Wildcats Open Indoor Season With Two Home Meets
Dec 08, 2016 | Track & Field
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State track and field team will open the 2016-17 indoor season this weekend as it hosts the Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon on Friday and the K-State Winter Invitational on Saturday in Ahearn Field House.
Friday’s meet is set to kick off at 10 a.m., CT, with men’s pentathlon 60 meter hurdles, while Saturday’s action will begin at 11 a.m., CT, with the women’s weight throw and the women’s long jump. Admission to both meets is free.
“As far as this weekend goes, it is always a pretty low-key affair,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said about this weekend’s meets. “There are four or five schools other than ourselves. Not all of our kids will compete, but the majority will do something.”
At last season’s Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon, former Wildcat Adam Deterding took first place for the second-straight season after trailing heading into the final event. Current junior Max Estill took fourth place in the meet with a total score of 3,113 points.
The following day, the Wildcats swept the competition to finish in first place at the K-State Winter Invitational as the men finished with 67 points and the women finished with 66 points. Overall, K-State finished last season’s meet with 12 first-place finishes and numerous personal bests.
“We have got kids doing the pentathlon this year on both the men’s and women’s side and I think there will be some decent marks there,” Rovelto said. “With some of the throwers, we expect to see some pretty respectable marks as well and I think there will be some decent marks on the track for it being this early in the season.”
K-State heads into the indoor season after a strong showing indoors last year, highlighted by Indoor NCAA National Championships by former Wildcats Akela Jones (high jump) and Dani Winters (shot put).
The Wildcats were equally impressive at the conference level, claiming seven individual Big 12 titles over the two-day meet in Ames, Iowa, to pace third place finishes by both the men (98.5 points) and the women (107.42 points). Of the title winners from last season, senior Brady Grunder (weight throw) and junior Christoff Bryan (high jump) both return this season looking to defend their crowns.
“We are going to view this weekend’s meets as a break from training,” Rovelto added. “It is going to be fun. However, I do think we will see some quality marks out of both meets as well.”
Live results for the meet will be provided by Heartland Timing and can be found here, while more information on the meet can be found on kstatesports.com by clicking here.
For the latest on K-State track and field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
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