2023-2024 Men's XC and T&F

[1972Shocker]

The Shocker men are set to race in the blue division five-mile on Saturday at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. If its a full 5-mile course that is just a 47 meters beyond the 8k mark. MIght actually be an 8k raise that they just call it a five-mile.

COACH HUNTER ON…

...racing at a highly competitive Notre Dame meet:
" When meets are bigger like this, it really is about how well our team can handle the atmosphere because it's not the same as a Nebraska and definitely not like a JK Gold, where they're just running and can see each other in a comfortable environment where they're relaxed, and they can just feed off each other. In races like this, you don't get that opportunity as much, and you could get swallowed up in the race unless you know how to handle it effectively."

...getting a first look at AAC competition:
"The big thing for us is seeing where we stack up with Charlotte and Tulane because they're in our race and in our conference, so hopefully we get a chance to show our stuff. Even though we won't be running a completely full men's group yet, we're still going to have a really good idea of where we stand after this week."

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/9/27/cross-country-preview-week-three.aspx

[1972Shocker]

You don't see many XC or distance runners built like the young man on the left in this shot:

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Men Learn Lessons at Notre Dame

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/9/2...otre-dame.aspx

In an incredibly stacked field at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, the Shocker men placed 15^th out of 18 with 329 points. They ran well as a team but didn't have a low-point scorer to bump them up the team standings.

"I have to give the guys some credit that they did move up based on where they were, and one of the reasons that we really got beat is we didn't have a guy that was up there as a low-point person," Hunter said. "KU's guy won, but that was one guy, and if you look at where our guys fell, as a team we probably did better."

The Shockers' 2-3-4-5 runners all finished before Kansas's 2-3-4-5 runners, but it wasn't enough to pull ahead, as Jayhawk Chandler Gibbens won the 5-mile race in 23:08.4 to put them in 14^th.

Jackson Caldwell led Wichita State with a 48^th-place finish, running 24:25.5, followed by Zander Cobb (66^th; 24:35.6), Trey Rios (68^th; 24:37.3), Adam Rzentkowski (69^th; 24:37.5) and Erik Enriquez (80^th; 24:47.4).

"This is a meet that can make or break you in some ways, and it gives us a huge indicator of where we are at within our own team and within the region and conference, so my message to them was that we had a good day, but you definitely could not say we had a great day," Hunter said.

"Now it really comes down to how we deal with this because I don't think the guys are real excited about their performances," Hunter said. "We learned a lot, and now we get everybody together and just keep getting better as the year goes on."

Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/228...e_Invitational (The Men's Blue 5 Mile Results are toward the bottom)

[1972Shocker]

Looks like it has been raining all morning in Peoria. Supposed to clear out at about 3:00 pm when the men's race is scheduled to start. In any case looks like this will be a muddy course today. Winds are modest so at least they won't have to deal with that.

[1972Shocker]

?? According to the live stats the Shocks finished 3rd out of 29 teams what was predominantly a mid-major field with the exception of Illinois, who finished 2nd and Cincinnati who finished 5th. As anticipated due to the wet conditions times were slower in this meet vs the last time out at Notre Dame.

Up next for the Shocks is the AAC XC Championships on Saturday, October 28th, in Greenville, NC.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers on their Marks for AAC XC Championships

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday, Oct. 28
Greenville, N.C. | Overton's Lake Kristi
Men's 8K: 8:15 a.m. CT | Women's 6K: 9 a.m.
ESPN+ | Live Results

The Shockers return two all-conference athletes (top 15 finishers) from a year ago with Adrian Diaz Lopez and Trey Rios. A season ago, the Shocker men claimed their second-straight second-place team finish, while the Tulsa men won their ninth-consecutive AAC team title,

While Charlotte and Tulane stand to challenge the Tulsa men. Wichita State seeks a top-four or top-five finish for the men in this new-look conference.

"Right now, Trey [Rios], Jackson [Caldwell] and Adam [Rzentkowski] have consistently been three of the top guys that are up there, but I wouldn't count out Zander [Cobb} as our best guys to have to chance to [finish in the top 15]," Hunter said. "It's a deeper conference, though, so the top 15 is going to be harder than last year."

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Men Finsih 4th at AAC Championships; Jackson Caldwell Breaks School Record

Senior Jackson Caldwell battled to claim the final spot on the all-conference list, placing 15^th and breaking the Wichita State 8K record, set by Clayton Duchatschek in 2022, by three seconds with a personal-best time of 23:31.7 as he led the Shockers to a 4th place finish at the AAC Championhips with 107 points as Tulsa won its 10^th-consecutive team title.

"A cross country course can be short, it can be long, it can be downhill, it can be uphill, muddy, not muddy; you just can't put an asterisk on it," Hunter said. "He did what he had to do. He came in, battled and got himself an all-conference situation, and there should be nobody that takes that away from what he accomplished. From having the school record, to getting all-conference, he deserves all the recognition because he did it."

Two first-year Shockers, junior transfer Zander Cobb (23:42.8) and senior transfer Adam Rzentkowski (23:43.5), also finished in the top 20, both running personal bests to finish 18^th and 20^th, respectively.

"Zander ran the race I told him today, and here he comes in and he's number two on the team. That's huge for us," Hunter said. "Adam is a guy that's been through the wars, he's been through the battles, he's done this, but he's in a new program and he's still adjusting to us, and yet he was in there battling too. Top 20 in this conference is truly legit running."

Trey Rios (23:46.9; PB) and Cesar Ramirez (24:11.9; PB) were the fourth and fifth Shockers across the line, finishing 21^st and 34^th, respectively.

MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. Tulsa – 38 pts
2. Charlotte – 44 pts
3. Tulane – 61 pts
4. Wichita State – 107 pts
5. Rice – 135 pts
6. Temple – 169 pts
7. North Texas – 185 pt
8. South Florida – 256 pts
9. East Carolina – 262 pts
10. Memphis – 286 pts
11. UTSA – 291 pts
12. Florida Atlantic – 371 pts

[pogo]

Tulsa has dominated the XC portion for almost ever because they recruit the long distance runners and thus don't do well when the Track and Field portion of competition ramp up. In the past I knew Houston would be strong because of the recruiting of their sprinters. Does anyone have a feeling for what the newbies strengths will be in the spring and how we will stack up. I would assume WSU will still be strong in the multi events and field events.

[goshox74]

On the men's side, Charlotte and UTSA will be the biggest competitors against WSU (WSU has won the past two AAC Outdoor titles). Charlotte is a very good overall team, and UTSA is a version of Houston where they focus on the speed/power events.

[1972Shocker]

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/11/9/cross-country-ndungu-shoots-for-ncaa-championship-qualification-at-midwest-regional.aspx

The Shocker cross country teams are set to race at the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course.

The women race a 6K at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 10K at 11:30 a.m.

The Shocker men are ranked eighth in the region.

"For both the men and women, I just want them to have a sense of pride in who they are and what they've done this year and to finish out strong," Hunter said.

Wichita State hopes to place multiple athletes in the top 25, which would earn those runners all-region recognition. Jackson Caldwell is coming off an all-conference performance at the American Athletic Conference Championships, and he, along with Adam Rzentkowski and Zander Cobb will aim for an all-region spots.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks appear to have gotten pretty spread out over the first 2k of their 10k race. At the 2k mark they are in 19th in the filed of 28 teams.

At the 3,165m mark the Shocks have moved up to 13th place.

At the midpoint 5k mark the Shocks are in 12th.

The Shockers have edged up to 10th place at the 8k mark. Will they have a strong finish in them? Minnesota and Missouri are close behind the Shocks.

The Shocks will hold on to 10th place just holding off Missouri by 3 points and finishing 18 points behind Kansas.

Oklahoma State absolutely dominated this race with Cowboys finishing 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 for 19 points. Iowa State was very solid as well finished 2nd with 56 points.

Junior Adam Rzentkowski, a transfer from Central Michigan, led the Shocks finishing with a new PB at 31:23.1 good for 27th place and just missing All-Region recognition by 2 spots.

Junior Zander Cobb, a transfer from Iowa Central CC, finished 34th 31.32.3 in his first collegiate 10K XC race.

[1972Shocker]

Multis to Make Season Debut at Shocker Multi

The Shocks open the 2023-24 indoor track and field season with their traditional Shocker Multi event with the men's heptathlon on Thursday and Friday and the women's pentathlon on Friday at the Heskett Center indoor track.

I think this is mostly an event Coach Rainbolt, a lover of the multi-events, like to do to get a read on where he multi athletes are so he can develop training and competing regimens to maximize their chances come AAC Championship time. If anybody develops the slight bit of discomfort they are probably shutting down and the top guys may or may not decide to compete in all events.

Adria Navajon, the two-time American Athletic Conference heptathlon champion, along with Hudson Bailey, Luke Porter and Luke Czarnecki, are set for the men's heptathlon for the Shocks.

Navajon, the sixth-best heptathlete in Shocker history will be compete conservatively to keep an eye on a hamstring issue he has dealt with during fall training.

"Adria is a fabulous competitor," Rainbolt said. "We're going with a conservative approach in this meet and trying to be smart about the intensity going through this to give him a chance to feel good about his preparation for a more meaningful competition in the season and at the conference meet."

Bailey won the Shocker Multi a year ago and has scored in three AAC multi-event competitions.

There are about 10 other athletes competing from Friends, Southern Nazarene, St. Mary (KS) and the Shocker Track Club.

[1972Shocker]

After Day 1 (4 events) of the Shocker Multi heptathlon junior Hudson Bailey is in 1st with 2,945 points, juniorAdria Navajon, who is not pressing the issue, is in 2nd with 2,842 points, soph Luke Porter is 3rd at 2,714 and freshman Luke Czarnecki is 4th at 2,685.

Hudson set a PB in the long jump at 22-3. He was solid in the high jump as well at 6-6.

Luke Porter set PB's in all 4 of his events.

Luke Czarnecki matched Luke Porter's 6-6 clearance in the high jump. Czarmecki is a true freshman from Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Primarily a high jumper and a long jumper in high school.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Podcast With John Wise On Shocker Track And Field

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/12/...and-field.aspx

Assistant director of track and field John Wise prepares us for the track season, indoors and outdoors.
We discuss Destiny Masters' record pentathlon score and how the AAC's changing membership affects track. We talk about the men's quest to win a third straight AAC outdoor title and where the previous two titles rank on the program's list of accomplishments. Then it's movie time and we focus on "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Wise's YouTube video which takes his followers to parts of Oklahoma featured in the movie. We discuss his YouTube channel "Travel with a Wise Guy" and the big twist at the end of his "Killers of the Flower Moon" video.

The Shockers are early in their preparations for the indoor track season. Their intrasquad meet is Friday at Heskett Center. They get going again in early January with more indoor meets, highlighted by the annual triangular with Kansas and Kansas State.

[1972Shocker]

They all sound tough to me: