Wildcats Return Home to Host DeLoss Dodds Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following consecutive road meets, the Kansas State track and field team returns home to Ahearn Fieldhouse to host the fourth annual DeLoss Dodds Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

The meet starts with the combined events beginning at 10 a.m., CT, on Friday, followed by track and field events beginning at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the men's heptathlon competition picks back up at 9 a.m., before moving into the field events at 11 a.m. and the track events at 3:30 p.m. Admission to both days of competition is free, and will showcase athletes from Oklahoma State, Washburn and Oklahoma Baptist.

The No. 20 K-State women's team made their third consecutive appearance in the Top-25 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings on Monday, coming in at No. 20. Both the men's and the women's teams also cracked the top-25 of the Track and Field News Dual Rankings, as the Wildcat women rank No. 3 and the men rank No. 22 in the country.

K-State boasts some of the best combined event athletes in the country, including three sophomores that rank in the top-30 marks in the NCAA this season, Nina Schultz (6^th, 4,105 points), Ariel Okorie (11^th, 3,923 points) and Lauren Taubert (26^th, 3,792 points). This weekend marks the first time K-State athletes have competed in the combined events since the Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon on December 8, 2017.

"They have been training at a very high level," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said of the sophomore pentathletes. "I feel like each of them are in a good situation to perform a personal best this weekend."

Following the combined events, the meet will feature several more top marks in the field, including weight throwers Mitch Dixon and Helene Ingvaldsen. Ingvaldsen currently ranks eighth in the NCAA this season after throwing a career-mark of 21. 20m/69-06.75 at last weekend's Razorback Invitational. Her mark also places her first in the Big 12 so far, this season.

Dixon, a native of Rancho San Margarita, Calif., has opened the season with an impressive feat, winning the weight throw in each competition thus far this season, while also setting a personal best in all five meets. Dixon's top throw of 21.36m/70-01 ranks amongst the best of the Big 12, coming in at second, while he also approaches the K-State school record of 21.62m/70-11.25 set by Coby Cost in 2005.

On the track, senior Terrell Smith returns to the 200-meter dash after breaking his own school record in the event at the Razorback Invitational. Smith ran a record-breaking 20.90 to win the event, on the same track that he broke the school record on in 2016.

This weekend's DeLoss Dodds Invitational marks the fourth-annual running of the meet, before taking over the title of K-State Invitational. The meet is named after the legendary DeLoss Dodds, former K-State Track and Field Coach and Athletic Director, who coached the Wildcats to six Big Eight Conference Championships (four cross country, two track and field). At last year's meet, the Wildcats swept the team scoring behind seven first-place performances.

In their last outing, both the men's and women's teams earned fifth place finishes at the prestigious Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., where the women's team scored 53 points and the men's team scored 56.5 points. The meet was highlighted by Smith's school record 20.90 in the men's 200 meters, and four event victories. For a full recap of the Razorback Invitational, click here.

Live results will be provided by Heartland Timing for both days of competition and 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.

Wildcats Return Home to Host DeLoss Dodds Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Mitch Dixon

Helene Ingvaldsen

Ariel Okorie

Nina Schultz

Terrell Smith

Lauren Taubert

Kansas State University Athletics