Saturday, May 15
Manhattan, Kan.
Kansas State University
vs
Big 12 Outdoor Championship
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Latimer, Shankar Repeat as Big 12 Outdoor Champions
May 15, 2021 | Track & Field
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Juniors Taylor Latimer and Tejaswin Shankar repeated as conference outdoor champions and the Kansas State track and field teams continued to surge ahead on day two of the Big 12 Outdoor Championship on Saturday (May 15) at R.V. Christian Track and Field Complex.
"Both of them really rose to the occasion with quality performances," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. "Great to see them perform at home."
With the sun shining bright on Saturday afternoon, both Latimer and Shankar soaked up the opportunity to shine even brighter with their all-time performances.
Taking the first-place medal in the shot put, Latimer – a native of Valley Center, Kansas – nearly broke her personal best and the school record for the event, launching a mark of 17.73m/58-2 to clinch K-State's second championship title of the weekend. Latimer's toss was nearly untouchable from the rest of the shot-put field, as the next Big 12 foe (Oklahoma's Payden Montana) landed a toss of 17.48m/57-4.25.
"It feels honestly amazing," said Latimer. "It's probably been the toughest battle back for me, just to get back to where I know I could perform at. To win it at home with the fans and the support system, it was electrifying. It was probably the most hyped track meet I've been at my whole life.
"I definitely was shaking. I was nervous. My last throw, I knew just to have fun a little bit with it. I was like, 'Alright, I've already won it. I might as well just go and have a little fun.' You can hear everybody yelling for you. It's a lot. It's like, 'Ok, relax a little bit.'"
Shankar brought the fans to a standing ovation in his victory over Oklahoma's Vernon Taylor in the high jump, who achieved a season-best leap of 2.26m. The New Dehli, India, native added to his already packed trophy case for his career by clearing a mark of 2.28m/7-5.75, paving the way for the junior to earn back-to-back Big 12 outdoor titles.
"I think it's a great competition just coming in," said Shankar. "First of all, really be thankful for the weather. Going in last week and all this week, you just saw the weather up every day and it said rain, rain, rain for the next 10 days. Coming out here and having a really, sunny, no wind kind of a day, it was fantastic to start that off with and then after that, just getting some jumps in and starting to feel the approach a little bit. I think that was really good and being pushed by Vernon (Turner) from Oklahoma, I think that meant a lot and that's probably the reason one of my season's best performances came out today."
Shankar becomes the second K-State high jumper in school history to notch consecutive Big 12 outdoor titles, the other coming from Olympic medalist Erik Kynard (2011-13).
Latimer's victory gave K-State its second athlete in Big 12 women's history to record back-to-back shot-put championships at the outdoor meet, as Dani Winters accomplished that same feat during the 2015 and 2016 Big 12 outdoor competitions.
Closing out their careers at home in the heptathlon, seniors Lauren Taubert (2nd, 5,772 points) and Ariel Okorie (5th, 5,661 points) put on a show in their final outing at R.V. Christian Track.
Leading after day one of the conference championship, Taubert eventually relinquished the lead to Texas' Kristine Blazevica, as the Longhorn snatched the 2021 heptathlon title on the final lap of the 800 meters. Taubert's storied career at K-State will continue, but she will leave a lasting impression as one of the most distinguished combined athletes to ever don the purple and white, as the Casper, Wyoming, product concluded her final home stint with an impressive 5,772 points.
Her outing would end up being a career day for Okorie, which featured a personal best in the long jump event. The Waynesville, Missouri, native landed in the sand at 5.97m/19-7, lifting her up to the runner-up spot in the long jump, which helped put her on track to break her personal record in the heptathlon score.
Junior Matas Adamonis displayed his all-around athleticism in the men's decathlon, wrapping up his stint at the conference championship with 7,237 points to place third in the standings. Adamonis helped his cause by setting a personal best in the 110-meter hurdles (15.31) while taking the win in the discus competition (43.74m/143-06).
In reference to the Wildcat record books, a total of seven athletes posted all-time marks in their respective events throughout day two at the conference meet. The men's team featured impressive feats from freshmen Donovan Turner and Tim Lambert Jr., along with seniors Jullane Walker and Cameron Lewis.
Turner and Lambert thrilled those in attendance during the hurdle races, as Turner finished seventh overall in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal record sprint at 14.18. His time cracked the school record list and helped him garner a spot at No. 10 all-time for the outdoor season.
Lambert also recorded the No. 10 all-time mark in K-State history, but his career outing came from the 400-meter hurdles race. With a time of 52.26, Lambert found himself in Sunday's finale after placing sixth in the preliminary round.
Walker, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, flourished in the men's long jump with a new personal record of 7.96m/26-1.50 to place fourth in the event. His leap pushed him up the all-time list in K-State history to the No. 3 spot.
Lewis dug deep in the shot-put ring on Saturday afternoon and never wavered, finishing the contest with a new personal record of 18.43m/60-5.75 and a runner-up performance. The Mesa, Arizona, native kept his same spot in the record books, remaining at No. 7 all-time for the shot put.
Three women made school history with their Big 12 marks, as senior Wurrie Njadoe, junior Chantoba Bright and Hannah Stewart improved their personal records en route to etching their names in the program record books.
Competing in the 100 and 200 meters, Njadoe used her qualifying marks to secure a spot in two of Sunday's finales while taking initiative in boosting her status as one of K-State's all-time performers at the conference meet.
A solid start to the 100 meters enabled the senior sprinter to collect the No. 2 mark in school history with a time of 11.42 seconds. That performance would translate over in the 200 meters, where Njadoe was equally as impressive in recording another personal best – 23.26 seconds – to score another date in the finals on Sunday. Crossing the finish line at seventh overall, Njadoe ended her time on the track with the No. 3 mark in school history.
Bright and Stewart delivered in their first Big 12 Outdoor meet, with Bright leaping in the sand at 6.47m/21-02.75 in the long jump and Stewart grinding through the 3000-meter steeplechase at a pace of 10:32.17 to score top-10 performances in K-State history. Bright's mark in the long jump pushed her to No. 3 all-time among K-State's greats and Stewart powered her way to the No. 5 time in program history in the final race of the evening.
Another distance runner who made a lasting impact in his final home meet – senior Travis Hodge – zoomed his way into 12th place with a pace of 1:49.79, good for a personal record for the product from DeSoto, Kansas.
Finishing with the best time in the 400-meter hurdles on the women's side was senior Kimisha Chambers, who shot out of the start line and compiled a time of 57.87 seconds, setting her up as the favorite for tomorrow's finale.
From a team perspective, the K-State women hold the top spot with 71 points, just ahead Texas Tech at 49.5 points in the standings.
The men's team has kept up with their Big 12 counterparts, collecting 57 points to keep them in range of a comeback on final day, as Iowa State remains at the top with 68 points with one more day of competition.
"Both teams have so far scored more than projected," said Rovelto. "Also, we qualified well, so we have some additional opportunities. Texas and Texas Tech's women's teams have also performed well. Texas qualified exceptionally well. Weather tomorrow is probably not going to be as nice, so hard to project how that impacts marks. We just have to compete and scrap for all we can."
Championship Sunday will begin at 11 a.m., CT with the final portion of field and track events, while the team trophy presentations will be slated for 3 p.m., start times.
For the latest on K-State track and field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
"Both of them really rose to the occasion with quality performances," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. "Great to see them perform at home."
With the sun shining bright on Saturday afternoon, both Latimer and Shankar soaked up the opportunity to shine even brighter with their all-time performances.
Taking the first-place medal in the shot put, Latimer – a native of Valley Center, Kansas – nearly broke her personal best and the school record for the event, launching a mark of 17.73m/58-2 to clinch K-State's second championship title of the weekend. Latimer's toss was nearly untouchable from the rest of the shot-put field, as the next Big 12 foe (Oklahoma's Payden Montana) landed a toss of 17.48m/57-4.25.
"It feels honestly amazing," said Latimer. "It's probably been the toughest battle back for me, just to get back to where I know I could perform at. To win it at home with the fans and the support system, it was electrifying. It was probably the most hyped track meet I've been at my whole life.
"I definitely was shaking. I was nervous. My last throw, I knew just to have fun a little bit with it. I was like, 'Alright, I've already won it. I might as well just go and have a little fun.' You can hear everybody yelling for you. It's a lot. It's like, 'Ok, relax a little bit.'"
Shankar brought the fans to a standing ovation in his victory over Oklahoma's Vernon Taylor in the high jump, who achieved a season-best leap of 2.26m. The New Dehli, India, native added to his already packed trophy case for his career by clearing a mark of 2.28m/7-5.75, paving the way for the junior to earn back-to-back Big 12 outdoor titles.
"I think it's a great competition just coming in," said Shankar. "First of all, really be thankful for the weather. Going in last week and all this week, you just saw the weather up every day and it said rain, rain, rain for the next 10 days. Coming out here and having a really, sunny, no wind kind of a day, it was fantastic to start that off with and then after that, just getting some jumps in and starting to feel the approach a little bit. I think that was really good and being pushed by Vernon (Turner) from Oklahoma, I think that meant a lot and that's probably the reason one of my season's best performances came out today."
Shankar becomes the second K-State high jumper in school history to notch consecutive Big 12 outdoor titles, the other coming from Olympic medalist Erik Kynard (2011-13).
Latimer's victory gave K-State its second athlete in Big 12 women's history to record back-to-back shot-put championships at the outdoor meet, as Dani Winters accomplished that same feat during the 2015 and 2016 Big 12 outdoor competitions.
Closing out their careers at home in the heptathlon, seniors Lauren Taubert (2nd, 5,772 points) and Ariel Okorie (5th, 5,661 points) put on a show in their final outing at R.V. Christian Track.
Leading after day one of the conference championship, Taubert eventually relinquished the lead to Texas' Kristine Blazevica, as the Longhorn snatched the 2021 heptathlon title on the final lap of the 800 meters. Taubert's storied career at K-State will continue, but she will leave a lasting impression as one of the most distinguished combined athletes to ever don the purple and white, as the Casper, Wyoming, product concluded her final home stint with an impressive 5,772 points.
Her outing would end up being a career day for Okorie, which featured a personal best in the long jump event. The Waynesville, Missouri, native landed in the sand at 5.97m/19-7, lifting her up to the runner-up spot in the long jump, which helped put her on track to break her personal record in the heptathlon score.
Junior Matas Adamonis displayed his all-around athleticism in the men's decathlon, wrapping up his stint at the conference championship with 7,237 points to place third in the standings. Adamonis helped his cause by setting a personal best in the 110-meter hurdles (15.31) while taking the win in the discus competition (43.74m/143-06).
In reference to the Wildcat record books, a total of seven athletes posted all-time marks in their respective events throughout day two at the conference meet. The men's team featured impressive feats from freshmen Donovan Turner and Tim Lambert Jr., along with seniors Jullane Walker and Cameron Lewis.
Turner and Lambert thrilled those in attendance during the hurdle races, as Turner finished seventh overall in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal record sprint at 14.18. His time cracked the school record list and helped him garner a spot at No. 10 all-time for the outdoor season.
Lambert also recorded the No. 10 all-time mark in K-State history, but his career outing came from the 400-meter hurdles race. With a time of 52.26, Lambert found himself in Sunday's finale after placing sixth in the preliminary round.
Walker, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, flourished in the men's long jump with a new personal record of 7.96m/26-1.50 to place fourth in the event. His leap pushed him up the all-time list in K-State history to the No. 3 spot.
Lewis dug deep in the shot-put ring on Saturday afternoon and never wavered, finishing the contest with a new personal record of 18.43m/60-5.75 and a runner-up performance. The Mesa, Arizona, native kept his same spot in the record books, remaining at No. 7 all-time for the shot put.
Three women made school history with their Big 12 marks, as senior Wurrie Njadoe, junior Chantoba Bright and Hannah Stewart improved their personal records en route to etching their names in the program record books.
Competing in the 100 and 200 meters, Njadoe used her qualifying marks to secure a spot in two of Sunday's finales while taking initiative in boosting her status as one of K-State's all-time performers at the conference meet.
A solid start to the 100 meters enabled the senior sprinter to collect the No. 2 mark in school history with a time of 11.42 seconds. That performance would translate over in the 200 meters, where Njadoe was equally as impressive in recording another personal best – 23.26 seconds – to score another date in the finals on Sunday. Crossing the finish line at seventh overall, Njadoe ended her time on the track with the No. 3 mark in school history.
Bright and Stewart delivered in their first Big 12 Outdoor meet, with Bright leaping in the sand at 6.47m/21-02.75 in the long jump and Stewart grinding through the 3000-meter steeplechase at a pace of 10:32.17 to score top-10 performances in K-State history. Bright's mark in the long jump pushed her to No. 3 all-time among K-State's greats and Stewart powered her way to the No. 5 time in program history in the final race of the evening.
Another distance runner who made a lasting impact in his final home meet – senior Travis Hodge – zoomed his way into 12th place with a pace of 1:49.79, good for a personal record for the product from DeSoto, Kansas.
Finishing with the best time in the 400-meter hurdles on the women's side was senior Kimisha Chambers, who shot out of the start line and compiled a time of 57.87 seconds, setting her up as the favorite for tomorrow's finale.
From a team perspective, the K-State women hold the top spot with 71 points, just ahead Texas Tech at 49.5 points in the standings.
The men's team has kept up with their Big 12 counterparts, collecting 57 points to keep them in range of a comeback on final day, as Iowa State remains at the top with 68 points with one more day of competition.
"Both teams have so far scored more than projected," said Rovelto. "Also, we qualified well, so we have some additional opportunities. Texas and Texas Tech's women's teams have also performed well. Texas qualified exceptionally well. Weather tomorrow is probably not going to be as nice, so hard to project how that impacts marks. We just have to compete and scrap for all we can."
Championship Sunday will begin at 11 a.m., CT with the final portion of field and track events, while the team trophy presentations will be slated for 3 p.m., start times.
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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