NCAA Indoor Championships Preview: Track and Field

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Six Wildcats have put their stamp on the indoor season and now travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to participate in the pinnacle of collegiate track and field as the Kansas State men's and women's track and field teams head to the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13-14 in the Albuquerque Convention Center. The six athletes representing K-State this weekend at the national meet include senior Lauren Taubert, senior Ariel Okorie, senior Aaron Booth, junior Taishia Pryce, junior Tejaswin Shankar and freshman Edgaras Benkunskas.

The NCAA Indoor Championships will start at 11 a.m. CT on Friday with combined events and then Saturday's slate will take off at 10 a.m. CT, for the second part of the combined events. Track and field events will follow both the pentathlon and heptathlon events for each day.

"In terms of preparation, the athletes have done a very good job," said Director of Track and Field Cliff Rovelto. "You want to be rested but need to do enough to be sharp and confident as well. For the most part, this particular group has experience at the national meet and knows what to expect. They understand that if they trust in their preparation, compete and go have fun, then the results will match our expectations."

Tuning into the NCAA Indoor Championships

Fans and spectators wanting to follow along with the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend, Flash Results will provide live results to viewers which can be found here when made available. To stream the meet, fans can go to ESPN3 to watch the two-day meet at 6:15 p.m. CT, on Friday and 5 p.m. CT, on Saturday (ESPN3). For more information on the meet, including a full schedule of events, records and more can be found on kstatesports.com by clicking here.

USTFCCA National Poll (Week 7)

Closing out the Big 12 Indoor Championship on a high note, the Kansas State women's team jumped up the USTFCCCA national poll to the No. 21 spot. The jump moves the team up three spots after previously holding the No. 24 ranking. Representing the Big 12 at the national meet, Texas (No. 9) and Texas Tech (No. 16) hold spots in the top-25 national leaderboards in the women's division while the men's field will feature Texas (No. 4), Iowa State (No. 9), Texas Tech (No. 15) and Kansas (No. 20), who all have cemented themselves as top programs in the NCAA.

NCAA Qualifying Marks

Six Wildcats rank inside the top-15 in the country for their respective events. Four of these athletes reside in the combined events group. Taubert sits at the No. 2 mark in the nation with her pentathlon performance in the Razorback Invitational in which she compiled 4,352 points. Okorie sits at No. 14 spot for the year in the pentathlon event. Zoning in on the heptathlon athletes, Benkunskas and Booth are ranked 14^th and 15^th in nation for their respective events. Shankar currently ranks fifth in the nation with a high jump of 2.25m/7'-04.5" while Pryce holds the top spot in that nation with a 6.65m/21'-10" leap in the long jump.

2019 NCAA Indoor Championship (Birmingham, Alabama)

For the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, the Wildcats sent five athletes to compete with nation's best and all five returned to Manhattan, Kansas with All-American honors. Shankar, Booth and Taubert earned their way up on the podium last year as Booth came away with a First Team All-American distinction in the men's heptathlon while Taubert and Shankar both secured Second Team All-American honors in the women's pentathlon and men's high jump, respectively. Former Wildcats Brett Neelly and Shardia Lawrence competed in the men's shot put and women's triple jump events, as Neelly grabbed a spot on the Second Team All-American squad, while Lawrence leaped her way towards a First Team All-American distinction.

The men's team garnered one point to finish 56^th overall while the women's group accumulated three points to capture a 53^rd-place finish last season. Florida (men's) and Arkansas (women's) held the top team marks in 2019 as the Gators recorded 55 points and the Razorbacks 62 points to earn NCAA titles.

Historical Perspective from the National Indoor Meet

Since 2009, K-State has pocketed three national champions at the NCAA indoors. Going back to 1996, the Wildcats have produced 14 national champions during the indoor season. The last NCAA individual titles for K-State came in 2016 when both Akela Jones and Dani Winters reached the highest spot on the podium. Each of the past 20 seasons, the men's team has sent an individual to the national indoor meet, while the women's squad has sent at least one athlete over the last 11 years.

Wrapping up the Conference Indoor Season

Closing out the conference indoor season on February 28-29, K-State compiled three victories over the two-day stretch as Taubert (pentathlon), Shankar (men's high jump) and sophomore Kassidy Johnson (women's 1,000 meters) all captured Big 12 titles in their respective events. Many other athletes for K-State made their way on to the podium for the conference championship, as 26 Wildcats earned top-8 finishes just on the second day alone. The Wildcats have now earned 72 individual first-place finishes for the indoor season.

Up Next

The 2020 outdoor season will begin on March 20-21 in San Antonio, Texas as the Wildcats will compete at the Roadrunner Invitational. K-State will participate in eight regular season outdoor meets and then postseason competitions will kick off at home as the Wildcats host the Big 12 Outdoor Championship on May 15-17.

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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Players Mentioned

Edgaras Benkunskas

Aaron Booth

Kassidy Johnson

Shardia Lawrence

Brett Neelly

Ariel Okorie

Taishia Pryce

Tejaswin Shankar

Lauren Taubert

Kansas State University Athletics