The Kansas State track and field teams set new records at the National Relay Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday and Saturday.
Overall, both the women’s and men’s teams finished in third place at Fayetteville. The K-State men ended with 29 points and the women had 34.
After the meet, Cliff Rovelto, director of track and field and cross country, told K-State Sports on Saturday he was pleased with the event and his teams’ results.
“We had a significant number of quality performances within our relays,” Rovelto said to K-State Sports. “We saw some great efforts. I really like the format of the meet. Having Friday to do a lot of open stuff was great. The brevity of today’s competition is really nice.”
Related:
K-State track and field sets numerous records over the weekend
On day one, the Wildcats had several notable individual and team performances.
In the women’s 1,600-meter sprint medley relay, juniors Taishia Pryce and Akia Guerrier, senior Asha Cave and sophomore Kassidy Johnson placed second in the event and had the fastest time in school history. The team ran a time of 3:46.76, which was over seven seconds better than their time at the Texas Relays earlier this season.
In the women’s 200-meter race, senior Ranae McKenzie ran the second fastest time in school history at 23.14 seconds and placed sixth in the event.
Freshman Lavaun Stephenson ran 58.91 in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, placing third in the event.
Despite overall solid performances, the only event K-State won on Friday was the women’s discus thanks to junior Ashley Petr’s throw of 53.83 meters.
On the second day, senior Shardia Lawrence took first place in the women’s triple jump with 13.65 meters, her personal best this season.
The K-State women’s team took second in the 4×800-meter relay with a time of 9:01.24, which was the Wildcats’ second fastest of the season.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay then finished in 12th place overall at 3:18.21.
K-State’s next track and field meet will be at home as they host the Ward Haylett Invitational on May 3 and 4 at the R. V. Christian Track.
