K-State Hosts Inaugural DeLoss Dodds Invitational
Jan 22, 2015 | Track & Field
Action this weekend is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the women’s weight throw and continue into the afternoon on the track. 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. Up-to-the-minute results can also be found by following @kstate_gameday under #KStateTF and for further information on the meet itself, including the meet schedule and heat sheets, visit the track homepage at www.k-statesports.com.
What to Watch For…
This weekend’s meet honors former Wildcat standout student-athlete, coach and athletics director DeLoss Dodds. Dodds, who along with serving as athletic director from 1977-81, both competed and coached K-State Track and Field, playing a major role in helping the Wildcat men’s program gain national notoriety. During his time with track and field, Dodds captured three Big Eight titles as a student-athlete, as well as coached the men’s cross country and track and field squads to a combined eight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships in his 12 seasons as coach. Formally announced this past October, further information on the honoring of Dodds can be found here.
As for competition this Saturday, K-State will look to build off a solid showing at last weekend’s KSU-KU-WSU Triangular that saw the Wildcats men’s and women’s squads combine to win the in-state showdown. Both Oklahoma State and Tulsa will look to provide a healthy dose of competition for the ‘Cats, with the Cowboys, in particular, already having paid a visit to Manhattan in December for the K-State Winter Invitational. Oklahoma State also boasts an impressive all-around squad with its men’s and women’s teams ranking no. 31 and 13, respectively, according to the Preseason USTFCCCA DI Rankings. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have the no. 68-ranked men’s team and no. 12-ranked women’s team Tulsa’s men’s team is ranked no. 81 heading into this meet.
#KStateTF Quick Hits
• Thanks to the combined winning effort over the Shockers and Jayhawks last week, both the Wildcat men’s and women’s teams took top-10 spots in the first Track and Field News Collegiate Dual-Meet Rankings of the year. The women, who improved to 2-0, rank third in the country, while the men, also 2-0, placed no. 10 overall. Both teams’ rankings are notable compared to their fellow Big 12 schools as well, with the women holding the highest spot of any school in the Big 12 and the men being one of only two schools in the conference to hold a top-10 spot. Further information on the Wildcats’ fast start in dual competition can be found here.
• The Wildcat women’s throws group has opened the season rolling on all cylinders with Sara Savatovic, Janee' Kassanavoid and Dani Winters all holding top-50 Division I marks in their respective events. Savatovic, who has won two-straight in the hammer throw, is no. 18 in the nation in the weight throw to date, while Kassanavoid also cracked the DI top-50 (no. 39) thanks to her third-straight consecutive PR effort. Winters, on the other hand, has already PRed in both the weight throw and shot put this season, with her shot put mark of 16.19m/53-01.50, in particular, being the 11th-best mark in DI so far. All three throwers hold top-five weight throw marks in the Big 12 as well.
• Lastly, an early theme for the Wildcats this season has been the success of several newcomers on both the men’s and women’s side. For the women, along with the aforementioned Kassanavoid, a transfer from Johnson County CC, they have already had four new additions crack the K-State indoor top-10 in their respective events, including school record showings from freshman A'Keyla Mitchell in the 60m and 200m and junior-transfer Akela Jones in the 60H. Not to mention along with Jones (60m, 60H, HJ, LJ), Kassanavoid (WT) and Mitchell (60m, 200m), freshmen Nija Collier (TJ), Rhizlane Siba (HJ) and junior-transfer Kim Williamson (HJ) all hold top-50 DI marks in their respective events.
On the men’s side, freshmen Christoff Bryan, Thilina Karunaratne, Nate Gipson and Terrell Smith have all began the season with standout performances. Smith, on the track, has cracked the K-State indoor top-10 in both the 60m and 200m and holds the 14th-fastest DI time in the 200m at 21.57 seconds. For the other three, all have competed in the high jump with varying degrees of success. Karunaratne, a native of Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, kicked off his K-State career with a victory in the event at the Winter Invitational. Meanwhile, Bryan and Gipson finished 1-2 at last week’s Triangular, cracking the DI top-10 in the process, with Bryan, in particular, debuting to a cleared height of 2.25m/7-04.50 – tied for sixth-best in school history and the second best mark in all of Division I.
Rankings N’at
(Please Note: Only marks in the Top-50 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 | 40th | 6th |
| 200m | Terrell Smith | 21.57 | 14th | 3rd |
| Carlos Rodriguez | 21.81 | 29th | 6th | |
| 400m | Christopher Campbell | 48.65 | 34th | 2nd |
| 800m | Logan Smith | 1:53.99 | 31st | 2nd |
| Kain Ellis | 1:54.38 | 41st | 5th | |
| 4x400 | 3:16.23 | 24th | 4th | |
| High Jump | Christoff Bryan | 2.25m/7-04.50 | 2nd | 1st |
| Nate Gipson | 2.19m/7-02.25 | 6th | 3rd | |
| Zack Riley | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-30th | T-6th | |
| Miles Bearden | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-30th | T-6th | |
| Thilina Karunaratne | 2.10m/6-10.75 | T-30th | T-6th | |
| Pole Vault | Tommy Brady | 5.07m/16-07.50 | 41st | 7th |
| Long Jump | Devin Field | 7.48m/24-06.50 | 12th | 1st |
| Tyris Jefferson | 7.24m/23-09.00 | 37th | 2nd | |
| Triple Jump | Devin Field | 15.43m/50-07.50 | 12th | 1st |
Women
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Division I | Big 12 |
| 60m | A'Keyla Mitchell | 7.40 | 18th | 3rd |
| Akela Jones | 7.47 | 32nd | 5th | |
| 200m | A'Keyla Mitchell | 23.96 | 3rd | 1st |
| 400m | Tia' Gamble | 55.72 | 17th | 3rd |
| 800m | Sonia Gaskin | 2:08.12 | 3rd | 1st |
| Erica Twiss | 2:14.32 | 37th | 3rd | |
| Mile | Mary Frances Donnelly | 4:56.82 | 38th | 2nd |
| 60H | Akela Jones | 8.17 | 2nd | 1st |
| Erica Twiss | 8.31 | 9th | 2rd | |
| 4x400 | 3:37.98 | 1st | 1st | |
| High Jump | Rhizlane Siba | 1.81m/5-11.25 | 6th | 1st |
| Akela Jones | 1.80m/5-10.75 | 8th | 2nd | |
| Kim Williamson | 1.78m/5-10.00 | 17th | 3rd | |
| Alyx Treasure | 1.73m/5-08.00 | 39th | 6th | |
| Long Jump | Akela Jones | 6.33m/20-09.25 | 4th | 1st |
| Erica Twiss | 5.99m/19-08.00 | 21st | 4th | |
| Triple Jump | Alyssa Kelly | 12.46m/40-10.50 | 16th | 1st |
| Nija Collier | 12.28m/40-03.50 | 30th | 2nd | |
| Shot Put | Dani Winters | 16.19m/53-01.50 | 11th | 2nd |
| Weight Throw | Sara Savatovic | 19.59m/64-03.25 | 18th | 1st |
| Janee' Kassanavoid | 18.72m/61-05.00 | 39th | 4th | |
| Dani Winters | 18.57m/60-11.25 | 43rd | 5th | |
| Pentathlon | Erica Twiss | 4114 | 1st | 1st |
| Joslyn Barnes | 3582 | 11th | 2nd | |
| Sarah Kolmer | 3495 | 17th | 3rd |
What’s Next?
The Wildcats travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico next Saturday, Jan. 31, for the New Mexico Team Invitational – their first of three-straight road meets. K-State will not return home until the third week of February to host the K-State Open for its final meet of the regular season.
