As the wind blew through Manhattan, the track and field team basked in the sunshine of Tucson, Arizona.
The team headed south this weekend to compete in the Arizona Jim Click Shootout at Roy P. Drachman Stadium. The competition began Thursday with the women’s heptathlon.
Junior Urte Bacianskaite and freshman Madelyn McCabe were the lone Wildcats in action on days one and two of the shootout.
After day one, Bacianskaite sat in second place in the heptathlon with 3,357 points. She earned a top-five finish in the high jump and shot put, while bounding to a new personal best in the high jump, clearing the bar set at 1.72m/5-7.75 and placing fourth. She also finished with a new personal best in the shot put with a heave of 14.08m/46-2.50, placing first.
At the conclusion of day one events — in her first heptathlon ever — McCabe sat in seventh place overall with 3,053 points. She finished the first day with three personal bests out of just four events.
Heading into day two of the competition, Barcianskaite and McCabe tacked on more points, earning top finishes. The two athletes recorded personal bests in long jump: Bacianskaite finished in second place with a jump of 5.89m/19-4, and McCabe sent dirt flying in the pit with her leap of 5.60m/18-4.50, finishing fifth.
In the javelin throw, McCabe gained even more ground, recording another personal best with a throw of 40.65m/133-4 and placing first overall. Bacianskaite also saw a top-five finish in the javelin throw with a sling of 38.74m/127-1.
When the point totals were tallied, Bacianskaite sat fifth overall, recording a new personal best of 5,488 points. McCabe finished right behind with 5,105 points and a sixth-place finish.
Several other Wildcat athletes made a showing on Saturday. K-State saw 25 top-five finishers by the end of the day.
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As the clock hit 1 p.m., the women’s hammer throw event began. Junior Emma Robbins started the Wildcats off with a victory in the event with a throw of 63.79m/209-3. On the men’s side, sophomore Kade McCall took a silver medal home with a throw of 65.83m/215-11.
Sophomore Jasmine Greer gave the shot put a chuck of 15.79m/51-9.75, earning fourth place.
The throwers cashed in for K-State in the javelin throw. Junior Baylee Unruh gave a toss of 39.20m/128-7 and finished in third place, with fellow teammate and classmate Briana Lowe close behind with a throw of 36.56m/119-11, resulting in a fifth-place finish.
For the men, sophomore Joe Placek sent the javelin soaring 60.89m/199-9, earning a bronze medal. Senior Matas Adamonis finished fourth with a 57.14m/187-5 launch.
The successes continued as senior Tommi Hintnaus and sophomore Reagan Hukill finished second and fourth, respectively, in women’s pole vault. Hintnaus cleared 4.05m/13-3.5, while Hukill cleared 3.95m/12-11.5.
The pole was taken away and the high jump became the name of the game, and the K-State men’s team swept the top finishes.
Junior Devon Richardson cleared 2.13m/6-11.75 for the gold medal, while super-senior Kyle Alcine grabbed second place, springing over the crossbar set at 2.13m/6-11.75. Freshman Kamryen Garrett rounded out the top finishers, tying for third with a jump of 2.10m/6-10.75.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Saturday, athletes stepped to the start line for their respective running events. Junior Vitoria Alves stepped into lane five, sprinting as the start gun sounded and securing a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.24.
Junior Kassidy Johnson and super-senior Macy Heinz pushed each other to the end of the 800-meter run. Johnson finished in second place with a time of 2:06.75, and Heinz was on her tail, clocking in at 2:07.69 and finishing in third.
Junior Shalysa Wray finished first in the women’s 400-meter dash, recording a time of 52.98. On the men’s side, freshman Antonio Hanson clocked in at 46.05 for a second-place finish, while sophomore Kyle Gale registered a time of 46.06 for a third-place finish.
Super-senior Wurrie Njadoe earned the Wildcats 16 points on the day with two second-place finishes in her events. First, in the women’s 100-meter event, Njadoe recorded a time of 11.45. She followed that performance with a 23.17 finish in the 200-meter.
Freshman Thomas Hazen found success in the 3,000 steeplechase event, earning second place with a time of 9:18.93.
Finally, junior Jaybe Shufelberger, super-senior Noah Stevenson and junior Hadley Splechter rounded out the individual top performances, all in the 1,500-meter run. For the ladies, Shufelberger logged a time of 4:36.35 for a fourth-place finish. For the men, Stevenson finished third overall with a time of 3:48.36, while Spletcher clocked in at 3:50.42 for a fifth-place finish.
The competition concluded for the Wildcats with a third-place finish from the women’s 1,600-meter relay team. Senior Alex Ferguson, junior Shalysa Wray, super-senior Wurrie Njadoe and super-senior Macy Heinz clocked in at 3:39.15.
The K-State track and field team heads to Norman, Oklahoma, on April 22-23 for the John Jacobs Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The competition begins at 5 p.m. on Friday and continues at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
