K-State Hosts Annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular this Weekend

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With aspirations of locking up a second straight Triangular victory, the Kansas State men's and women's track and field teams continue their homestand inside Ahearn Field House on Saturday, as Kansas and Wichita State arrive for the annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular.

Saturday's schedule starts at 10 a.m., CT with field events and then track events following at 1 p.m., CT.

The Triangular now makes its seventh stop on the Wildcats' indoor campaign with K-State and Kansas tied at three victories each since the inaugural meet back in 2015. Last season, K-State rattled off 12 victories to boost the team's score to 254.5, which was plenty enough to down the Shockers (221) and the Jayhawks (191.5) in Wichita, Kansas.

"We have a number of athletes who will be competing for the first time this season primarily due to COVID-19," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. "I am really looking forward to seeing them in action. Our preparation has been pretty good considering some missed training time. Due to the nature of the international scoring format, it is crucial we get as many firsts and seconds as possible."

"I believe we have the folks that can get this done but we have to come ready to compete. As for the energy, we must look at every opportunity to compete as precious and take advantage. In these times, we cannot take anything for granted, not that we ever should. Both programs typically have complete teams and are very competitive. Assuming we don't lose any more athletes due to COVID-19 protocols, we should be competitive."

Tuning into the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular

Fans wanting to follow along with meet on Saturday can use the live results link provided by Heartland Timing. For more information on the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular, including a full schedule of events, records and more can be found on kstatesports.com by clicking here.

Under COVID-19 guidelines, no fans or spectators will be allowed inside Ahearn Field House this weekend.

Alves Controls 60-Meter Hurdles Race

Junior Vitoria Alves wanted to make a statement in her first race of the 2020-21 season, and she did just that with an exhilarating 8.22-second mark in the women's 60-meter hurdles event. Being stuck in her home country of Brazil for nearly all the Fall 2020 semester, Alves stayed the course for her arrival back to Manhattan and it paid off, as she climbed all the way to the second all-time in school history with her performance at the Wildcat Invitational last Saturday. Her outing only trails former Wildcat and All-American Akela Jones, who owns a school-best 8.00 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. With her outing last weekend, Alves collected Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors on Wednesday afternoon, her first career conference accolade.

NCAA Leaderboard

The Wildcats have performed well through three indoor meets thus far in the 2020-21 season. Those outings can be attributed to four athletes, who currently lead the NCAA in their respective events. Those who sit atop the
pinnacle of all track and field athletes include juniors Vitoria Alves (8.22, 60m Hurdles) and Kassidy Johnson (2:11.92, 800 Meters), freshman Anigbata Grace Chinonyelum (13.07m/42-10.75, Triple Jump) and senior Tejaswin Shankar (2.24m, High Jump).

USTFCCCA Top-10 Marks of the Week (Jan. 5-11)

The Wildcats received numerous spots on the USTFCCCA top-10 marks for the week of January 5-11. A total of 14 athletes recorded top-10 performances in their respective events back at the Wildcat Invitational last Saturday.
Three Wildcats earned the top spots in the nation from the meet on January 9, which features Alves' sprint (1^st, 60-Meter Hurdles), senior Colin Echols (No. 1, Weight Throw) and junior Kassidy Johnson (1^st, 800 Meters) all delivered top outings amongst the collegiate field. Others who made their way on the USTFCCCA Top-10 Marks of the Week include freshmen Will Carroll (No. 8, 1000 Meters), Anigbata Grace Chinonyelum (No.2, Long Jump), Christian Buehler (No. 10, 1000 Meters), Kyle Gale (No. 3, 300 Meters), Jaycee Schroeder (No. 2, Shot Put), and Brian Simon (No. 2, Pole Vault), juniors Taylor Latimer (No. 2, Weight Throw) and Mike Rohlinger (No. 10, Mile Run), sophomore Devon Richardson (No. 2, High Jump), and seniors Taishia Pryce (No. 3, 300 Meters) and Tejaswin Shankar (No. 3, 60-Meter Hurdles).

Gale Sets Another Meet Record

Freshman Kyle Gale is having an excellent start to his 2020-21 campaign and he put on a show once again at the Wildcat Invitational in the 300 meters. Gale fired around the track in 34.32 seconds to hold off the competition en route to the 300-meter title. His sprint launched him up to the No. 2 spot all-time in school history for the event, which also broke the meet record, set nine years ago. Gale's victory ended up being the third-fastest mark in the country during the week of January 5-11.

2020 KU-KSU-WSU Triangular Recap

K-State delivered a masterpiece down in Wichita, Kansas, in 2020 for the annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular, as both teams dominated the track while tallying victories in the field against Kansas and Wichita State. The Wildcats accumulated 254.5 points en route to the win inside the Haskett Center, leaving Wichita State (221) and Kansas (191.5) behind to grab the top spot. Junior Kassidy Johnson and senior Jullane Walker each torched their opponents to lock up wins on the track, while both athletes each broke a meet record at the triangular meet. Johnson recorded a time of 2:47.39 to notch a new 1000-meters record while Walker jolted down the track in 6.74 seconds in the 60 meters to tab the top time at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular. K-State registered 12 victories amongst the track and the field.

Moving Up the Indoor Top-10 List

K-State made a splash on the track last Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational, and those performances included some Wildcats moving up or inside the school's indoor top-10 list. Freshman Kyle Gale, who broke the Wildcat Invitational's 300-meter record, usurped his way to second all-time for the event with his mark of 34.32. Fellow teammate Tim Lambert Jr., brought home a runner-up finish in the 300 meters but captured the sixth-best time in program history at 34.74. Junior Vitoria Alves set the standard in the 60-meter hurdles with a blistering time of 8.22, which now plants her at second all-time for the race. She only trails former All-American Akela Jones in the event (8.00). In the field, freshman Reagan Hukill rifled over the bar in the pole vault event at 3.70m/12-1.50 to secure the eighth-best performance in school history.

Up Next

The Wildcats will leave Manhattan for the first time this season with a trip to Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday, January 22, for the Jayhawk Classic. K-State will make its first appearance inside the Anschutz Pavilion since the 2018-19 campaign.

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 Hosts Annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular this Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Christian Buehler

Will Carroll

Colin Echols

Kyle Gale

Reagan Hukill

Kassidy Johnson

Tim Lambert Jr.

Taylor Latimer

Taishia Pryce

Devon Richardson

Mike Rohlinger

Jaycee Schroeder

Tejaswin Shankar

Brian Simon

Jullane Walker

Kansas State University Athletics