Wildcats Head to Des Moines for Drake Relays
Apr 22, 2014 | Track & Field
April 22, 2014
Meet Central
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Track and Field heads to Des Moines, Iowa, this week for the 105th annual Drake Relays. Running from April 23-27, the five-day meet will play host to some of the best athletes, both collegiately and professionally, in track and field today.
Action for the Wildcats is scheduled tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., with Erica Twiss competing in her second heptathlon of the 2014 outdoor season. Live results will be provided by Drake University and can be found by visiting the university’s athletic home page. A link to the results will also be available on the K-State Track and Field schedule page under the meet’s respective tab.
#KStateTF Quick Hits
• Both the men’s and women’s squads remain within the Division I Top-50 following the release of the USTFCCCA’s Week #3 Outdoor rankings. Posted this past week, the Wildcat men slot in at No. 50 in DI, while the women are 17 spots higher at No. 33.
In the regional rankings, the women’s team slid from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Midwest Region while the men’s spot remains unchanged at No. 6. This will be the last time that preseason marks will be incorporated in both the national and regional polls this season by the USTFCCCA.
• As mentioned above, Erica Twiss kicks off action this week for the Wildcats in the heptathlon. Twiss has performed extremely well so far this season, setting personal bests in the 200 meter dash, 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles. She finished sixth in her only heptathlon this season at the Sam Adams Multi in Santa Barbara, Calif. Twiss’ final score of 5,340 at the Multi was only eight points away from her career-best mark of 5,348, set at last season’s Jim Click Shootout.
The senior enters the Relays’ multi-event with the highest-ranked DI heptathlon score out of the 24 total entries. Slotting in at No. 26, Twiss, along with Paige Knodle of Northern Iowa (No. 29), Nikki Larch-Miller of Wichita State (No. 32) and Mississippi’s Mary Nall (No. 67), are the only athletes with top-100 DI marks.
• The Drake Relays officially got started this past Monday with the High Jump at Hy-Vee. Taking place within an actual Hy-Vee grocery store, the produce section to be exact, the first-ever High Jump at Hy-Vee drew a crowd of approximately 1,000 people. Among the 10 competitors, five men and five women, was former Wildcat Erik Kynard.
The K-State All-American did not disappoint, outlasting long-time collegiate foe Derek Drouin to take the first in the exhibition event. Both jumpers finished the event clearing 2.28m/7-06.00, with Kynard edging Drouin on missed attempts. Click here for a full recap of the event and here for video coverage by CNN.
• Lastly, along with Twiss, K-State will bring a group of roughly 20 or so Wildcats to partake in competition beginning on Thursday. Among the notable athletes expected to compete will be Sara Savatovic in only her third meet this season, as well as Devin Field making his outdoor debut in the horizontal jumps. Savatovic currently has the fifth-best mark in the hammer throw in Division I, while Field recorded top-five finishes for the Wildcats in both the long and triple jump at Big 12s this past indoor season.
Rankings N’at
(Please Note: Only marks in the Top-50 DI, Top-50 DI West and Top-20 Big 12 are displayed according to TFRRS – converted marks are not used)
• Men
| Athlete | Event | Mark | Division I | DI West | Big 12 |
| Carlos Rodriguez | 200M | 20.83 | 37th | 14th | 8th |
| Zack Riley | High Jump | 2.15m/7-00.50 | 24th | 14th | 3rd |
| Kyle Wait | Pole Vault | 5.35m/17-06.50 | 19th | 13th | 3rd |
| Jharyl Bowry | Long Jump | 7.56m/24-09.75 | 32nd | 20th | 2nd |
| Devin Dick | Long Jump | 7.47m/24-06.25 | 46th | 27th | 4th |
| Reinis Kregers | Decathlon | 7304 | 16th | 10th | 2nd |
| Devin Dick | Decathlon | 7138 | 22nd | 13th | 3rd |
• Women
| Athlete | Event | Mark | Division I | DI West | Big 12 |
| Erica Twiss | 100M | 11.56 | 45th | 21st | 5th |
| Sonia Gaskin | 400M | 53.94 | 49th | 24th | 6th |
| 800M | 2:07.38 | 29th | 20th | 5th | |
| Erica Twiss | 100H | 13.44 | 35th | 15th | 4th |
| 400H | 58.28 | 14th | 6th | 3rd | |
| Martina Tresch | 3000M Steeplechase | 10:16.08 | 19th | 9th | 2nd |
| 4x400 | 3:36.73 | 30th | 17th | 4th | |
| Alyx Treasure | High Jump | 1.85m/6-00.75 | 3rd | 1st | 1st |
| Joslyn Barnes | High Jump | 1.81m/5-11.25 | 11th | 3rd | 2nd |
| Dani Winters | Shot Put | 15.75m/51-08.25 | 38th | 20th | 5th |
| Sara Savatovic | Hammer Throw | 65.19m/213-10 | 5th | 2nd | 1st |
| Danie Plank | Javelin | 51.00m/167-04 | 15th | 7th | 4th |
| Erica Twiss | Heptathlon | 5340 | 26th | 16th | 3rd |
| Merryl Mbeng | Heptathlon | 5170 | 44th | 27th | 4th |
| Joslyn Barnes | Heptathlin | 5161 | 45th | 18th | 5th |
What’s Next?
The Wildcats close the outdoor regular season with back-to-back home meets. First up will be the Ward Haylett Invitational on May 3 as K-State will play host to Air Force Academy, Kansas and Wichita State in a team scored meet. Admission to the Invitational is free and will kick off at 11 a.m., with the women’s javelin throw. More information on the first of two Wildcat home meets at R.V. Christian Track Complex can be found by visiting www.k-statesports.com.
