MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the second-straight meet, the Kansas State track and field team saw a school record broken as well as numerous first-place finishes and personal bests set as competition came to a close at the LSU Battle on the Bayou on Saturday.
In a meet scored by conference affiliation, the Big 12 conference, represented by the Wildcats and Oklahoma, came in second place in both the men’s and women’s competition with scores of 122 points and 145 points, respectively. The SEC, represented by Mississippi State, Alabama and hosts LSU, won the competition with the conference’s men scoring 164 points and the women scoring 165 points.
Junior Jeff Bachman got the Wildcats off to a fast start on Friday evening, placing first and setting the meet record in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 31:22.66. The previous meet record was 31:26.24, set by LSU’s Travis Pope.
The Wildcats continued to have success on the track on Saturday. SophomoreA’Keyla Mitchell recorded a first place finish in the 200 meter dash with a personal best time of 22.94. Her mark also set a new school record, which Mitchell held with from last season’s NCAA West Preliminary with a time of 22.96.
In the 800 meter run, senior Sonia Gaskin posted a time of 2:05.05 to finish in fourth. That time is the 23rd-best mark in Division I this season. Junior Kain Ellisposted a time of 1:50.58 in the event to finish seventh, while senior Blake Goodin and freshman Chris Sandquist each set personal bests with times of 1:51.69 and 1:55.13, respectively.
Junior Morgan Wedekind also posted a record-setting day, recording a first-place finish in the 5000 meter run with a personal best time of 17:28.79. Her time also set a new Battle on the Bayou meet record.
Twins Shadae Lawrence and Shardia Lawrence also combined for a pair of first-place finishes in jumps and throws. Shadae won the discus throw with a mark of 55.52m/182-02, while Shardia took the triple jump crown with a leap of 12.97m/42-06.75.
In the field, the Wildcats saw numerous athletes post impressive results. SeniorDwight Davidson used a huge throw of 68.27m/223-11 to set a new PR and finish in third place.
Fellow senior throwers Sara Savatovic and Dani Winters recorded first place finishes in their respective events. Savatovic recorded a mark of 64.74m/212-05 to win the hammer throw, while Winters won her first competition in shot put since her national title with a mark of 17.36m/56-11.50.
The Wildcats return to action next weekend as they head down the road to Wichita, Kansas to compete in the KT Woodman Invitational on April 15th and 16th. More information on the meet can be found here.
Senior Akela Jones will head back to the west coast to compete at the Mt. SAC Relays in Azusa, California on April 13th and 14th. Information on this meet can be found here.