K-State Competes at Iowa State Classic, Tyson Invitational this Weekend

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With just two weeks left before the Big 12 Indoor Championships, the Kansas State men's and women's track and field teams will hit the road this weekend for events at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

A majority of the team will compete at the Iowa State Classic over a two-day span beginning Friday inside the Lied Recreation Center, which will be the site of the Big 12 Indoor Championships on February 28-29. The meet begins at 12:00 p.m., CT with both field and track event overlapping in the facility. Following up on the second day, Saturday's schedule starts with both track and field competition slates set for 12:00 p.m. CT.

Several athletes will travel to the Tyson Invitational for selected events on Friday at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track.

"At Iowa State, the competition will be very good in the long distances and sprints," said Director of Track and Field Cliff Rovelto. "The combination of an oversized track and good competition will bring out some very good times. Field event folks getting an opportunity to compete at the conference facility will breed familiarity, which will hopefully aid their comfort when we return in a couple of weeks for the conference meet. We have a few going to Arkansas to improve on marks as well."

With weather conditions halting the team's travels to South Carolina last weekend, K-State heads into this weekend's action with a week's worth of rest.

As conference meets start to kick into gear for the Wildcats, confidence is at a high level for some of the athletes as there were many quality performances at the Razorback Invitational on January 31-February 1. A few highlights stood out amongst a packed group of national powerhouse programs, which included senior Lauren Taubert's pentathlon victory and junior Colin Echols' weight throw win.

Taubert's performance resulted in her earning the Big 12 Women's Athlete of the Week award on February 5. Her 4,352-point total was the sixth-best score inside Randal Tyson Track Center gave her the edge over the field at the Razorback Invitational, as she now sits fourth all-time in K-State indoor history. She currently holds the top spot in the pentathlon in the NCAA.

K-State keeps breaking top-10 marks across both genres as a few more athletes achieved personal bests while others creeped their way into the leaderboard for the first time at the Razorback Invitational. Some of those athletes who climbed even higher for their respective events in the team's history included freshman Oscar Smith (60-meter hurdles, 7.86), Taubert (Pentathlon, 4,352 points, junior Macy Heinz (800 meters, 2:07.46), senior Kimisha Chambers (200 meters, 24.24), Echols (Weight Throw, 20.57m/67-6.00), senior Travis Hodge (800 meters, 1:50.28), junior Ethan Powell (3000 meters, 8:19.56) and senior Jullane Walker (200 meters, 21.26).

Through six meets, the Wildcats have now earned 45 first-place finishes for the indoor season.

Fans and spectators wanting to follow along with the Iowa State Classic this weekend and use the live results link here. Live streaming can be found on FloTrack for the two-day event inside the Lied Recreation Center. For more information on the meet, including a full schedule of events, records and more can be found on kstatesports.com by clicking here.

After the road trips this weekend, the Wildcats return home for the final indoor meet inside Ahearn Field House of the 2020 season as K-State hosts the Steve Miller Open on Saturday, February 22.

For the latest on K-State Track and Field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.

K-State Competes at Iowa State Classic, Tyson Invitational this Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kimisha Chambers

Macy Heinz

Travis Hodge

Oscar Smith

Jullane Walker

Kansas State University Athletics