Wednesday, June 6
Eugene, Ore.
All Day
Kansas State University
at
NCAA Championships
Fifteen Wildcats to Represent at NCAA Track and Field Championships
Jun 05, 2018 | Track & Field
Fifteen Wildcats to Represent at NCAA Track and Field Championships
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State track and field team will make the trip to historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on June 6-9, as 15 individuals compete in the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a shot at a National Championship.
"We have some people that can score some points in events, so I think we can have a pretty good meet," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said. "We have the potential to place pretty well, but this is also a highly competitive meet so we will have to perform at a high level."
Of the 15 K-State entries, 10 come from the women's team and five from the men's team. Five individuals (Tejaswin Shankar, Morgan Wedekind, Jess St. John, Aaron Booth, Ariel Okorie) are making their first NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance, while five individuals (Mitch Dixon, Shardia Lawrence, Helene Ingvaldsen, Nina Schultz, Konstantina Romaiou) are making their second appearance and five individuals are making their third appearance (Terrell Smith, Ranae McKenzie, Brett Neelly, Shadae Lawrence, Janee' Kassanavoid).
Individually, two Wildcats enter the NCAA Championships with the top qualifying mark in their respective event, including Shankar (high jump) and Shadae Lawrence (discus). Shankar, a freshman from New Delhi, India, cleared an NCAA-leading 2.29m/7-06 at the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout earlier this year, before clearing on all of his jumps at the NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento, California to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Shankar will jump in the men's high jump final on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT.
In the women's discus, Shadae Lawrence enters this year's NCAA Championships as the defending National Champion, after a thrilling throw of 61.37m/201-04 to win the discus on her last throw at the NCAA Championships in 2017. At this year's NCAA West Preliminary, Lawrence unleashed a NCAA-leading throw of 62.10m/203-09 on her first attempt, qualifying with the greatest throw in the NCAA by over a meter.
Of the 11 events the Wildcats will be entered in, K-State has multiple individuals in three events, including the women's heptathlon, women's hammer throw and women's triple jump.
In the women's heptathlon, Schultz is coming off a standout sophomore season, which included her recent run of awards, including the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year. At the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout in March, Schultz set a series of personal bests, leading to the third-best score in the country this year of 6,018 points. Schultz is a four-time NCAA All-American, including her runner-up finish at last year's NCAA Championships, where she scored 5,959 points.
Joining Schulz, Okorie will make her first NCAA Championship appearance, after a breakthrough score of 5,632 points at the Big 12 Championships, which placed her third at the meet and 19th nationally. Okorie enters the women's heptathlon with personal bests in five of her seven events this season.
Both Okorie and Schultz will compete in the two-day heptathlon competition, beginning on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT and continuing on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
In the women's hammer throw, the Wildcats return two All-Americans in Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen from a year ago. At last year's NCAA Championships, Kassanavoid earned first team All-American honors by throwing 66.58m/218-05 to place fourth overall, while Ingvaldsen earned her first All-American honors by throwing 62.30m/204-05 to place 15th overall.
Last year's hammer throw success continued into the 2018 season, as Kassanavoid defended her Big 12 Championship earlier this season by throwing a new school record of 68.21m/223-09. At the NCAA West Prelminary, the Wildcats were just one of three women's teams to qualify two hammer throwers for the NCAA Championships. Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen will let the hammer fly in the women's hammer throw final on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Similarly, the Wildcats are just one of four teams to qualify two individuals in the women's triple jump, as Romaiou and Shardia Lawrence punched their tickets to Eugene at the NCAA West Preliminary. In Sacramento, Lawrence jumped 13.24m/43-05.25 to enter the NCAA Championships with the 12th best jump in the country, while Romaiou leaped 13.11m/43-00.25, which is the 21st best mark entering Hayward Field triple jump runway. The women's triple jump final is slated to begin on Saturday at 5:40 p.m. CT.
In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Wedekind is on the verge of history after becoming just the third Wildcat in K-State history to surpass the 10-minute barrier in the event, running a 9:56.26 at the NCAA West Preliminary to secure her bid to Eugene. Wedekind will compete in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase on Thursday at 6:32 p.m. CT, in pursuit of Martina Tresch's school record of 9:51.96 set in 2011.
Wednesday's decathlon action gets started at 2:30 p.m. CT, as Booth makes his debut at the NCAA Championships for the Wildcats. In addition to Booth, Neelly and Dixon will contest in finals on Wednesday, while Smith hits the track for the men's 200-meter semifinals. On Thursday, St. John will compete in the women's shot put at 8:10 p.m. CT, while McKenzie competes in the 400-meter hurdles at 8:00 p.m. CT.
The 2018 NCAA Championships will begin on Wednesday 2:30 p.m. CT, with the start of the men's decathlon. The NCAA Championships can be viewed throughout the meet's entirety on the ESPN Networks, with viewing information available here. Live results will be available throughout the meet, which can be accessed here.
For more information on the 2018 NCAA Championships, including a full schedule, ticket information and more, click 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.
"We have some people that can score some points in events, so I think we can have a pretty good meet," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said. "We have the potential to place pretty well, but this is also a highly competitive meet so we will have to perform at a high level."
Of the 15 K-State entries, 10 come from the women's team and five from the men's team. Five individuals (Tejaswin Shankar, Morgan Wedekind, Jess St. John, Aaron Booth, Ariel Okorie) are making their first NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance, while five individuals (Mitch Dixon, Shardia Lawrence, Helene Ingvaldsen, Nina Schultz, Konstantina Romaiou) are making their second appearance and five individuals are making their third appearance (Terrell Smith, Ranae McKenzie, Brett Neelly, Shadae Lawrence, Janee' Kassanavoid).
Individually, two Wildcats enter the NCAA Championships with the top qualifying mark in their respective event, including Shankar (high jump) and Shadae Lawrence (discus). Shankar, a freshman from New Delhi, India, cleared an NCAA-leading 2.29m/7-06 at the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout earlier this year, before clearing on all of his jumps at the NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento, California to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Shankar will jump in the men's high jump final on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT.
In the women's discus, Shadae Lawrence enters this year's NCAA Championships as the defending National Champion, after a thrilling throw of 61.37m/201-04 to win the discus on her last throw at the NCAA Championships in 2017. At this year's NCAA West Preliminary, Lawrence unleashed a NCAA-leading throw of 62.10m/203-09 on her first attempt, qualifying with the greatest throw in the NCAA by over a meter.
Of the 11 events the Wildcats will be entered in, K-State has multiple individuals in three events, including the women's heptathlon, women's hammer throw and women's triple jump.
In the women's heptathlon, Schultz is coming off a standout sophomore season, which included her recent run of awards, including the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year. At the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout in March, Schultz set a series of personal bests, leading to the third-best score in the country this year of 6,018 points. Schultz is a four-time NCAA All-American, including her runner-up finish at last year's NCAA Championships, where she scored 5,959 points.
Joining Schulz, Okorie will make her first NCAA Championship appearance, after a breakthrough score of 5,632 points at the Big 12 Championships, which placed her third at the meet and 19th nationally. Okorie enters the women's heptathlon with personal bests in five of her seven events this season.
Both Okorie and Schultz will compete in the two-day heptathlon competition, beginning on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT and continuing on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
In the women's hammer throw, the Wildcats return two All-Americans in Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen from a year ago. At last year's NCAA Championships, Kassanavoid earned first team All-American honors by throwing 66.58m/218-05 to place fourth overall, while Ingvaldsen earned her first All-American honors by throwing 62.30m/204-05 to place 15th overall.
Last year's hammer throw success continued into the 2018 season, as Kassanavoid defended her Big 12 Championship earlier this season by throwing a new school record of 68.21m/223-09. At the NCAA West Prelminary, the Wildcats were just one of three women's teams to qualify two hammer throwers for the NCAA Championships. Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen will let the hammer fly in the women's hammer throw final on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Similarly, the Wildcats are just one of four teams to qualify two individuals in the women's triple jump, as Romaiou and Shardia Lawrence punched their tickets to Eugene at the NCAA West Preliminary. In Sacramento, Lawrence jumped 13.24m/43-05.25 to enter the NCAA Championships with the 12th best jump in the country, while Romaiou leaped 13.11m/43-00.25, which is the 21st best mark entering Hayward Field triple jump runway. The women's triple jump final is slated to begin on Saturday at 5:40 p.m. CT.
In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Wedekind is on the verge of history after becoming just the third Wildcat in K-State history to surpass the 10-minute barrier in the event, running a 9:56.26 at the NCAA West Preliminary to secure her bid to Eugene. Wedekind will compete in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase on Thursday at 6:32 p.m. CT, in pursuit of Martina Tresch's school record of 9:51.96 set in 2011.
Wednesday's decathlon action gets started at 2:30 p.m. CT, as Booth makes his debut at the NCAA Championships for the Wildcats. In addition to Booth, Neelly and Dixon will contest in finals on Wednesday, while Smith hits the track for the men's 200-meter semifinals. On Thursday, St. John will compete in the women's shot put at 8:10 p.m. CT, while McKenzie competes in the 400-meter hurdles at 8:00 p.m. CT.
The 2018 NCAA Championships will begin on Wednesday 2:30 p.m. CT, with the start of the men's decathlon. The NCAA Championships can be viewed throughout the meet's entirety on the ESPN Networks, with viewing information available here. Live results will be available throughout the meet, which can be accessed here.
For more information on the 2018 NCAA Championships, including a full schedule, ticket information and more, click 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.
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