MANHATTAN, Kan. Kansas State track and field earned its second Big 12 Athlete of the Week selection on Tuesday afternoon, as senior Christian Smith was tabbed with his first career Big 12 honor after his record-breaking performance at the Sevigne Husker Invitational.
The native of Garfield, Kan., broke a 20-year old national collegiate record while winning the men’s 1,000-meter run. Smith broke the national mark with a clocking of 2:19.57 and finished over seven seconds ahead of runner-up Chad Bergen of North Dakota State. Smith broke the previous collegiate mark set by Doug Consiglio of Arkansas in 1986 of 2:19.64.
The time also broke the following records (previous mark): the Kansas State record (2:20.24 Smith, 2004), the Bob Devaney Sports Center record (2:20.24 Smith, 2004, Big 12 Championships) and the Sevigne Husker Invitational record (2:25.20 Jeff Pigg, Missouri, 1985).
K-State’s first Big 12 citation came on Jan. 17, as senior Breanna Eveland was tagged with the first female distinction of the 2006 season. The Wildcats join Texas Tech and Texas with multiple winners of the honor this season.
The Wildcats will be in action this weekend at the ISU Classic in
Ames, Iowa.
