SE: K-State Track and Field Ends Historic Season on High Note at NCAA Championships

K-State's track and field team maintained its national prominence in a few events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last weekend in Eugene, Oregon, namely the men's high jump and the heptathlon. Meanwhile, the Wildcat women joined a small and prestigious group of programs with their collective performance.

Christoff Bryan added to K-State's storied high jump history, claiming the program's fifth outdoor men's high jump title in the last 11 years.

Shadae Lawrence continued her torrid season, coming up clutch to win K-State's first discus title ever. She was one of eight Wildcat women to contribute toward the team's 25 points to place ninth, K-State's third-straight top-10 finish at the outdoor meet — a feat only six other schools have accomplished during that stretch.

"The girls finished what has been a very good year on an even higher note," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said about the women's team's effort in Eugene.

Including national indoor meets, Bryan had finished fifth, second and third in his last three NCAA Championships, respectively. On Friday, the junior out of Jamaica cleared 2.21m/7-03 to add his name along with Erik Kynard Jr., Nathan Leeper and Scott Sellers — two Olympians and an eight-time All-American, respectively — of K-State men's high jumpers to win outdoor national titles.

"I am really happy for this win. It has been a tough outdoor season for me so far. I've been working really hard for this," Bryan said. "Once you are mentally tough, you can achieve anything."

"All that matters throughout the season is physically being ready and prepared to perform well at the NCAA Championships," Rovelto added of Bryan. "Christoff did just that. He is a gamer and came out and competed hard and got the job done."

Lawrence, who placed first at every meet this season, claimed her first national title on her final throw on Saturday to finish a seven-win season that included winning a Big 12 title, breaking her own school record and the Jamaican national record. The sophomore's last attempt on Saturday landed at 61.37m/201-04, more than four feet farther than the second-place finisher.

"During my last throw, I knew I had to have a big mark," Lawrence said. "I had to get in a good position and throw with more intensity, and that is what I did. All I was thinking was that I had to get over the 60-meter line. When I saw that it went over the line, I went crazy."

Bryan and Lawrence's pair of titles mark the fourth time in five years that at least one K-State track and field athlete won an outdoor national title. It's only the third time in school history that multiple Wildcats claimed individual championships at the national outdoor meet, the last time being in 2011.

Nina Schultz joined them in the realm of rarity, as the true freshman finished second in the heptathlon with 5,959 points. The Canadian became K-State's first true freshman to earn First Team All-America honors in the heptathlon.

"It feels good to improve on my finish from the indoor season," said Schultz, who finished third in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships. "In the end, it was not about points but competing against the other athletes in the field. I am going to learn from this experience, as it was only my first Outdoor NCAA Championships. I am looking forward to getting back to work next season."

Janee' Kassanavoid (hammer throw) and Wurrie Njadoe (long jump), who also earned First Team All-America honors, will be returning next season to a loaded K-State women's team as well.

Kassanavoid, a junior, used her first throw in the finals (66.58m/218-05) on Thursday to place fourth and pick up five points. In her second outdoor national meet, Kassanavoid recorded the best series of her career. The school record holder and 2017 Big 12 Champion launched four of the top-five farthest throws of her career in Eugene.

"It was such a good feeling," Kassanavoid said. "I knew I had to come in and give it all I had. Getting up to 66 meters, it was such a good feeling."

Unlike some of her teammates, Njadoe broke out her best to start. The true freshman's first long jump attempt (6.36m/20-10.50) placed her eighth, making her the fourth K-State women's long jumper in program history to score at the national meet and the first since Nina Kokot in 2011.

"I'm just so grateful to make it this far and to at least place, especially in the top eight," Njadoe said. "I'm just grateful to be here."

"I am very proud of the way that Wurrie competed," horizontal jumps coach Vincent Johnson added of Njadoe. "Being the competitor that she is, I am sure it is bittersweet to come in eighth place. But, to come in here as a true freshman and leave as a First Team All-American, in a field as stacked and experienced as this one was, is great. I am sure she will carry this momentum into the summer and next season and be ready to be a solid sophomore."

The Wildcat women's 4x100-meter relay team, already making the program's first appearance at the NCAA Championships in the event, rounded out the team's scoring with an eighth-place finish. The group of Akia Guerrier, A'Keyla Mitchell, Ranae McKenzie and Claudette Allen — a freshman, two sophomores and a junior — ran a time of 44.27 to advance to the finals, where they came in at 45.00 to contribute a point to the team. It is only the second K-State women's relay team of any kind to score at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, joining the Wildcats' eight-place 4x400-meter relay group from 2014.

"Nearly everyone finished as high or higher than their seed coming into the meet," Rovelto said. "For Shadae to win a national title as a sophomore and Nina to finish runner-up as a true freshman is special stuff. It is also the third-consecutive top-10 finish for the women at the NCAA Championships, which is also very special."

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SE: K-State Track and Field Ends Historic Season on High Note at NCAA Championships

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