Kassanavoid, Njadoe Snag First Team All-America Honors

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2

EUGENE, Ore. – Janee' Kassanavoid (hammer throw) and Wurrie Njadoe (long jump) each brought home First Team All-America honors in their respective events, while the 4x100-meter relay qualified for the finals in the event for the first time in program history, as the Kansas State women’s track and field team closed out an action-packed Thursday at the NCAA Championships.

Through one day of competition at the national meet, the 10th-ranked Wildcat women are tied for 14th place with Baylor, USC and Memphis with six total points.

Kassanavoid put herself in a good position to make the finals on her first attempt in the series, using mark of 63.64m/208-09 to finish second overall in the first flight. Having to wait for her fate to be sealed by the competitors in flight two, the junior found herself sitting in eighth place after both flights to seal a spot in the hammer throw final for a second-straight season.

The native of Lawson, Missouri, jumped out early in the finals with a big mark of 66.58m/218-05 to leap from eighth place to second place. She did not improve on her mark over the last two attempts to finish the competition in fourth place to claim First Team All-America honors for the first time in her career.

Fellow hammer thrower Helene Ingvaldsen also had a strong day in the event, finishing in 15th place in her first appearance at the NCAA Championships with a toss of 62.30m/204-05 to earn Second Team All-America status.

“Both Janee’ and Helene competed very well today,” throws coach Greg Watson said about his two hammer throwers. “Helene’s mark was the second-best of her career, while Janee’ recorded the second, third, fourth and fifth-best throws of her career. That is what they train for all year, is to be their best at this meet. They did an outstanding job.”

Elsewhere in the field, Njadoe found herself in the finals of the long jump for the first time in her young career, finishing in eighth place overall with a final jump of 6.36m/20-10.50 (0.9). The freshman got off to a quick start in the event, leaping her eventual final mark of 6.36m/20-10.50 (0.9) on her first attempt before holding on over her next two jumps to earn a spot in the finals.

She did not improve on her initial mark in the finals with jumps of 6.27m/20-07 (1.3) and 6.15m/20-02.25 (0.3) over her final two attempts, but was able to hold on to earn a point for the team. The freshman is now the fourth women’s long jumper in program history to score at the national meet and the first since Nina Kokot finished in sixth place (6.47m/21-02.75) at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

“I am very proud of the way that Wurrie competed,” horizontal jumps coach Vincent Johnson said about Njadoe’s performance. “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.”

On the track, K-State’s 4x100-meter relay squad had itself a day, advancing to Saturday’s final in the event after finishing in eighth place overall with a time of 44.27. Racing in the second heat of the event, the quad of Akia Guerrier, A'Keyla Mitchell, Ranae McKenzie and Claudette Allen took fourth overall with its final time to secure a spot in the final.

Having already made history coming into Thursday’s action by becoming the first 4x100-meter relay squad in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championships, the relay is now the first in program history to ever make the final in the event. The race will be run on Saturday at 5:32 p.m., CT.

McKenzie returned to the track just under two hours later to run in the 400-meter hurdles, where she finished in 14th place with a time of 58.59. A 23rd-place finisher in the event at last season’s NCAA Championships, the sophomore used a fourth-place finish in the second heat to record her career-best finish.

Friday’s action also beginning at 2:30 p.m., CT, with Nina Schultz competing in the heptathlon. Tickets for the NCAA Championships will be available on an all-meet and single-session basis and can purchased here. Fans who cannot travel to Eugene can catch the action on the ESPN family of networks, which can be found here, while live results for all four days of competition will be provided by Flash Results and can be accessed here.

More information on the meet, including ticket information, heat sheets and full schedule, can be found on NCAA’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship homepage, which can be found 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.

Kansas State University Athletics

Kassanavoid, Njadoe Snag First Team All-America Honors

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2

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