K-State Hosts Kansas, Wichita State in Triangular
Jan 15, 2015 | Track & Field
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Track and Field returns home to host its first meet of the New Year this Saturday, Jan. 17, welcoming Kansas and Wichita State to Ahearn Field House for the KSU-KU-WSU Triangular. The meet, which will score each school individually with a winning school announced at the conclusion of competition, brings back the annual triangular to Manhattan, where the Wildcats, Jayhawks and then-Missouri competed for “The Jug” from 1989-2006.
Action is expected to kick off at 11 a.m., with the women’s weight throw and continue through the afternoon, concluding on the track with the men’s 4x400 relay. Live results will be available the day of the meet courtesy of www.heartlandtiming.com with a link to available on the K-State Track and Field schedule page under the meet’s respective tab. Further information such as heat sheets, meets records and the meet schedule can also be found on the track homepage and for up-to-the minute results follow @kstate_gameday under #KStateTF.
What to Watch For…
This weekend’s meet provides a unique early season test for the Wildcats as the format allows for only 26 athletes to be entered per institution in a competition that includes 16 events each on the men’s and women’s sides. Along with the high probability that several athletes will have to double-up or more in events, only the top two finishers from each school in each respective event will be scored, adding another element of strategy to the fray for the coaches.
As mentioned before, competition should be fierce as the ‘Cats, Jayhawks and Shockers will battle for state supremacy and the triangular trophy with the program’s men’s and women’s squads being scored collectively to determine a winner. Historically, prior to the inclusion of Wichita State, K-State has dominated this meet, winning the final eight meetings and 15 of 17 overall in the triangular’s history. In fact, the most recent triangular in 2006 saw the Wildcats take home “the Jug” in Lawrence, narrowly defeating KU 265-to-240.5 thanks to winning efforts from former K-State greats Breanna Eveland, Marianne Schlachter, Kyle Lancaster and Christian Smith.
The Wildcats enter this Saturday’s competition with the No. 12-ranked women’s team in the nation, according to the USTFCCCA DI Preseason Rankings – their highest ranking ever since the rankings started in 2008 – and the No. 68-ranked men’s team. Meanwhile, Kansas boasts the No. 72 women’s team and No. 100 men’s team and Wichita State the No. 84 women’s squad and No. 112 men’s team.
#KStateTF Quick Hits
• FloTrack finished up its 2015 NCAA Indoor Preview this past week with newcomer Akela Jones, as well as returning All-American Alyx Treasure being recognized as potential title contenders. In the high jump, Treasure was tagged as a “Favorite” for the title. The senior is coming off a 2014 outdoor campaign that saw her finish as a runner-up for the outdoor national title, while also snagging the Canadian National Championship with a career-best height cleared, and second-best mark in school history, of 1.89m/6-02.25.
For Jones, she made appearances on both the high jump and 60-meter hurdles list. In the former, she was tabbed as “The Dark Horse” for the title, as the transfer from Oklahoma Baptist has already nabbed a first-place finish in the event this season and holds a personal best mark of 1.87m/6-01.50. Jones has had even greater success in the hurdles this season, earning her “Contender” status by FloTrack. She broke the school record in her first meet of the season and her time of 8.17 currently ranks No. 2 in all of Division I.
Links to the FloTrack high jump and 60H previews can be found here and here, respectively.
• While still extremely early in the season, several Wildcats have begun to make a push to qualify for NCAAs in Fayetteville, Arkansas, this March. Jones and Erica Twiss lead the way with their marks in the 60-meter hurdles and pentathlon, respectively, already slotting ahead of the qualifying cutoffs from last season – Jones: 8.17-to-8.21 and Twiss: 4,136 (converted)-to-4,043. Also already with top-tier marks this season are A’keyla Mitchell, Rhizlane Siba and Dani Winters. Mitchell’s school record times of 7.40 in the 60m and 23.61 (converted) in the 200m sit just outside of last season’s cutoffs of 7.32 and 23.54, respectively, as does Winters’ PR in the shot put (16.11m-to-16.57m) and Siba’s Moroccan Nat’l record mark in the high jump (1.81m-to-1.82m).
More information on all the prospective qualifying ‘Cats can be found by visiting “The Cutoff” by FloTrack here.
Rankings N'at
(Please Note: Only marks in the Top-25 DI and Top-20 Big 12 are displayed according to TFRRS – converted marks are not used)
Men
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Division I | Big 12 |
| 60m | Terrell Smith | 6.76 | 18th | 1st |
| 200m | Terrell Smith | 21.57 | 3rd | 1st |
| Carlos Rodriguez | 21.81 | 10th | 2nd | |
| 400m | Christopher Campbell | 48.65 | 13th | 1st |
| 800m | Kain Ellis | 1:54.38 | 16th | 1st |
| 4x400 | 3:16.73 | 11th | 2nd | |
| High Jump | Zack Riley | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-13th | T-1st |
| Miles Bearden | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-13th | T-1st | |
| Thilina Karunaratne | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-13th | T-1st |
Women
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Division I | Big 12 |
| 60m | A'keyla Mitchell | 7.40 | 4th | 1st |
| 200m | A'keyla Mitchell | 23.97 | 1st | 1st |
| 400m | Tia' Gamble | 55.72 | 6th | 1st |
| 800m | Erica Twiss | 2:14.32 | 12th | 1st |
| Mile | Mary Frances Donnelly | 4:58.09 | 18th | 1st |
| 3000m | Laura Galvan | 10:03.53 | 21st | 1st |
| 60H | Akela Jones | 8.17 | 2nd | 1st |
| Erica Twiss | 8.47 | 12th | 3rd | |
| 4x400 | 3:38.98 | 1st | 1st | |
| High Jump | Rhizlane Siba | 1.81m/5-11.25 | 4th | 1st |
| Akela Jones | 1.80m/5-10.75 | 8th | 2nd | |
| Long Jump | Erica Twiss | 5.99m/19-08.00 | 11th | 1st |
| Shot Put | Dani Winters | 16.11m/52-10.25 | 6th | 2nd |
| Weight Throw | Sara Savatovic | 18.80m/61-08.25 | 22nd | 2nd |
| Pentathlon | Erica Twiss | 4114 | 1st | 1st |
| Joslyn Barnes | 3582 | 10th | 2nd | |
| Sarah Kolmer | 3495 | 15th | 3rd |
What’s Next?
K-State continues its stretch of back-to-back home meets with inaugural DeLoss Dodds Invitational next weekend. Set to run from Jan. 23 to Jan. 24, the Wildcats will not host another meet until the K-State Open later next month, Feb. 20. More information on next weekend’s invitational can be found by visiting www.k-statesports.com.
