K-State athletics ranks 10th and 11th in Big 12 | K State Sports

The Kansas State track and field team launched into the postseason this weekend, competing in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Clyde Hart Athletic Stadium in Waco, Texas.

After encountering several weather delays throughout the three days of competition, the teams competed in 21 events, with the K-State men finishing 10th with 35 points while the women tallied 37 points, earning them 11th place in the team rankings. Texas swept the men’s and women’s championships with 150 points for the women’s team, the men’s team with 134 points.

Seven Wildcats posted top-eight performances, including three women in the shot put who competed well past midnight, after experiencing another day of multiple weather delays spanning five hours during the second day of competition Friday.

Senior Urte Bacianskaite finished the competition in the women’s heptathlon with a bronze medal score of 5,714 points. She finished 70 points behind runner-up Bailey Golden of Oklahoma State and 240 points behind Texas winner Kristine Blazevica.

Bacianskaite won her second event of seven in the javelin throw, reaching a season-high distance of 154 feet, 9 inches. She earned 7th place in the long jump with two consecutive jumps at 18 feet, 11.25 inches and finished the day in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.59 in 11th place.

Junior Daisy Monie led the K-State women in the shot put with a 4th place, new personal best of 53 feet, 10.25 inches, jumping to 7th in K-State’s all-time top 10 list. Seniors Jasmine Greer (7th; 52 feet, 1.25 inches) and Jaycee Schroeder (8th; 51 feet, 6.25 inches) also earned podium spots along with junior Grace Thompson (13th; 49 feet, 4, 25 inches) also completing the group.

While the 3,000-meter steeplechase was the only track event contested on the evening, two Wildcats won conference medals. Junior Tommy Hazen recorded a new personal best in the men’s event by nine seconds in 8:51.57, now No. 5 in K-State’s top 10, with an 8th-place podium finish. Senior Hannah Stewart ran a bronze medal time of 10:10.43 while sophomore Cecilia Fisher finished 13th in 10:43.71.

Junior Jessi Brummett, a Riley County graduate, reached the podium with a throw of 148 feet in eighth place, her best of the season. Other javelin competitors include senior Briana Lowe (11th; 139 feet, 4 inches) and sophomore Saydee Tanking (15th; 133 feet).

K-State then wrapped up the competition on Saturday, adding eight more podiums, including the men’s 4×400 relay.

The Wildcats won four medals solely on their performance in the high jump. In the men’s event, sophomore Aaron Antoine and junior Marcus Gelpi both cleared a height of 7 feet, 0.25 inches, finishing 5th and 7th, respectively. In the women’s high jump, sophomore Sharie Enoe and junior Vanessa Mercera both cleared a height of 5 feet, 9.25 inches for 6th and 7th places.

Senior Devon Richardson competed in two events during the day, the high jump with a 13th place finish at a height of 6 feet, 8.75 inches and the triple jump where he took ninth place with a distance of 49 feet and 6.25 inches.

Sophomore Nate Collier landed on the men’s discus podium with a fifth-place throw of 189 feet, 5 inches, while senior Andrew White finished ninth with a distance of 175 feet, 4 inches.

Senior Eugene Omalla competed in the 400-meter timed final where he earned fifth place in 45.76, his same finish at the conference indoor championship. Also on the track, sophomore Jourdin Edwards scored a point in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing eighth (59.01).

As the men’s relay team, freshman Nen Matlock, senior Kyle Gale, E. Omalla and senior Jaimie Omalla earned fifth place with a time of 3:05.90, three seconds ahead of Oklahoma State, sixth.

In the individual 400 meter race, Matlock recorded her best time of 46.95, which gave her 16th place and in the women’s race, sophomore Twaneise Johnson ran a new personal best of 54.15 , finishing 14th.

K-State now awaits the list of qualifiers for the NCAA Western Preliminaries which will take place May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at John McConnell Field, hosted by Arkansas.