Podium Finishes Highlight Day Two at Shocker Invitational

Saturday, March 27

Wichita, KS

Kansas State University

Shocker Spring Invitational

Podium Finishes Highlight Day Two at Shocker Invitational

Mar 27, 2021 | Track & Field

Final Results

WICHITA, Kan. – An abundance of podium finishes highlighted the Kansas State track and field teams during the final day of the Shocker Invitational on Saturday (March 27) afternoon at Cessna Stadium.

Saturday's slate of events started with another strong showing from the K-State throw squad, with three athletes placing in the top three or better in their respective events. Senior Ashley Petr let it fly in the discus event with a mark of 54.22m/177-11 to score another win in the outdoor season. Even though she did not record a personal best, Rovelto still saw some positives from her performance.

"She has had two solid outings this year," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. "From her perspective, I think she should be throwing farther. I think that is a good sign. I think she has some things she can clean up still, but she is doing well."

Shot put throwers Taylor Latimer (3^rd, 16.76m/55-0) and Cameron Lewis (3^rd, 17.57m/57-7.75) kept the momentum going from Petr's win and scooped up bronze medals for K-State in the field on Saturday.

"Taylor (Latimer) threw solid in the shot," said Rovelto. "Her average throw is improving significantly since indoors. The bigger throws will come from there. It is encouraging to see that. She has some things she can improve on still."

Lewis then captured a silver medal in the men's discus, unleashing a throw of 53.18m/174-6, which was just ahead of teammate Colin Echols' toss of 51.39m/168-7.

"Today was not good throwing conditions," said Rovelto. "Even though the distance does not look outstanding, Cam (Cameron Lewis) and Colin (Echols) can get some more meters out of their throws. Going forward, I feel good about all our guys. We still have lots of improvements from those events, but we can still have some really good throws down the road."

The season debut for senior Konstantina Romaiou was anything short of stellar, as the Corfu, Greece, native landed in the sand at 5.81m/19-0.75, which helped her finish second in the long jump.

That success translated over to the pole vault competitions, where sophomores Jesse Pinkley (2^nd, 4.61m/15-1.50) and Jessica Williams (4^th, 3.52m/11-6.50) notched top-five finishes in their respective events.

In the women's 800 meters, junior Alex Ferguson kept increasing her speed after each turn, which resulted in another win for K-State on the track as she crossed the finish line at a pace of 2:11.26. Trailing Ferguson in the race were three other Wildcats, including sophomore Sydney Burton (3^rd, 2:13.10), senior Cayli Hume (4^th, 2:13.77) and freshman Jessica Caraway (5^th, 2:16.43).

"Alex (Ferguson) is a good competitor, and it was a good effort from her under these conditions," Rovelto stated.

Relay specialist Akia Guerrier bolted down the track in 25.54 seconds to clinch a top-three outing in the 200 meters for the Wildcats.

"It has been two years since she competed," said Rovelto. "It wasn't anything special, but it was not far off from her PR. That run was encouraging for her."

Testing their speed with one all-out sprint, sophomores Parker McCafferty (4^th, 11.10) and Nate Hassed (5^th, 11.13) showed a ton of determination in their top-five finishes for the 100 meters.

K-State will next compete on April 8-10 in Tucson, Arizona for the Jim Click Invitational and Jim Click Combined Events.

"We will have three girls doing the heptathlon, no guys will be participating in the decathlon," said Rovelto. "We anticipate that most of our best people will be there. I think it will be a very competitive meet even with the different format. This year, it will be eight or nine schools. It will be an evening meet. It will be cooler. I think it will be a very high-quality meet. The fact we had a lot of people not compete this week, this will enable us to train and have a lot of quality marks out of that meet."

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