MANHATTAN, Kan. – A school record in the weight throw by Janee’ Kassanavoid and top-five program mark in the shot put by Brett Neelly led to welcomed news for Kansas State prior to the start of the Big 12 Championship meet. K-State’s throwers swept Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors after their performances at the Steve Miller Open, the conference office announced on Thursday.
The accolades mark the first Athlete of the Week honor for both Kassanavoid and Neelly, who became the 13th Wildcat woman and the eighth male to be named Athlete of the Week in the Big 12 era. The Wildcats have now earned the award three times this season, the first coming after newcomer Nina Schultz claimed the honor on February 8 after a dominant display in the pentathlon at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational.
“Both have really worked hard and have been extremely focused over the last couple of weeks,” throws coach Greg Watson said about his athletes’ performances. “Now we are looking for them to carry this momentum into the Big 12 Championship meet and continue to build on their personal bests.”
Kassanavoid broke the meet and school record with a toss of 21.81m/71-06.75 inside Ahearn Field House last week. The mark shattered Loren Grove’s school record (21.41m/70-03) and meet record (21.10m/69-02.75), both of which were set during the 2008 season.
The senior thrower, who entered the competition with the ninth-best mark in weight throw in Division I, now sits in fourth in the nation heading into the Big 12 Championship meet. She also maintained the top spot in the Big 12 with the throw.
Neelly closed out the Steve Miller Open with bang, recording a personal-best throw of 18.58m/60-11.50 in shot put to win the event and move to a tie for fifth place on the school’s all-time list with Andrew Gilliam. The sophomore has now won all of five meets that he has thrown in and he currently holds the second-best mark in the Big 12 behind Kansas’ Nicolai Ceban, who has a season-best throw of 19.85m/65-01.50.
K-State opens competition at the Big 12 Championship on Friday at the Lied Recreation Center in Ames, Iowa. More information on the conference championship can be found on the Big 12 website by clicking here.
For the latest on K-State track and field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.