AUSTIN, Texas – With the 2017 outdoor season coming to a close, the Kansas State men and women’s track and field teams make their way to Mike A. Myers Stadium for the NCAA West Preliminary, the first of two meets in the NCAA Outdoor Championship, on May 25-27.
Representing one of over 120 Division I programs located west of the Mississippi River, K-State will have 30 athletes in action over the span of the three-day competition, which welcomes the top-48 competitors in each event before sending the top 12 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Oregon, on June 7-10. The K-State women have 18 individual entries and two relay squads set to compete, while the men have 10 representatives competing.
“We have a fairly large group, a number of which will be competing for the first time at this meet,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said about the NCAA West Preliminary meet. “It will be fun to watch them compete. If we do what we have been doing all year, we should have a significant group represent K-State at the finals in Eugene in a couple of weeks.”
Fresh off the program’s third Big 12 Outdoor Championship, the 12th-ranked women’s side looks to send a large contingent to the final meet as six Wildcats are currently inside the top-12 needed to advance to the final round. Shadae Lawrence headlines the group as the sophomore currently holds the top spot in the West region in the discus throw with her record-setting Big 12 Championship toss of 62.59m/205-04.
Lawrence’s twin sister Shardia Lawrence enters with the second-best mark in triple jump after posting her season-best leap of 13.79m/45-03 (3.4) to finish runner-up at the Big 12 Championship. Freshman Wurrie Njadoe enters the West Preliminary meet with the third-farthest long jump mark after a leap of 6.55m/21-06 (2.0) saw her take second at the Big 12 Championship, while Janee’ Kassanavoid’s school-record toss of 66.97m/219-09 at the Texas Invitational in mid-April is also good for the third seed in this weekend’s meet.
Sophomore Ranae McKenzie looks to return to the NCAA Championship for the second-straight season as she currently holds the 11th-fastest 400-meter hurdles time (57.98) in the West, while freshman Helene Ingvaldsen will look to make her first trip to Eugene as she is currently 11th in the West in the hammer throw (61.94m/203-02).
On the men’s side, juniors Terrell Smith (200-meter dash) and Christoff Bryan (high jump) are the only two Wildcat men in the top-12 entering the meet. Smith boasts a season-best time of 20.44 (4.0) to enter with the 11th seed, while Bryan is the 11th-seeded high jumper in the meet with a season best mark of 2.18m/7-01.75.
A handful of men sit on the cusp of qualification, including Brett Neelly, whose Big 12-winning toss of 18.81m/61-08.50 is currently good for the No. 14 seed. K-State’s three men’s hammer throwers are also on the brink of qualification asMitch Dixon (65.42m/214-07) is currently 14th, Kyle Smith (64.74m/212-05) is 15th and Brady Grunder (64.55m/211-09) is 16th entering competition.
Newcomer Nina Schultz is the only Wildcat currently qualified for June’s NCAA Championship meet as the heptathlon is not held in the preliminary round. Schultz’s score of 6,021 points, which she scored at the Jim Click Combined Events in early April, is the fourth-best point total in program history and currently the fourth-best mark in Division I heading into the national meet.
Thursday’s action is slated to begin at 11 a.m., with the women’s hammer throw, while the women’s discus throw and men’s pole vault kicks off Saturday’s competition beginning at noon. Sunday’s action will begin at 3:00 p.m., with the men’s triple jump.
Tickets for the NCAA West Preliminary meet will be available on an all-meet and single-session basis and can purchased here. Fans who cannot travel to Austin can watch a free live stream, which can be found here, while live results for all three days of competition will be provided by PT Timing and can be accessed here.
More information on the meet, including ticket information, heat sheets and full schedule, can be found on Texas’ NCAA West Preliminary home page, which can be found 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.