SE: K-State Track and Field Holds High Expectations Entering Indoor Season
Dec 08, 2016 | Track & Field
Looking at what the K-State women's track and field team lost from last year's indoor season, it can be easy to assume there will be a scoring decline in the 2016-17 campaign.
Head coach Cliff Rovelto sees things differently, however.
"I think our women's team could potentially be just as good or better than we were a year ago," Rovelto, entering his 25th season as K-State's head coach, said. "Obviously when you lose some of the people that we lost to graduation, most people would think maybe there's a little bit of a step back, but I just don't see it."
K-State's women lost a number of key contributors from last season, when the Wildcats finished third at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and eighth at the NCAA Championships. Dani Winters won an indoor national title in the shot put for K-State as a senior, but Akela Jones accounts for an even bigger loss. Jones won three individual Big 12 titles and a national title in the high jump during the indoor season.
Still, Rovelto is confident in the improvement of his returning athletes as well as the newcomers to collectively make up for what the team graduated.
"Have we replaced Akela Jones? No. Certainly not in the form of one body, but by committee, I don't know that we haven't," he said. "When you look at some of the other younger people that have improved significantly over the last year, in addition to some of the other (newcomers), I think that we could score just as many, if not more, points than we did a year ago at the conference meet. From a national perspective, if the key people are healthy, and again, it'll be done in a different way, obviously, but I think we can score just as many points as we did a year ago."
K-State returns a significant number of scorers from last season. Kim Williamson finished second in the high jump and third at nationals. Janee' Kassanavoid finished her junior season with a third-place weight throw at the Big 12 meet, where Rhizlane Siba notched a third-place finish in the high jump.
As far as newcomers go, Rovelto said he'd be "shocked" if multi-events freshman Nina Schultz, part of the 2016 Canadian World Junior team, didn't compete at the national meet this season. He added that Ariel Okorie, Lauren Taubert and Morgan Coffman, three more multi-event freshmen, would also be factors at the conference level.
"So you have four freshmen for indoors that are going to be very competitive at the conference level," he said, "and eventually the national level."
Elsewhere on the track, Rovelto pointed out Konstantina Romaiou, who finished second in the triple jump at the 2016 U20 World Championships in Poland, and Helene Ingvaldsen (weight throw) out of Norway as new faces who could make sizable impacts this season.
"Those are all really high-quality athletes," Rovelto said. "Helene, we'll see how she adapts to the weight (throw) because she really hasn't thrown the weight previously, but Coach (Greg Watson) feels like she's looked really good in what little she's done so far. Janee' is kind of at another level in the weight. She's going to be very tough to beat by anyone in our conference. Those folks in the field events are going to be very good."
Ranae and Shanae McKenzie, twins from Jamaica, also received high praise from Rovelto. Ranae, he said, has vastly improved in the hurdle events while Shanae should contribute in the high jump and some relay events as well.
"I think there's a number of people new and returning who are just a lot better than they were a year ago," Rovelto said. "We'll be pretty solid."
On the men's side, Rovelto said he anticipates better team finishes as well.
K-State's men bring back Big 12 champs in Christoff Bryan (high jump) and Brady Grunder (weight throw), who now eye a run to defend their conference titles and more this season.
"I definitely want compete for another Big 12 Championship. I think it's doable again. Nationals is definitely on my radar and the school record is on the radar too," said Grunder, who set his personal record (20.49 meters) in the weight throw at the conference meet last season. "I'm hoping to go 22 meters, but I won't be mad if I go anything over 21; that pretty much gets you to nationals."
Grunder, a senior, said he expects to be pushed again by K-State's deep pool of weight throwers, including Kyle Smith and Mitchell Dixon. Additionally, Grunder said he anticipates bigger marks out of Brett Neelly, fifth in the shot put at Big 12s last season, and Jayce Brack, 11th as a freshman.
"They're going to be right there pushing me and I'm going to hopefully push them," Grunder said. "We have returning talent that's gotten better and better."
K-State's men bolster plenty of talent on the track, too.
Kain Ellis finished third at Big 12s in the 800-meter run last season, Kurt Loevenstein placed fifth in the 1,000-meter race and Lukas Koch came in sixth in the mile run. Terrell Smith, a junior, recorded a fourth-place finish in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes at the conference meet last season.
"I think that we'll be a little bit better than we were a year ago, overall. Part of that is based on people that are just coming into the program, so you just have to see how they adapt, and some of those are guys who are coming in midyear," Rovelto said of K-State's men, who finished third at the conference meet last season. "I think the new kids that were with us this fall definitely add a dimension that we didn't have last year. There were events last year where we didn't have entries and now we know we're going to have entries, and they're quality athletes."
K-State's indoor season opens at home this weekend. The Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon will take place Friday in Ahearn Field House, where the K-State Winter Invitational will be held on Saturday.
"It's always a pretty low-key affair. There are four or five schools other than us. Not all of our kids will compete but the majority will do something. It's kind of a break from training," Rovelto said. "It's fun, but I do think we'll see some quality marks out of it as well."
Grunder said he's certainly ready for a break in training to get out and compete.
"You can't ever get past practicing if you want to be good, obviously, at any sport, but it's been a long semester," he said. "We're ready to get started for indoor season."
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