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Zack Penrod finished 7th in a very strong field. His time of 3:43.97 is about 1 second off of his PR but is right at the top of the AAC Performance charts this season. A good race two weeks out from the AAC Championships and Zack along with teammates Jed Helker and Adam Moore appear ready to rack up some points at the AAC Championship meet in two weeks. Just need too fine the final two weeks of training to be ready for a peak performance in two weeks.
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Rebekah ran a 10:09.21. About 11 seconds off the pace she ran in Arkansas but still a very solid time for Rebekah and looks like she is ready to go for the AAC Championships in two weeks.Comment
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Shockers Complete Second Day at Rock Chalk Classic
https://goshockers.com/news/2021/5/1/wichita-state-track-and-field-completes-rock-chalk-classic.aspx
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Taran Taylor started his javelin career at Wichita State with all-conference honors and a national title in 2018. He went from throwing 186 feet in high school at Arkansas City to 243 feet as a freshman.
Then Taylor's career went dark. Elbow surgery and the COVID-19 pandemic kept him from competing for two seasons – or 986 days, he calculates.
Taylor returned to the javelin this spring and is again throwing at a high level. He ranks No. 17 nationally with a throw of 234 feet, 2 inches, the best this spring by American Athletic Conference thrower. While the layoff of 2019 and 2020 frustrated him, it also gave him time to work on his form. He concentrated on calming his upper body while throwing, moving his right hand away from his right hip to produce more leverage.
This spring, he's thrown between 225 feet and 234 feet in each of his four meets. He competes again Friday night in the Shocker Open at Cessna Stadium. The conference championships (May 14-16) and NCAA West Regionals (May 27-29) follow. His sights are set on around 246 feet (75 meters) to qualify for the NCAA Championships (June 9-12).
"That was my No. 1 goal – to be consistent," he said. "My consistency is climbing every meet. Now, I'm throwing 70 (meters) pretty consistently."
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Shocker Open Caps Off Regular Season
https://goshockers.com/news/2021/5/7...ar-season.aspx
The final regular season meet most likely intended primarily as a tune up for next weekends AAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tampa.
Also an opportunity to say thank you and best wishes to the Shocker seniors.
While we say goodbye and good luck to the Shocker seniors a couple of interesting freshman field athletes to keep an eye on for the Shocks not only this year but in the future.
Brady Palen, a freshman from Beloit, Kansas, has high jumped 6-11 this season putting him at the top of the AAC Outdoor Peformance charts.
Destiny Masters, a freshman from El Dorado, Kansas, set a new PR on Friday at the Shocker Open clearing 5-9.25 putting her at #2 in this year's AAC Outdoor Performance charts.Last edited by 1972Shocker; May 8, 2021, 09:50 PM.Comment
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What to keep an eye on for the Shocker men at the AAC Championships:
Top 8 finishers score: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1
As usual Houston will dominate the 100m and 200m sprints. The Shocks' chances of scoring in either of these events are pretty slim. Any scoring they do get would be a bonus. The points Houston generates in these events will be hard to overcome.
Houston and South Florida dominate the performance chart in the 400m races. The Shocks do not look to be a threat to score in this event.
The Shocks could be pretty strong in the 800m run. Jed Helker, Zack Penrod, Adam Moore and Josh Cable have times in the top 7 this year.
In the 1500m run Helker, Penrod and Moore have 3 of the 5 best times this season but Cincy has a very strong group of runners as well.
Jed Helker has the Shocks best time in the 5,000m run (9th in the AAC) but I don't expect him to run this this race. The Shocks best chance to score will be Clayton Duchatschek although he would probably have to run a PR to squeeze into the scoring.
The Shocks don't look to be in the running for points in the 10,000m run.
In the 110m hurdles the Shockers' sophomore duo of Antoinio Norman (2nd best time in the AAC this year) and Joseph Holthusen (7th best time in the AAC this year) have scoring potential.
In the 400m hurdles Norman and fellow Sophomore Yuben Goncalves (out of Portugal via Cloud County CC) have 2 of the top 5 times in the AAC this season.
In the 3,000m steeplechase Ethan Kossover and Clayton Duchatschek have 2 of the top 5 times. Sophomore teammated Britte Magnuson has the 10th best time this season.
In the 4x100 relay the Shocks have the 3rd fastest time in the AAC this season behind Houston and South Florida. I believe Houston's time is the fastest in the nation this year.
In the 4x400 the Shocks, despite having no outstanding 400m runners, have the 4th best time so far this season in the AAC.
In the high jump the Shocks currently have the top 3 jumps in the AAC this season lead by Freshman Brady Palen at 6-11. Davis Dubbert has jumped 6-9.75 and Weston Lewis is close behind with a season best 6-8.75.
In the pole vault the Shocks will not be a factor.
In the long jump the Shocks best chance for points come form sophomore Dowdy Elazarig whose 24-4.5 season best jump is #2 on the AAC charts.
Dowdy Elazarig is also the Shockers best chance for points in the triple jump with Yuben Goncalves also with a chance to edge into the top 8.
Cory Martens should be in the hunt for 4th to 6th place points in the shot put. Cory also should score a few points in the discus.
In the hammer throw the Shocks' Michael Bryan has the best throw of the season in the AAC. He is followed closely by a South Florida athlete. Cory Martens has a good chance of picking up 3 or 4 points in this event as well.
In the javelin, the Shockers have 5 of the top 7 throws in the AAC this season lead by Taran Taylor who has thrown 234-2 this season which is 20 feet further than the 2nd best thrower from Memphis. Davis Dubbert has the 3rd best throw, Chandler Stiawalt the 4th best throw, Cauy Lindsey the 6th best throw and Jeff Ast the 7th best throw.
The Shocks don't appear to be as strong or as deep in the Decathlon as they usually are. In fact, only three AAC athletes have recorded decathlon marks this season . Of those Nathan Vann has the 2nd best total at 6,989 points which is about 700 points shy of the the best mark by Damien Berthenet of Cincinnati. Hard to believe there won't be more than 3 competitors in the Decathlon. At this point start lists are not yet available.
Not sure anyone can overcome Houston's huge advantage in the sprints but if the Shocks can perform well they should have a decent outcome.
Last edited by 1972Shocker; May 9, 2021, 12:45 PM.Comment
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So what does all the above point to as far as a possible finish for the Shocks.
Based on the current AAC performance charts I have the Shocks scoring 166 points. What I don't know is whether are not all the athletes projected to score will be healthy and available for the Championship meet and whether or not there are any limits to how many ahtletes you can put in each event. The top 5 scores from the 2019 AAC Outdoor Championships at Cessna Stadium were:
Houston - 178.75
Wichita State - 166.75
Cincinnati - 111
UConn - 107
Tulsa - 79
I have Houston charting out at a whopping 222 points. They chart at 36 points in the 100m, 31 points in the 200m, 17 points in the 400m and 26 points in the pole vault. That is 110 points in 4 events in which the Shocks are not expected to score. That is a huge disadvantage to overcome. Just those 4 events alone will put Houston in the top 4 at least.
The Shocks only hope is that some of their AAC compartiots and perhap a couple of their guys can somehow find some big performances in these events and have Houston have some underperformances that would pull some of those points away from Houston.
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Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Steve Rainbolt on the Meet
On the goals and expectations for the AAC Championships
"I feel that as a coaching staff, we think that this is one of the best men's teams we've ever had. If you go event by event, there's good or great athletes on our team. In many cases, it's multiple athletes in those events. It's exciting to have a really strong men's team. Houston looks to be the prohibitive favorite to win, but we certainly want to go down there with a hopeful mindset and battle for a championship. It appears to me that we aren't as much of an underdog as we were two years ago. It causes us to be hopeful."
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WEATHER REPORT
Tampa, Florida
USF Track and Field Stadium
- Friday: Partly Cloudy; High of 87°; 6% chance of rain; NNE winds at 10 mph
- Saturday: Partly Cloudy; High of 88°; 5% chance of rain; NE winds at 14 mph
- Sunday: Partly Cloudy; High of 89°; 10% chance of rain; ENE winds at 14 mph
This is quite warm for a track meet especially if it is humid. Could be an advantage to the more southern teams who are perhaps more acclimated to this kind of weather especially in the longer distance races. Haven't had an especially warm spring in Doo-Dah this year.
I would guess the decathletes aren't exactly looking forward to the 5:00 pm 1500 meter run to close out their competition. That race seems to be quite a challenge for these guys in the best of conditions.Last edited by 1972Shocker; May 13, 2021, 08:00 AM.Comment
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The heat sheets are out for this weekends AAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
A few things caught my attention on the men' side of the ledger:
With all the great athletes Houston has they have no participants in the high jump (this is true on the women's side as well).
The Shocks were expected to potentially do very well in the javelin. They may do even better then I thought. There are only 10 athletes schedule to compete. 8 of those 10 are Shockers. Only Max Emmerich of Memphis who has the 2nd best throw in the AAC this year and Damien Berthenet of Cincinnati, who is the favorite to win the Decathlon, are in the field in addition to the 8 Shockers. Emmerich will definitely score. Berthenet may or may not score. His distance only exceeds that of Shocker junior Aiden Camp and Shocker freshman high jumper, Brady Palen both of whom have no distances recorded. Camp is a thrower but while he has career marks on the books in the discus, hammer and shot put he as not javelin history, Maybe he threw in high school at Andale. Palen is really a strange one to see in that event. Not sure he as ever competed in the javelin and you would not want him to get hurt considering he comes into the meets with the top high jump in the AAC. Makes you wonder if that is not a mistake or something else going on with that.
It does clearly answer the question about whether teams are limited in the number of athletes they can enter in each event.
A guy to keep an eye on in the 100m and 200m sprints is freshman Shaun Maswanganyi of Hoution. He is the No. 1 seed in both events. His PR in the 100 is 10.04 and his PR in the 200 is 20.14. That's blazing fast. The AAC records in these events are 9.99 and 19.96. Not sure this young man will threaten that this year but he's just getting started in his career. BTW, Houston has 8 runners out of the 21 in the 100m race and the same 8 guys out of 19 runners in the 200m race. The Shocks have 2 in the 100 and 1 in the 200 and are unlikely to be in the top 8 in either race.
The men's 5k is an interesting race. It is one of the last races Sunday evening with only the two 4x400 relays remaining after it is run. There are currently 49 athletes entered in this race, 7 of those from Wichita State. 3 of the WSU athletes do not have a time in this event this year. Jed Helker as the Shocks best time in this event but his time is only 9th best in the AAC and I thought he probably would not go in this race but instead run the 800m and 1500m races. Well he is in this race and he is also in the two shorter races. I expect Jed to score well in the two shorter races. Not so much in the 5k. Could be the guys just want the experience and perhaps just enjoy a nice 3.1 mile run at the end of a track meet. The thing is both the 800m and 1500m races include a qualifying round and an finals. The 1500m qualifying rounds are run Friday evening, the 800m qualifying rounds are run Satruday evening, the 1500m finals are on Sunday at around 5:00 pm followed about an hour later by the 800m finals. Not sure how Jed could have anything left in the tank for a 5k round about 1.5 hours after the 800m finals especially with the heat the are forecasting in Tampa this weekend. I suspect a scratch for Jed in the 5k is definitely a possibility.
As I mentioned in my initial event notes above there were only 3 AAC athletes who had posted scores in the decathlon this year. 2 were from Cincinnati and 1 Shocker, Nate Vann. I did not thing there would only be 3 athletes in the decathlon and that turned out to be accurate. There are 7 athletes schedule to compete in the decathlon with the additional athletes all being Wichita State Shockers. If you can finish the event you will be able to score. I'm guessing Cincinnati will take 1st and perhaps 3rd which would give them 16 points. If the Shocks take 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th they would get 22 points. That would be a nice little boost to their scoring if that happens.
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Men's Hammer Throw
The Shockers' Michael Bryan came in as the #1 seed in the hammer throw but ended up 2nd. ECU's Ryan Davis, the #2 seed, won the event with a season best throw of 232-9 with Michael coming in a strong 2nd with a throw of 229-5. Both throws broke the previous AAC Championship record.by over 22 feet.
Good news for the Shockers picked up a bit better than expected 4h place finish worth 5 points from Cory Martens and a bit of an unexpected 6th place finish form Aiden Camp who set a new PR good for 3 points. Combined with Michael's 8 points for second place and the Shocks pick up a very solid 16 points in this event.
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Men's Decathlon - Day One
Day one of the decathlon is in the books as the guys have completed the 100m dash, long jump, high jump and 400m race.
The favorite Damien Berthenet of Cincinnati did not record any marks in the final 3 events and he is probably done I would think. Actually only 3 of the competitors had marks in all 5 events. Those 3 have the following scores:
Cannon Riddle - Cincinnati - 3,797
Nathan Vann - Wichita State - 3,742
Chonnor Ludolph - Wichita State - 3,474
In addition toe Berthenet, Shockers Davis Dubbert scored in the first 4 events but not in the 400, Ethan Toy marked in the 100, SP and HJ but not in the LJ and 400, and Chandler Stiawalt marked in the SP and HJ, but not in the 100, LJ and the 400.
I have no idea what the rules are on what scores will count towards team points. Do you have to finish at least a minimum number of events or have a minimum number of points. I don't think I have seen this before as usually you have an adequate number of athletes competing to have 8 complete decathlons.
Nate's not as strong on the 2nd day. The 110H and pole vault are potentially good events for him but the discuss, javelin and 1500m run are not particularly strong events for him. I think he can score around 3,300 points tomorrow. That would put him at 7,072 which would be a new PR for Nate.
Cannon Riddle is not as strong on the 2nd day either and Nate has a reasonable chance to catch him. It may come down to who can handle the 1500m run in the heat the best. Based on PR's Riddle has about a 84 point advantage over Nate in that event.
Last edited by 1972Shocker; May 14, 2021, 05:28 PM.Comment
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Men's Javelin
As anticipated the Javelin was a big scoring event for the Shocker men. Just finished and the Shocks took 1-2-4-5-6-7-8 for a whopping 33 points.
Shocker Junior Davis Dubbert uncorked a new PR on his 2nd throw and held the lead until his teamate and #1 seed Taran Taylor unleashed his best throw on his 5th attempt to take the lead and then extended that lead with a little bit better throw on his 6th and final throw.
Final results:
1. Taran Taylor - WSU - 223-2
2. David Dubbert - WSU - 218-6 PR
3. Max Emmerich - Memphis - 218-6
4. Cauy Lindsey - WSU - 202-9 PR
5. Jeff Ast - WSU - 183-8
6. Chandler Stiawalt 174-5
7. Chonnor Ludolph - WSU - 165-2
7. Aidan Camp - WSU - 163-0 PR
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That is a pretty nice outdoor track facility at USF:
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Men's 1500m Prelims
Shocks qualify 4 into the 12-man finals Sunday at 5:00 pm. Zack Penrod, Jed Helker, Adam Moore and Bryce Merriman. I expect Zack, Jed and Adam to be in the scoring. Not expecting that Bryce will provide any scoring.
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