Cats Ready for Important Weekend
Jan 31, 2006 | Track & Field
This Week For Kansas State
Feb. 3-4 Sevigne Husker Invitational Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Neb. Live results at www.kstatesports.com
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Kansas State will face its strongest competition of the season this weekend at the Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. Events begin on Friday with the heptathlon and pentathlon at 12 p.m. Field and track events begin at 6 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Teams (other than Kansas State and host Nebraska) competing this weekend in Lincoln include: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Stanford, UTEP, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Athletes among this week’s Dandy Dozen who will be at Nebraska include Coby Cost (weight throw), Kyle Lancaster (high jump), Christian Smith (800-meters), T.J. Staab (shot put), Breanna Eveland (pole vault), Laci Heller (weight throw) and Shunte Thomas (400-meters) of Kansas State, Spyridon Jullien and Mohsen Anani of Virginia Tech in the men’s weight throw, Mickael Hanany of UTEP in the men’s high jump and Priscilla Lopes of Nebraska in the women’s 60-meter dash and hurdles.
Just What the Schlachter Ordered
Kansas State sophomore Marianne Schlachter had a busy, yet, productive weekend during the Wildcat Invitational. The Albbruck, Germany, product won the Wildcat Pentathlon with 3,398 points. On Saturday, Schlachter captured the triple jump crown with a career-best distance of 41-03.00. She now stands in fifth on the K-State triple jump record book.
During the KSU-KU-MU Triangular on Jan. 20, Schlachter won the high jump (5-06.00) and the triple jump (40-03.50) for her first two event wins of the 2006 season. The Albbruck, Germany native was the only competitor to surpass 40 feet in the triple jump and was the only K-State female to win two event titles.
Second Place, but Not in Our Hearts
Kansas State throwers Ryan Creadick and Loren Groves have toiled in the shadows of teammates Coby Cost and Laci Heller in 2006. Their efforts have not been fruitless however.
Creadick, a senior from Camarillo, Calif., moved into third-place on the K-State weight throw record book with his toss of 64-05.25 during the Wildcat Invitational. Creadick has surpassed the provisional qualifying standard in his last three events and has finished second in three of five competitions and third in the other two this season.
Groves, a redshirt freshman from Scott City, Mo., provisionally qualified for the first time this season with a toss of 63-11.50 during the Wildcat Invitational. The distance places her in fourth on K-State’s women’s weight throw record book and was her third second place finish of the season.
Takin’ a Staab at 60 Feet
Kansas State shot putter T.J. Staab became the first Wildcat to surpass 60 feet in the shot put since 2001. The senior from Plainville, Kan., reached a distance of 60-10.00 to win his third title of the season. Staab is provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Eveland Goes to New Heights; Resets Own School Record
Senior pole vaulter Breanna Eveland is well ahead of her record-setting pace of the 2005 indoor season. The Grand Rapids, Mich, native and 2005 NCAA Indoor All-American broke her own K-State school record with an NCAA automatic qualifying clearance of 13-11.25 at the KSU-KU-MU Triangular on Jan. 20. Eveland originally set the school record at 13-09.25 at the 2005 KSU-KU-MU Triangular and tied it at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Eveland has now won 10 of her last 13 indoor pole vault competitions and has sailed above 13 feet in those 13 meets.
This Week on the Dandy Dozen
Seven Wildcat student-athletes remained in the third Trackwire.com “Dandy Dozen”.
Seniors Coby Cost, Stelios Kapsalis, Kyle Lancaster, Christian Smith and T.J. Staab and freshman Scott Sellers appeared on the men’s listing, while senior Breanna Eveland, junior Shunte Thomas and sophomore Laci Heller were tabbed for the women’s poll.
Lancaster and Sellers are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in the high jump. Lancaster is automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, while Sellers is provisionally qualified.
Smith is ranked 10th in the 800-meter run. He has run the event twice in 2006, narrowly missing the provisional standard in his first 800.
Cost is ranked 11th in the men’s weight throw, an event he has provisionally qualified in.
Kapsalis and Staab made their “Dandy Dozen” debuts this week. Staab is ninth in the men's shot put, while Kapsalis in 12th on the men’s triple jump list.
Eveland is ranked second in the pole vault and is automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Thomas is ranked ninth in the 400-meter dash and is provisionally qualified in the event.
Heller makes her debut in 12th in the women's weight throw.
Factors used to determine the “Dandy Dozen” include current athlete performances, national performance lists, athlete history at national meets and strength of meets competed in.
Working Hard in the Fields
The Wildcats have continued their success from the 2005 indoor campaign in the field events, opening the 2006 season with similar results. K-State has won 30 of 59 (.508) field events.
K-State won 45 of 132 field events (34.1 percent) in 11 indoor meets in 2005. Individuals with the most field event titles in 2005 were Coby Cost and Laci Heller with eight weight throw titles apiece.
Six-Foot, Seven-Foot, Eight-Foot High Jumper
Senior high jumper and 2006 NCAA Indoor Championship automatic qualifier Kyle Lancaster continues to clear dizzying heights.
With his third win of the 2006 season, the Fort Scott, Kan. native has surpassed seven feet in the high jump 20 times in 29 career indoor meets for K-State. The lowest career final height Lancaster cleared was 6-07.50 on February 22, 2003 in the KSU Open. This season, Lancaster has a season-best of 7-04.25 during the KSU-KU-MU Triangular.
Cost of the Weight Throw
Senior Coby Cost added yet another weight throw title to his mantle during the Wildcat Invitational. The El Dorado, Kan., product and 2005 NCAA Indoor All-American has won 23 of 30 weight throw competitions (.767) during his time with the Wildcats.
Heller Reaches a Baker’s Dozen
With her victory at the Wildcat Invitational with a toss of 64-01.25, sophomore Laci Heller has now won 13 career weight throw titles. The Meriden, Kan., native has surpassed the NCAA Indoor provisional mark in 12 of her 14 career meets.
Heller has also surpassed 60 feet in every competition during her career.
Maurer Zips to Provisional Status
Sophomore Lisi Maurer provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships during the KSU-KU-MU Triangular. The Salzburg, Austria product broke the tape in 8.41 to win her first hurdles title this season.
Maurer provisionally qualified for last season’s Indoor Championships, but was not selected. She currently holds the school-record in the 60-meter hurdles with a clocking of 8.32 during the 2004 Big 12 Indoor Championships
Thomas Provisionally Qualifies in 400
Senior Shunte Thomas captured her first 400-meter dash crown of the 2006 season at the Arkansas Invitational with a clocking of 53.94. The time provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The title for the product of Coral Springs, Fla., was the first since the Sevigne Husker Invitational on Feb. 5, 2005, in which she recorded the second-fastest 400 time in school history of 53.44.
Eveland Vaults to Big 12 Weekly Honor
The Big 12 Conference announced its first recipients of the weekly track and field athlete of the week honor on Tuesday, with Kansas State senior Breanna Eveland earning the nod on the women’s side. The citation is the second of Eveland’s indoor career.
Eveland became Kansas State’s first NCAA Indoor Championship automatic qualifier for the 2006 season on Friday afternoon at the Arkansas Invitational. Eveland finished tied for the top clearance at 13-09.25, but due to misses on her first two attempts fell into second place. The effort ties Eveland’s own school record height, which she set at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center and places her atop the 2006 Big 12 performance list in the event by nearly a foot.
Moore Deep in a Blog
Senior distance runner Joe Moore is providing an insight to the 2005 cross country season and 2006 track and field season with an on-line journal at www.trackshark.com. Moore is a frequent visitor to the site and saw the opportunity on the site to become a contributor.
To see what is on Moore’s mind, just visit www.trackshark.com and click on Journals.’
