The Kansas State men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, to compete in the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, and several Wildcats placed well in their events.
After the completion of events on Saturday, the women’s team had 37.33 points to finish in third place, while the men’s team was in sixth place with 19 points.
The first day of the meet had several Wildcats setting personal bests on Friday.
On the K-State women’s team, sophomore Nina Schultz was just shy of a meet record with a height of 1.8 meters in the high jump, placing first. Seniors Rhizlane Siba and Shanae McKenzie cleared heights of 1.8 meters and 1.7 meters, respectively.
“In general, the throwers had a great day. They had a number of personal bests there,” head coach Cliff Rovelto said to K-State Sports. “Nina [Schultz] and Rhizlane [Siba] both jumped well, and Lukas [Koch] looked good in the 1,000.”
K-State had four athletes place in the men’s 1,000-meter run. Senior Lukas Koch placed second (2:24.34), sophomore Travis Hodge finished fourth (2:27.86), sophomore Noah Stevenson placed sixth (2:29.83) and senior Sam Oxandale came in eighth (2:39.61).
Koch and Hodge both set personal records in this event. Koch is now third all-time on the K-State Indoor Top-10 list with his personal best from this event.
Sophomore Helene Ingvaldsen placed third in the women’s weight throw with 20.83 meters. This was the second meet in which Ingvaldsen tossed a new personal best. She is now at the No. 4 position in K-State’s women’s hammer throw history, and ninth in the NCAA for the season.
Sophomore Shaelyn Ward finished the women’s weight throw at 17.81 meters, and freshman Taylor Latimer totaled a distance of 16.43 meters. These two also set personal bests in this event.
“They’re looking really good, and the promising part is they keep progressing,” assistant coach Greg Watson said to K-State Sports. “They know that every throw they take matters and that the important thing is they keep getting better.”
Senior Mitch Dixon set a new meet record in the men’s weight throw at 21.31 meters. In each meet this season, Dixon has thrown a personal best and is now second all-time on the K-State throw list.
In the men’s 3,000-meter run, freshman Ethan Powell placed first with a personal best of 8:29.67, and junior Joe Gorthy placed eighth with a personal best of 8:47.12.
Day two of this event saw many more placements for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Junior Brett Neelly threw a distance of 18.4 meters in the men’s shot put, placing second, and freshman Kyle Mitchell finished with a distance of 16.57 meters, placing sixth.
High school senior Keiteyana Parks ran in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 1:09.65.
Sophomore Erin Lee and freshman Victoria Robinson competed in the women’s 800-meter event with times of 2:17.92 and 2:19.99, respectively, placing first and second.
Three Wildcats placed in the men’s mile event. Noah Stevenson placed first with a time of 4:15.03, sophomore Nicholas Skinner placed third with a time of 4:19.42 and Sam Oxandale placed fifth in this event with a time of 4:27.28.
