K-State Track Signs Four to NLI’s During Fall Signing Period
Nov 17, 2017 | Track & Field
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State track and field and cross country teams received National Letters of Intent from four signees during the 2017 fall signing period, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto has announced.
The signing class is made up of three distance runners and a decathlete, including Kerby Depenbusch (distance), David Lutgen (distance), Aaron Booth (decathlon) and Karley Larson (distance).
"I was impressed with who these kids are as people, and their recommendations from high school coaches. They made an impression on us when they came for their visit," Cross Country Head Coach Ryun Godfrey said of the distance runners. "They are all very good students, and will bring good experiences for track and cross country."
Two of the signees, Depenbusch and Lutgen, hail from the state of Kansas, while Larson comes to K-State from Iowa and Booth comes from New Zealand. Booth will join the K-State Track and Field team during the 2018 spring semester, while Depenbusch, Lutgen, and Larson will enroll for the Fall 2018 semester.
Kerby Depenbusch | Distance |Great Bend High School | Great Bend, Kansas
Depenbusch joins K-State after a successful prep career at Great Bend High School, where he was the runner-up at the 2017 KSHSAA Class 5A Cross Country Championship with a time of 15:41.20 and the runner-up in the 3200-meter run at the 2017 KSHSAA Track and Field Championships, coming in at a personal best 9:33.18.
Personal Bests:
800 Meter Run: 2:05.48
1600 Meter Run: 4:27.56
3200 Meter Run: 9:33.18
David Lutgen | Distance | St. John's Catholic School | Beloit, Kansas
Lutgen comes to K-State after an impressive 2017 campaign at St. John's Catholic School in Beloit, Kansas, where he recently won the KSHSAA Class 1A Cross Country Championship in 16:22.3, and was the runner-up in 2016 (16:26.14). On the track, Lutgen finished third in the 3200 meters (9:47.71) at the 2017 KSHSAA Class 1A Track and Field Championship, and fourth in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:30.11.
Personal Bests:
1600 Meter Run: 4:30.11
3200 Meter Run: 9:46.82
Aaron Booth | Decathlon | Massey University | Auckland, New Zealand
Booth is the sole international signee for K-State during the fall season, as he boasts a number of accolades from his native country of New Zealand, including a third-place finish at the World University Games in Taipei City, Taiwan, where he scored 7,523 points in the decathlon, a personal-best and sixth-best score all-time in New Zealand Athletics history. Booth has represented New Zealand at numerous international events, including a third-place finish in the decathlon at the 2017 Australian Decathlon Championships (7,246 points) and a first-place finish (7,138 points) at the 2017 Queensland Decathlon Championships in Brisbane, Australia.
Personal Bests:
100 Meter Dash: 11.12
400 Meter Dash: 49.75
1500 Meter Run: 4:32.11
110 Meter Hurdles: 15.68
High Jump: 2.02m/6-7.5
Pole Vault: 4.20m/13-9.25
Long Jump: 7.17m/23-6.25
Shot Put: 13.49m/44-3.25
Discus Throw: 43.43m/142-6
Javelin Throw: 62.44m/204-10
Decathlon: 7,523 points
Karley Larson | Distance |Underwood High School | Underwood, Iowa
Larson signs with K-State as a three-time state qualifier in cross country and a two-time state qualifier at Underwood High School in Underwood, Iowa. In 2017, Larson finished seventh in the Iowa Class 2A Cross Country Championships with a time of 19:25.6, and seventh in the 3000 meters at the Iowa Class 2A Track and Field State Championships with a personal-best time of 10:37.04.
Indoor Personal Bests:
800 Meter Run: 2:31.68
1500 Meter Run: 5:06.37
3000 Meter Run: 10:50.62
Outdoor Personal Bests:
800 Meter Run: 2:27.62
1500 Meter Run: 4:49.54
300 Meter Run: 10:37.04
For the latest on K-State track and field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
