SE: K-State T&F Qualifies 15 Athletes to NCAA Championship

Qualifying for the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Oregon, is among the highest of highs in college athletics, for an abundance of reasons. For one, getting there is not easy.

What happens before the West and East NCAA Preliminary meets doesn't matter once they begin. The top-12 athletes in each event, from each meet, advance to nationals, leaving no room for an off day. As a result, nerves build to extreme levels and are relieved in a few seconds, for better or worse.

K-State will send 15 athletes — 13 for individual events and a relay team — to the prestigious TrackTown USA complex in Eugene after leaving last weekend's West Preliminary meet in Austin, Texas, with a surplus of memorable performances.

Multiple K-State school records were broken — sometimes more than once — as was the case in the men's hammer throw.

K-State junior Mitch Dixon twice broke the Wildcats' hammer throw record en route to his seventh-place finish to qualify for the national meet on June 7-10. Teammates Brady Grunder and Kyle Smith joined Dixon in the top-12, making K-State the first school to send three men to nationals in the hammer throw since Virginia Tech in 2011.

"I cannot believe the season that we have had," Dixon said. "It's incredible to have such amazing training partners and have the best coach in the NCAA behind me. I'm speechless."

With the qualification of freshman Helene Ingvaldsen and junior Janee' Kassanavoid in the women's hammer throw, K-State became only the second school (Southern Illinois, 2010) in the last 10 years to send more than four athletes to nationals in the event between both teams.

"I am just really proud of all five of them. They just compete. We talked all year along about competing with our hearts and they did that. I know it is pretty special for them, but it's really pretty special for me, too," K-State throws coach Greg Watson said. "This meet is tough. To get five out of five hammer throwers through to Eugene is a pretty incredible experience."

Speaking of incredible, the K-State women's 4x100-meter relay team of Akia Guerrier, A'Keyla Mitchell, Ranae McKenzie and Wurrie Njadoe, broke a school record on Saturday with a time of 44.20. With it, the quartet finished sixth and secured the program's first trip to nationals in the 4x100.

"I'm really grateful for that, and the fact that we broke a school record, I'm really excited for that," Guerrier said. "Being a freshman and being part of a team that broke a school record, it's an awesome feeling."

Six of K-State's 13 individual qualifiers will make their first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championship, including four freshmen in Konstantina Romaiou (triple jump), Nina Schultz (heptathlon), Njadoe (long jump) and Ingvaldsen.

"I'm really, really excited," Ingvaldsen, a native of Norway, said after recording a personal-best throw in the West Preliminary meet. "It was my goal for the whole year to qualify for nationals. To throw so well and qualify to nationals has made me really happy."

"I feel great. This is awesome," Njadoe, who grew up in Seattle, Washington, added of qualifying to the national meet. "I will have a lot of family there, so I'm very excited. I'm feeling so blessed to be able to make it to Eugene as a freshman."

Smith, a senior, didn't enter the meet with the luxury of having another year if he missed qualifying, which made his performance a little sweeter. The Topeka native grabbed the final qualification spot in the hammer throw to extend his K-State career, recording a new personal-best mark in the process.

"Five years of hard work… it takes it to get to the big house," he said, eager for his first taste of nationals. "It's the last meet of my career, so I have to hit it and hit it hard, and just keep going at it."

After missing a bid to nationals by one centimeter last year, Shardia Lawrence successfully completed her shot at redemption. The sophomore triple jumper finished fifth to join her twin sister, Shadae Lawrence (discus), in next week's trip to Oregon.

"What happened last year, that's what really motivated me because I knew I can do it and I knew I had it in me, but I did the work," Shardia Lawrence said. "Sure enough, I came up here and I secured my spot."

Seven Wildcats — Shadae Lawrence, Brett Neelly (shot put), Christoff Bryan (high jump), McKenzie (400-meter hurdles), Kassanavoid, Dixon and Grunder — return to the NCAA Outdoor Championship with experience, higher expectations and an understanding of what it takes to perform well.

"It will hopefully shake off some of the nerves in the beginning," said Neelly, a sophomore who finished eighth in the shot put at the national meet last season. "I want to try to be one of the guys that knows what he is doing, not one of the kids that is star struck when they're in Oregon."

"This year, I am way more confident than last year heading into nationals," added McKenzie, who finished 23rd in the 400 hurdles last year. "I know what to do and what to expect. Hopefully this year I am able to perform at my best and become an All-American."

K-State Qualifications

Women

Nina Schultz — Heptathlon

Helene Ingvaldsen — Hammer Throw

Janee' Kassanavoid — Hammer Throw

Wurrie Njadoe — Long Jump

Shardia Lawrence — Triple Jump

Konstantina Romaiou — Triple Jump

Shadae Lawrence — Discus

Ranae McKenzie — 400-meter hurdles

4x100-meter relay — Akia Guerrier, A'Keyla Mitchell, Ranae McKenzie, Wurrie Njadoe

Men

Brady Grunder — Hammer Throw

Mitch Dixon — Hammer Throw

Kyle Smith — Hammer Throw

Brett Neelly — Shot Put

Christoff Bryan — High Jump

With the summer months upon us, K-State Sports Extra shifts to a three-day schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) beginning this week. We will move back to our regular five-day schedule in early August as we get set for another exciting athletics year

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: K-State T&F Qualifies 15 Athletes to NCAA Championship

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