Wildcats to Make First of Two Trips to Texas
Mar 30, 2005 | Track & Field
UTEP Springtime Invitational
El Paso, Texas Kidd Field
Saturday, April 2, 2005
Field events 10:45 a.m.; Track events 1 p.m.
Meet schedule, heat sheets and results can be found at www.utepathletics.com
MANHATTAN - Kansas State will voyage to the UTEP Springtime Invitational, April 2 in El Paso, Texas. This will be the first of two consecutive trips to the Lone Star State, as the team makes a return trip for the Texas Relays in Austin, April 6-9. Teams entered for this weekend’s meet are: UTEP, New Mexico and Texas Tech. This will be a team scored event. Point totals will be awarded as follows: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for individuals and 9-7-6-5 for relays.
The Wildcats are coming off a weekend in which eight athletes qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional and one reached automatic qualifying status for the NCAA National Championship, see left side bar for a recap.
Chesang Earns Big 12 Athlete of the Week Honor
Senior distance runner Mathew Chesang earned Big 12 Outdoor Athlete of the Week honors for his performance during the week of March 20-27.
Chesang, a native of Eldama Revine, Kenya, opened his final outdoor campaign by automatically qualifying for the NCAA National Championships last Friday at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. A 2004 NCAA Cross Country All-American, Chesang crossed the line in the first section of the men’s 10,000-meter run in a school record time of 28:35.48, finishing fifth overall. The clocking shattered the previous mark held for 21 years by Alfredo Rosas in 1984 at the Drake Relays in a time of 29:16.48. The time ranks first in the Big 12 this season.
The 10,000 and the multi-events (decathlon and heptathlon) are the only events which have provisional and automatic qualifying standards for the NCAA National Championships.
Grigoriev Wins Wildcat Combined Events
Sophomore Lindsay Grigoriev captured the heptathlon title at the Wildcat Combined Events, March 24-25 in Tucson, Ariz. The Laurel, Md., native recorded the fifth-highest point total in K-State history and the third-best in the Big 12 this season with 4,969 points. During the competition, Grigoriev set new personal-bests in the 200-meter dash (26.68), the shot put (45-11.75) and the long jump (18-03.75).
Grigoriev’s weekend also included a regional qualifying distance in the discus at the ASU Invitational on March 26 with a fifth-place toss of 161-07.
Record-Setting Distance Performances at Stanford Invite
The Wildcats sent just six distance runners to the Stanford Invitational, but came away with four of the best performances in school history in the men’s 10,000-meter run, women’s 10,000 and men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Senior Mathew Chesang shattered the school record in the 10,000 with an NCAA National Championships automatic qualifying time of 28:35.48. The previous mark was held for 21 years by Alfredo Rosas in 1984 at the Drake Relays, 29:16.48. Freshman Tyler Roark finished 26th in the second section of the 10,000, but established the third-fastest time in Wildcat history at 29:46.36.
Senior Trisha Culbertson finished fifth in the women’s 10,000 with the eighth fastest time in school history, 35:24.59. Culbertson’s previous best was 35:34.66 at the 2002 Big 12 Championships.
Junior Joe Moore ran the seventh-fastest 3,000-steeplechase with a 9:09.73 and a 10th-place finish in the second section.
K-State Among Big 12 Leaders
Seven Wildcats are leading their respective events in this week’s Big 12 Performance List. Wildcat leaders are: Mathew Chesang (10,000 - 28:35.48), Kyle Lancaster (high jump - 7-02.50), Darius Draudvila (decathlon - 6,600 points), Lysaira Roman-Del Valle (800 - 2:05.83), Breanna Eveland (pole vault - 13-06.25), Candice Mills (long jump - 20-02.00) and Laci Heller (hammer throw - 197-04).
Seven other K-State athletes are either in second or third. Those athletes are: Christian Smith (second - 800 - 1:48.10), Erik Sproll (third - 800 - 1:49.53), Tyler Roark (second - 10,000 - 29:46.36), James Ball (second - decathlon - 6,317), Isaac Fakasiieiki (third - decathlon - 5,857), Morgan Bonds (third - 800 - 2:12.20) and Ashleigh Rogers (second - hammer - 176-04.50).
