Wildcats Warm Up for Postseason Meets with the Steve Miller Open Saturday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Using one final tune up before the start of Big 12 Indoor Championships next weekend, the Kansas State men's and women's track and field teams complete their homestand for the 2020 indoor season as the Wildcats host the Steve Miller Open on Saturday inside Ahearn Field House.

Saturday's schedule begins at 10 a.m., CT on the field and then the track events will follow at 1 p.m., CT.

"The meet will actually be a bit larger in terms of competitors than it has the last couple of years," said Director of Track and Field Cliff Rovelto. "We have athletes that are looking to tune up for the conference meet and we will have a few that will be attempting to improve their national rankings in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships."

Those programs who will be participating in the annual indoor meet on Saturday comprise of Emporia State, Haskell, Oklahoma City, Langston and Washburn.

In a weekend filled with numerous individual victories, K-State came out firing on multiple cylinders, specifically in the field events, during its trip to the Iowa State Classic and Tyson Invitational on February 14-15. Honing in on the jump events, junior Taishia Pryce shattered her previous mark in the long jump event to not only win the competition at the Tyson Invitational, but also claim the best mark in the NCAA at 6.65m/21-10. Junior Tejaswin Shankar also bolstered his status in the high jump with a mark of 2.25m/7-04.50, which is fourth in the NCAA.

Pryce's performance at the Tyson Invitational resulted in her first Big 12 Athlete of the Week honor for the indoor season on Wednesday. During the 2020 indoor campaign, K-States has now recorded four athletes of the week honors (Jullane Walker, Kassidy Johnson, Lauren Taubert, and Pryce).

The Wildcats scored a total of six victories at the Iowa State Classic on February 15, which included wins by Shankar, Edgaras Benkunskas (long jump), Cameron Lewis (shot put), Kimisha Chambers (400 meters), Ariel Okorie (60-meter hurdles) and Shaelyn Ward (weight throw).

Several Top-10 marks were changed over the weekend across both genres as a few more athletes achieved personal bests jumped into the historical record books. Those who fit the criteria from last weekend included Walker (200 meter, 20.95), junior Macy Heinz (800 meters, 2:06.52), Chambers (400 meters, 53.69), senior Justin Davis (400 meters, 47.59) and junior Ethan Powell (3000 meters, 8:14.84).

Through seven meets, the Wildcats have now earned 52 individual first-place finishes for the indoor season.

Fans and spectators wanting to follow along with the meet, Heartland Timing will provide live results to viewers which can be found here. For more information on the meet, including a full schedule of events, records and more can be found on kstatesports.com by clicking here.

The Wildcats will turn their attention to postseason competition after this weekend as the Big 12 Indoor Championships begin in Ames, Iowa on Friday, February 28 inside the Lied Recreation Center.

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 Warm Up for Postseason Meets with the Steve Miller Open Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Edgaras Benkunskas

Kimisha Chambers

Justin Davis

Macy Heinz

Kassidy Johnson

Cameron Lewis

Ariel Okorie

Ethan Powell

Taishia Pryce

Tejaswin Shankar

Lauren Taubert

Jullane Walker

Shaelyn Ward

Kansas State University Athletics