MANHATTAN, Kan. – Members of the Kansas State men’s and women’s track and field teams will vie for spots in the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week, as the Wildcats travel to College Station, Texas for the NCAA West Regional at E.B. Cushing Stadium from Wednesday-Saturday, May 26-29.
All told, 27 individuals will compete in 23 events, along with the men’s 4x400-meter team of Sean Wilson, Justin Davis, Tim Lambert and Jah Strange, for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Wednesday-Saturday, June 9-12. The top 12 competitors from each individual event and the top 12 teams from each relay event will advance to the national meet.
“We have a fairly large group competing this week and a sizable number who certainly have an opportunity to move on to the final week of national competition,” said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. “The quality of marks is in many events the highest it has ever been. We will have to perform at our best to move on.”
The 27 individuals (14 women, 13 men) and men’s 4x400-meter relay team advanced to the West Regional competition by posting marks and times among the top-48 in their respective event. Teams are divided into two Regionals (East and West) that will then feed into the NCAA Championships, which will be held for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 meet was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Seniors Ariel Okorie and Lauren Taubert have already punched their tickets to the national meet in the heptathlon after posting scores that rank among the top-24 nationally. It will mark the second straight time that the pair have advanced to the national meet in the event after finishing eighth and 19th, respectively, in 2019.
In addition to Okorie and Taubert, five other Wildcats will be attempting to advance to the NCAA Championships for the second straight meet. Those include senior Helene Ingvaldsen in the women’s hammer, junior Taylor Latimer in the women’s shot put, senior Ashley Petr in the women’s discus, junior Tejaswin Shankar in the men’s high jump and senior Jullane Walker in the men’s long jump.
Like Taubert, Latimer and Shankar were First Team All-American in their respective events in 2019. The 2018 NCAA Outdoor High Jump champion and a two-time First Team All-American, Shankar was the runner-up to LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison on misses with a mark of 2.27m, while Latimer finished in fourth place in her first NCAA Outdoor appearance with a toss of 17.67m.
In all, 15 Wildcats advanced to the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which was held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. Then senior Shardia Lawrence helped the K-State women finish 16th as a team by winning the NCAA title in the triple jump with a school-record leap of 13.99m, which is the seventh-best mark in the event in NCAA Championships history. The women’s team has placed among the top-20 at the NCAA Championships in six consecutive seasons.
Action in the West Regional will begin on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., CT, with freshman Kade McCall in the men’s hammer and senior Logan Wolfley and freshman Luke Ralston in the men’s javelin. The first day will be busy one for K-State with eight Wildcats in action, including senior Jullane Walker attempting to qualify in two events (men’s long jump and men’s 100 meters) at 3 p.m., CT and 7 p.m., CT.
Other notable events to watch with multiple Wildcat athletes competing include the women’s hammer (Helene Ingvaldsen, Ashley Petr, Shaelyn Ward) at 1:30 p.m., CT on Thursday, the women’s long jump (Chantoba Bright, Wurrie Njadoe, Taishia Pryce) at 3 p.m., CT on Thursday, the men’s high jump (Kyle Alcine, Devon Richardson, Tejaswin Shankar) at 1 p.m., CT on Friday and the women’s triple jump (Bright, Rhianna Phipps and Konstantina Romaiou) at 3:15 p.m., CT on Saturday.
Eight Wildcats Rank Among Top 10 in West Regional
Eight Wildcats enter this week’s West Regional among the top-10 in their respective events in the region, including senior Tejaswin Shankar (men’s high jump/No. 1/2.28m), senior Logan Wolfley (men’s javelin/No. 5/73.08m), senior Helene Ingvaldsen (women’s hammer/No. 6/66.89m), junior Taylor Latimer (women’s shot put/No. 7/17.73m), senior Ashley Petr (women’s discus/No. 7/58.07m), senior Jullane Walker (men’s long jump/No. 7/7.96m), senior Jah Strange (men’s triple jump/No. 8/16.26m) and senior Kimisha Chambers (women’s 400-meter hurdles/No. 10/57.64). Four others (Kyle Alcine, Vitoria Alves, Chantoba Bright, Cameron Lewis) are among the top-20, including Bright in the top-15 in both the long and triple jumps.
Petr, Shankar and Taubert each have marks among the top-10 nationally in their events.
Several ‘Cats Looking to Advance in Multiple Events
Junior Wurrie Njadoe, along with sophomore Chantoba Bright, senior Kimisha Chambers, senior Ashley Petr and senior Jullane Walker, will be attempting to qualify for the NCAA Championships in multiple events.
Njadoe will attempt the rare triple, as she has qualified for the NCAA West Regionals in the women’s 100 and 200 meters as well as the long jump. She will be attempting to return to the national meet for the first time since her freshman season when she earned First Team All-America honors in the long jump with a mark of 6.36 meters to finish in eighth place.
Bright has top-15 marks in both the triple jump (11th/13.29m) and long jump (14th/6.47m), while Chambers has qualified in both hurdles (100-meters and 400-meters) and Petr in both the discus and hammer. Walker, who is seventh in the long jump, will also compete in the 100 meters.
Multiple Wildcats in multiple events
K-State will have at least two athletes in six events at the NCAA West Regionals, including three each in the women’s hammer (Helene Ingvaldsen, Ashley Petr and Shaelyn Ward), the women’s long jump (Chantoba Bright, Wurrie Njadoe, Taishia Pryce), the men’s high jump (Kyle Alcine, Devon Richardson, Tejaswin Shankar) and the women’s triple jump (Bright, Rhianna Phipps, Konstantina Romaiou).
The Wildcats will also have multiple athletes in the men’s javelin (Luke Ralston, Logan Wolfley) and the women’s 100-meter hurdles (Vitoria Alves, Kimisha Chambers).
Okorie, Taubert Already Set for NCAAs
Seniors Ariel Okorie and Lauren Taubert have already punched their tickets to the national meet in the heptathlon after posting scores that rank among the top-24 nationally. Taubert currently ranks eighth in the event after scoring 5,831 points at the Jim Click Invitational on April 10, while Okorie is 17th after scoring 5,661 points at the Big 12 Championships May 14-15. K-State and Duke are the only schools to have multiple entries in the heptathlon.
It will mark the second consecutive appearance for Okorie and Taubert in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championship after each advanced in 2019. Taubert earned First Team All-America honors with an eighth-place finish with 5,793 points, while Okorie finished 18th with 5,439 points.
K-State has had an athlete earn All-America honors in the heptathlon in each of the last 5 national meets.
Both Teams Rank Among Top-40 Nationally
Both teams rank among the top-40 nationally in the latest USTFCCCA National Rating Index (TFRI) that was released on Tuesday (May 25) with the women’s team checking in at No. 34 (66.57) and the men’s squad coming in at No. 37 (55.0). The Wildcats remain one of the top teams in the Midwest in the USTFCCCA Regional Rating Index (TFRI), as the women’s team ranks first (664.36) and the men’s team places sixth (393.7).
Last Time Out
K-State is coming off a strong performance at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, in which, both men’s and women’s teams finished among the top-4 at their own R.V. Christian Track and Field Complex, May 14-16. The women’s team finished second to Texas with 114 points, while the men’s team held off Texas Tech in the final event of the day – the men’s 4x400-meter relay – to clinch a fourth-place finish with 88 points.
The Wildcat women’s team has now place among the top-3 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in five consecutive seasons, including championships in 2017 and 2018. The men’s team has now finished fourth or better at each of the last 3 outdoor championships.
Three Wildcats – Taylor Latimer (women’s shot put), T.J. Shankar (men’s high jump) and Logan Wolfley (men’s javelin) – earned individual Big 12 titles, while four others – Helene Ingvaldsen (women’s hammer), Cameron Lewis (men’s shot put), Jah Strange (men’s triple jump) and Lauren Taubert (heptathlon) – were runner-ups in their respective events. Wolfley’s mark of 73.08 meters set the school-record in the javelin, while Shankar’s jump of 2.28 meters established a new R.V. Christian Track and Field Complex mark.
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, May 26
1:30 pm – Kade McCall, Men’s Hammer
1:30 pm – Luke Ralston and Logan Wolfley, Men’s Javelin
3:00 pm – Jullane Walker, Men’s Long Jump
7:00 pm – Jullane Walker, Men’s 100 meters (First Round)
7:25 pm – Justin Davis, Men’s 400 meters (First Round)
7:50 pm – Travis Hodge, Men’s 800 meters (First Round)
8:25 pm – Tim Lambert, Jr., Men’s 400-meter Hurdles (First Round)
9:10 pm – Cooper Schroeder, Men’s 10,000 meters (Semifinal)
Thursday, May 27
1:30 pm – Helene Ingvaldsen, Ashley Petr and Shaelyn Ward, Women’s Hammer
1:30 pm – Briana Lowe, Women’s Javelin
3:00 pm – Chantoba Bright, Taishia Pryce and Wurrie Njadoe, Women’s Long Jump
6:00 pm – Taylor Latimer, Women’s Shot Put
6:00 pm – Vitoria Alves and Kimisha Chambers, Women’s 100-meter Hurdles (First Round)
7:00 pm – Wurrie Njadoe, Women’s 100 meters (First Round)
7:25 pm – O’shalia Johnson, Women’s 400 meters (First Round)
7:50 pm – Kassidy Johnson, Women’s 800 meters (First Round)
8:20 pm – Kimisha Chambers, Women’s 400-meter Hurdles (First Round)
8:45 pm – Wurrie Njadoe, Women’s 200 meters (First Round)
Friday, May 28
1:00 pm – Kyle Alcine, Devon Richardson and Tejaswin Shankar, Men’s High Jump
1:30 pm – Cameron Lewis, Men’s Discus
3:15 pm – Jah Strange, Men’s Triple Jump
7:05 pm – Jullane Walker, Men’s 100 meters (if advances)
7:20 pm – Justin Davis, Men’s 400 meters (if advances)
7:35 pm – Travis Hodge, Men’s 800 meters (if advances)
7:55 pm – Tim Lambert, Jr., Men’s 400-meter Hurdles (if advances)
9:15 pm – Men’s 4x400-meter Relay
Saturday, May 29
1:30 pm – Ashley Petr, Women’s Discus
3:15 pm – Chantoba Bright, Rhianna Phipps, Konstantina Romaiou, Women’s Triple Jump
6:45 pm – Vitoria Alves and Kimisha Chambers, Women’s 100-meter Hurdles (if advances)
7:05 pm – Wurrie Njadoe, Women’s 100 meters (if advances)
7:20 pm – O’shalia Johnson, Women’s 400 meters (if advances)
7:35 pm – Kassidy Johnson, Women’s 800 meters (if advances)
7:55 pm – Kimisha Chambers, Women’s 400-meter Hurdles (if advances)
8:10 pm – Wurrie Njadoe, Women’s 200 meters (if advances)
Up Next
A select number of Wildcats will travel to legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will run from Wednesday-Saturday, June 9-12.
For the latest on K-State Track and Field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.