2022-23 Shocker Men XC and Track & Field

[1972Shocker]

At the Ichabod Invitational in Topeka on Saturday the rest of the Shockers top 3k runners got it what I presume is final tuneup for the AAC Indoor Championships in two weeks.

Shocker Alum and current volunteer assistant coach Adam Moore won the race in 8:05.90. Current Shockers Clayton Duchatschek (8:09.34), Trey Rios (8:18.44) and Jackson Caldwell (8:20.35) finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in a mostly D-2, NAIA and Juco field. All 3 Shockers set new PB's at this distance. Clayton moved up to #3 all-time behind current teammate Adrian Diaz-Lopez and Ugis Jocis. Adam Moore ran 11 seconds under his best time as a Shocker.

Unfortunately, these times won't get it done at the AAC Championships in an event dominated by Tulsa runners and to a lesser degree by Cincinnati runners. Clayton's time only ranks 19th on this seasons AAC performance charts.

[1972Shocker]

The AAC Indoor Championships are in two weeks at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Last year the Shockers finished 3rd with 115 points among the 8 AAC teams competing behind Houston (141.5) and Cincinnati (128) and just ahead of Tulsa (106).

I think that this year the Shocks are looking at a 5th place finish behind Houston, Cincinnati, Tulsa and South Florida and ahead of only Memphis, East Carolina, and Tulane.

So the interest for Shocker fans will be on how certain individuals perform in selected events:

60m Dash - Can sophomore Jaleel Montgomery, out of Wichita West HS, squeeze into the Top 8 against the speedsters from Houston and South Florida.

60m Hurdles: The Shocks have 3 guys in the top 10 of the AAC performance charts. Senior Joseph Holthusen is 3rd at 7.90, sophomore Adria Navajon is 7th at 8.04 and sophomore Jaleel Montgomery is 8th 8.08. Adria is the defending heptathlon champion so I am not sure what individual events he will do in addition to the heptathlon. Would be great if the Shocks could advance all 3 guys into the final 8.

200m Dash - Can sophomore Joakim Generoux do the same. He currently is #10 on the performance charts.

800m Run: Houston and Cincinnati dominate this event. Shocker junior Bryce Merriman has chance at a top 5 finish but probably needs to run a PB.

Mile Run and the 3000m Run: I am assuming sophomore Adrian Diaz-Lopez will double up in these two events. In the mile there are 2 Tulsa runners and 1 Cincinnati runner who have times under 4 minutes. I don't think ADL can win this race but these guys might pull him along to a new Shocker school record which was set by Adam Moore last year at 4:01.08. ADL is currently ranked 5th in the mile. Tulsa absolutely dominates the 3000m run with 8 of the top 10 times times in the AAC. ADL, who broke the WSU school record this week. He is currently ranked #4 in the AAC and his best time is 4.25 seconds behind the AAC leader from Tulsa. Perhaps we will be able to better his own school record. it will be difficut to overcome the cadre of Tulsa runners working toghether in this race.

5000m Run: Again and event dominated by Tulsa with 5 of the top 10 times. Shocker senior Clayton Duchatschek ranked 7th and sophomore Trey Rios is ranked 10th. Clayton is currently #2 all-time at WSU and Trey is #7. Perhaps Clayton can set a new school record. I'm not sure Trey will be able to get into the scoring as his best time is 18 seconds slower that the 8th ranked AAC runner.

4 x 400 Relay: The Shocker foursome of So. Joakim Generoux, Fr. Bryan Haney, So. RJ Hurchinson and Jr. JD Prinsloo currently have the 3rd best time in the AAC this year. Would be great if this relatively young group of guys could finish in the top 3 or 4.

High Jump: This is one of the stronger events for the Shocks with 4 guys in the top 10. Defending champion, USF's Romaine Beckford, has cleared 7-3.25 this year and will be the heavy favorite. Shocker Sr. Weston Lewis has cleared 6-11.75 and Shocker So. Brady Palen has clear 6-10.75 the #2 and #3 spots on the AAC chart. 4 guys, including WSU sophomore multi-event athletes Adria Navajon and Hudson Bailey are tied for 7th best all having cleared 6-7. Again, we'll have to see what events Adria and Bailey participate in in addition to the pentathlon.

Pole Vault: This has not been a particular strong event for the Shocks in the last 10 to 15 years. The Shockers have 12 guys in school history who have jumped 17 feet or better. 1 was in 1983, 7 were in the 1990's, 3 in the mid-2000's and the last was in 2016. Fr. Caden Carlsen is currently 9th in the AAC having cleared a rather pedestrian 15-5.5. He probably would need a something closer to 16 ft to score. Memphis and South Florida dominate the event with Sr. Cole Riddle of Memphis having cleared 18-6 this year.

Long Jump: The Shockers swiss army knife Adria Navajon has the 3rd best leap in the AAC this year at 24-1.5.

Triple Jump: Jr. Harry Barthelemy and So. Hudson Bailey have the 6th and 7th best jumps in the AAC this year at 46-8 and at 46-2.25 but the top 5 jumpers are at in the 49-53 ft range. Hudson has only competed in the triple jump 1 time in his time at Wichita State. Missing in action in the long jump and triple jump for the Shocks is Jr. Yuben Goncalves. He participated in the long jump at the Air Force Academy a month ago but was a scratch in the triple jump. The implies he is injured.

Shot Put: Sophomore Ridge Estes has the 5th best mark in the AAC with a toss of 16.89m/55-5. Probably will need 16.5m or better and Ridge has been over that mark only once.

Heptathlon: Adria is the defending champion and the #1 seed this year. Bailey Hudson should also be in the mix as well Beyond that it just depends how many other are entered in this race. The Shockers have 6 of the top 8 pentathlons this year but it is not uncommon for an athlete to wait until the AAC Championships to participate in a full decathlon. Adria won last year with a score of 5,616 points which is #6 all-time at WSU. Adria currently has the 25th best mark in the nation this year at 5,587. I guessing he wants a new PR and maybe even a shot at getting a top 16 mark nationally. I think Adria is capable of something in the 5,700 to 5,800 range. 5,750 might be enough. He will have to be on top of his game.

[1972Shocker]

The Wichita State track and field team is sending 16 male athletes to the Arkansas Qualifier in Fayetteville on Friday for either a final tune-up or to compete to secure a spot on the Shockers 32-athlete men's roster for next weeks AAC Indoor Championships.

These include the following athletes mentioned in my review of the AAC Championships in the post above:

Joseph Holthusen in the 60m hurdles.
Jaleel Montgomery in the 60m dash
JD Prinsloo and Bryan Haney running in the 200m dash (a tune-up for their 400m work at the AAC Indoor)
Ridge Estes in the shot put
Brady Palen in the high jump.

[1972Shocker]

Arkansas Qualifier Results:

Joseph Holthusen ran okay 8.011 in the 60m hurdles prelims but that was only good for 9th place leaving him out of the finals. Interesting Cordell Tinch of Pittsburg State qualified with the best time in the field of 7.60 which probably would win the AAC. Shocker Sr. Nate Vann ran a PB of 8.57 which would score 843 points in the heptathlon for Nate. Nate also matched his PB in the long jump with a leap of 21-11/ That would score 739 points in the heptathlon. Nate might be ready for a top 3 or 4 finish in the heptathlon at the AAC Indoor Championships.

Jaleel Montgomery ran a 6.98 the 60m dash which will not qualify for the finals at Arlansas and which would probably not score any points at the AAC Championship.

Sophomore Brady Palen, out of Beloit, had a big day with a new PR of 7-3.25 in the high jump and matching the WSU indoor school record set by Mark Todd in 1985. Second in the Shocker behind Mark Todd who jumped 7-3.5 in 1985. Hopefully, that will carry over to the AAC Indoor Championship next week with Brady now tied with USF's Romaine Beckford for the top jump in the AAC this season. It also puts Brady in a 3-way tie for the 5th best mark in the country this season.

[1972Shocker]

Palen Leaps to Weekly Award

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/2/21/track-and-field-palen-leaps-to-weekly-award.aspx

The American Athletic Conference named Brady Palen the Men's Field Athlete of the Week after his high jump performance at the Arkansas Qualifier on Friday.

Palen tied the school record with his clearance of 2.22m/7'3.25", winning the meet by seven centimeters.

The sophomore from Beloit, Kan. ranks fifth in the NCAA and ties for first in the conference with South Florida's Romaine Beckford.

Palen has placed top two in all six meets he's competed in this indoor season, having won three high jump competitions.

Palen and the rest of the Shockers travel to Birmingham, Ala. to compete in the AAC Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25 at the Birmingham Crossplex.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers, led by defending AAC heptathlon champion Adria Navajon, will put 6 guys in the heptathlon at the AAC Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday with on Houston and Cincinnati having 2 athletes each to round out the field of 10 competitors scheduled to compete. This is a young group with 1 senior, 1 junior, 5 sophomores and 3 freshman.

Adria probably has designs on trying to put up a top 16 score nationally in order to qualify for the NCAA Indoor National Championships. He probably will need to score at least 5,750 points to have a shot at that. I think he is capable of that but he will have to be at the very top of his game in every event. Any stumble in any one event would probably nix his chances.

Adria is schedule to compete in 9 events at the AAC Championships. His schedule if he is able to follow through is as follows:

Friday:
11:00 am Heptathlon 60m Dash
11:45 am (est.) Heptathlon Long Jump
01:00 pm (est.) Heptathlon Shot Put
01:45 pm Men's 60m Hurdle Prelims (2 heat winners + next 6 best times qualify for Saturdays finals)
03:20 pm (est.) Heptathlon High Jump
04:00 pm Men's Long Jump

Saturday:
09:00 am Heptathlon 60m Hurdles
10:00 am Heptathlon Pole Vault
12:20 pm Men's 60m Hurdles Finals (If qualifying)
03:05 pm Heptathlon 1,000m Run

[1972Shocker]

One very interesting entry in the AAC Indoor Championship start lists is Shocker sophomore Brady Palen listed to compete in the triple jump (in addition to his specialty - the high jump). I do not think that Brady has competed in the triple jump at the collegiate level previously. That will be interesting.

[1972Shocker]

AAC Heptathlon - Day 1

Adria Navajon gets the defense of his AAC heptathlon championship off to a good start winning the 60m dash with a new PB of 6.91 seconds good for 915 points. Shocker senior Nathan Vann who is trying to close his Shocker career on a high note tied for 3rd in 7.18 seconds good for 819 points.

Adria wins the long jump with a leap of 7.26m/23.10 for 876 points. Dominique Hall, a Cincinnati sophomore, is 115 points behind Adria. Nate Vann, after a long jump of 21-0.75 is 3rd (293) points behind Adria), Kolby Caster is 4th after jumping a PB 21-03.50 (334 points behind Adria).

Adria puts the shot 11.47m/37-07.75 which is right at his PB and allows him to maintain his lead over Dominque Hall which is down to 83 points.

Adria wins the high jump with a solid jump of 2.00m/6-6.75 followed closely by Cincinnati's Hall as those two finish day 1 of the heptathlon with Adria leading the pack with 3,168 points and Hall in 2nd with 3,005 points. Shockers Hudson Bailey (2,745), Nathan Vann (2,723) and Kolby Caster (2,583) sit in 3rd, 4th and 6th.

[1972Shocker]

AAC Individual Events - Friday

400m Dash (Prelims) - J.D. Prinsloo outperformed his seeding and qualified for the 8-runner final on Saturday with a time of 48.65, just a half second off of his PB.

60m Hurdles (Prelims) - Joseph Holthusen (8.02), Adria Navajon (8.04), and Jaleel Montgomery (8.17) all qualified for the 8-runner final on Saturday.

800m Run (Prelims) - Byrce Merriman qualified for the 8-runner final with a time of 1:54.17 and should have a little more in him.

200m Dash (Prelims) - Joakim Generoux qualifies for Saturdays 8-runner final with a time of 21.54.

Weight Throw - Creighton Camp came up with a pleasant surprise setting a new PB by nearly 2 feet with a throw of 51-11 to finish well above his seeding in 6th place.

5000m Run - Clayton Duchatschek finished in 4th in a time of 14:09.89 and Trey Rios bettered his indoor PB by 15 seconds with a time of 14:11.85 to pick up unexpected 6th place points.

All-in-all the Shockers outperformed my pre-meet expectations on Day 1. Coming in I had them pegged for a 5th place finish. That is still possible but I think they have set themselves up to perhaps finish in 5th place. I would place their over/under for team points at around 89.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Ridge Estes Leans on Family, Track During Health Issues

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/2/24/the-roundhouse-rh-ridge-estes-leans-on-family-track-during-health-issues.aspx

This is a must read. I had no idea what Ridge Estes had to fight through to get to where he is today. What a compelling and inspiring back story. This is the kind a story some NIL money should get behind. I don't know if Ridge will score today as the shot put is not his best event but looking forward to what he might due in the discus in the outdoor season during his Shocker career.

[1972Shocker]

AAC Heptathlon - Day 2

60m Hurdles - Adria wins his 4th event out of the 5 completed so far with meet record time (in th pentathlon 60m hurdles) of 8.12 seconds good for 952 points. Adria has gone as fast at 8.04 in this event so he may have left a few points on the table. Nevertheless, he extends his lead over Dominque Hall of Cincinnati to 297 points. Shockers Hudson Bailey (8.50), Nathan Vann (8.69) and Colby Kaster (8.85) finished 2nd, 4th and 5th respectively and after 5 events they are in 3rd, 4th and 5th overall.

Adria is in the driver's seat for his 2nd consecutive AAC Heptathlon Championship. However, I think he may need to have new PB's to post a top 16 national mark to make the NCAA Indoor National Championships.

Pole Vault - A tough event for most multi-event athletes. Adria's PB mark is 4.62m/15-1.75. Cincy's Hall is a little stronger pentathlon pole vaulter with a PB of 4.70/15-5. So the lead may narrow a bit after this event. Interesting strategy by Adria trying to conserve energy. He entered at 13-3.5 then passes at 13-7.25, then cleared 13-11.25, then passes at 14-3.25, then cleared 14-7.25 and has passed at 14-11. Hall entered at 14-3.25 clearing that on his 1st attempt then he passed at 14-7.25, then was unable to clear 14-11. Adria was uable to clear the next heitht of 15-3 but he actually picks up some points on Hall by clearing 14-7.25 while Hall's best clearance was 14-3.25. One Cincy athlete remains after clearing 15-3. Adria actually finishes 2nd in the pole vault and extends his lead to 327 points over Hall with only the 1000m run to go. Cincy's Justin Abrams set a new meet record in the pentathlon pole vault at 4.95/16-2.75 and moves into 5th place ahead of Kolby Caster. I don't think a top 16 national score is in card for Adria this year. Meanwhile, Adria suanters over to the sprint are to compete in the 60m hurdles.

1000m Run - Adria wins for the 5th time in 7 pentathlon events finishing the 1,000m run in 2:49..08.

Adria easily wins his 2nd consecutive AAC Indoor Pentathlon championship with a score of 5,641 points with Cincinnati's Dominique Hall finishing 401 points back at 5,240. Shocker senior Nathan Vann captured All-Conference honors finishing 3rd with 4,999 points. Hudson Bailey (4,939) was 4th, Kolby Caster (4,803) was 6th and freshman Wyatt Leutzinger (4,540) finished 7th. The Shocks picked up a total of 26 teamp points.

Congratulations Adria.

[WuDrWu]

High jump down to the final 3 and Weston Lewis becomes a member of the 7' club with a clearance on his 3rd attempt. He was stoked, and it's great to see!

His 2nd and 3rd attempt at 2.17 (7'1.5") were both solid attempts so maybe the outdoor will bring even more PRs for him.

[1972Shocker]

AAC Individual Events - Saturday

Shot Put - Ridge Estes (see RH article above) finishes 7th in the Shot put with a heave of 16.59/54-5.25 to pick up 2 points for the Shocks.

High Jump - The 3 favorites USF's Romaine Beckford and WSU's Brady Palen and Weston Lewis have all cleared 6-10.75. Becford did not even enter until this height and cleared it on his first try. Brady entered at 6-7.5 and has 1 miss at 6-10.75 before clearing that on his 2nd attempt. Weston entered at 6-6 and had 2 misses at 6-9 before making that on his 3rd try. With the bar set at 7-0.25 Beckford and Brady cleared on their first attempt. Weston missed on his first 2 attempts but cleared on his 3rd and final try. So all 3 guys move on to 7-1.50. Beckford clears on his first try. Brady clears that on his 2nd attempt. Weston is unable to clear this height but Weston does set a new PB at 7-0.25 which puts him 5th all-time in the Shocker record book and gives him 3rd place and AAC All-Conference honors. Romaine and Brady both clear 7-2.50 on their 2nd attempts. Romaine has the advantage on the basis of fewer misses so Brady is going to have to beat him outright. The bar is now set at 7-3.75. Brady misses his first attempt and Romaine clears easily on his first attempt and has set a new meet record. Brady is unable to clear this height as Romaine wins and Brady finishes 2nd. But a very good 14 point showing for the Shockers in this event. Beckford, a Jamaican native, a clears 7-5 on his first attempt. That moves him into the #2 slot in the national rankings. Looks like Romaine will be in the hunt for a national championship.

60m Hurdles - Bad news in that Shocker Sr. and their best indoor hurdler, Joseph Holthuzen, had a false start and was disqualified. Good news is that Adria finished a betterr than expected 3rd place. Jaleel finished in 6th place only because Joe was injured and the Cincy runner pulled up lame. Shocks pick up 9 points. Would have been quite a bit more if Joseph had not jumped the gun. Really feel bad for him.

400m Run - JD Prinsloo finished 7th to pick up 2 points.

Men's Triple Jump - Yuben Goncalves pulled at at PB hop, skip and jump of 50-1.75 to finish 2nd and pick up 8 big points. Brady Palen competing in his 1st trriple jump fouled and all 3 of his attempts. So will still don't know if the event is something that he might be able to add to his repertoire.

800m Run: Bryce Merriman finished 7th in 1:54.10 to pick up 2 points.

200m Dash: Sophomore Joakim Generoux set a new PB of 21.35 seconds to finish 4 in the speed-laden AAC worth 5 points.

3000m Run: Sophomore Adrian Diaz-Lopez recorded his 2nd straight sub-8 minute time at 755.06 to finish 2nd good for 8 points and AAC All-Conference honors. Clayton Duchatschek found enough juice to finish 8 to add 1 point to the Shocker team total.

Heading into the final event of the meet, the 4x400 relay the Shocker men were sitting in 3rd place with 96 points with USF close behind with 92.5 points. USF won the 4x400 scoing 10 points with the Shocks finishing 3rd to score 6 points. Unfortunately, that was just enough to move USF past the Shocks into 3rd place with 102.5 point to 102 for the Shocks. That just makes Joseph Holthuzen's false start DQ in the 60m hurdles just a bit more painful.

Final Team Scores:
Cincinnati - 143
Houston - 126
South Florida - 102.5
Wichita State - 102
Tulsa - 88
Memphis - 49.5
East Carolina - 47

Actual a pretty good showing by the Shocks. Well above my expectations coming into the meet. Some nice surprises and unexpected performances. Nothing to be ashamed of in a pretty decent track & field league.

[WstateU]

[1972Shocker]

Palen Cleared for Takeoff at NCAA Indoor Championships

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/3/10/track-and-field-palen-cleared-for-takeoff-at-ncaa-indoor-championships.aspx

Brady Palen is set to represent the Shockers at the NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The sophomore from Beloit, Kan. is the No. 7 seed in the high jump with his season and personal best mark of 2.22m/7'3.25" that tied the school record and won the Arkansas Qualifier in February.

This marks the seventh-consecutive NCAA Indoor Championship with a Wichita State competitor.

The championships will be live streamed on ESPN+ with live results provided bv Flash Results.

RH: Brady Palen Bounced Over Frustrations To Make NCAA Meet

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/3/10/the-roundhouse-rh-brady-palen-bounced-over-frustrations-to-make-ncaa-meet.aspx