Championship with a jump of 43-08.50...finished 11th as a freshman at 2002 Big 12 Indoor Championships.
Kyle Lancaster, Jr., High Jump, Fort Scott, Kan.
Lancaster was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week for his efforts during Jan. 18-23...has sailed past seven feet in the high jump five of six times this season, winning all five of those events...ranked second in Feb. 22 Trackwire “Dandy Dozen” in high jump...first high jumper this season to surpass the NCAA automatic qualifying height of 7-03.75...has jumped beyond seven feet in 16 of 23 career high jump competitions...finished tied for 18th at 2004 United States Olympic Trials...2004 NCAA Indoor All-American in the high jump with a third-place finish (7-02.50)...finished tied for 12 at 2003 NCAA Indoor Championship (6-11.75)...2003 Big 12 high jump champion (7-01.75).
Men 15th; Women Remain in 18th in Trackwire National Rankings
The Kansas State men fell just one position to 15th and the Wildcat women held strong in 18th in this week’s trackwire.com rankings. The women are still projected for 11 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships and the men are slated for 16.
The Trackwire Top 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the “Dandy Dozen”, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
