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My hope is that the new Student Athlete Success Center currently under construction which among other things will house the Shocker Track & Field teams and allow them to move out of the the embarrassing facilities in the bowels of Cessna Statdium will give Coach Rainbolt and his staff a big boost in their recruiting efforts. Not that they have done a bad job at all with past recruiting.
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I agree that the Track and Field and XCountry teams have been very good even in the new conference. The new facility will only help in the recruitment of these athletes.Comment
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Shockers Finish as Triangular's Runner-Up
Team Results (Combined Men and Women)
1. Kansas State – 254.5 points
2. Wichita State – 221 points
3. Kansas – 191.5 points
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Steve Rainbolt said he thought the Shockers had a good meet.
"Kansas State also had a very good meet, and we fell just a bit short," Rainbolt said. "I was really proud of our athletes and I thought they competed extremely well in a team competition that gave us a strong sense of what we need to do to get ready for American Athletic Conference Championship competition six weeks from now."
Highlights for the Shocker Women:
Sophomore Amiya Anoma had a standout day for Wichita State. She won the long jump with a personal-best mark of 5.81m/19-0.50. Anoma went on to finish as the runner-up in the triple jump with a jump of 11.66m/38-3.25. Amiya's long jump would have been good for 6th place in last year's AAC Indoor Championship but she was about 3 feet short of her triple jump mark from last year's AAC Indoor that netted her a 7th place finish.
Senior Rebekah Topham earned a pair of top-two finishes in the 1,000 meters and Mile for their respective genders.
Topham won the women's Mile with a time of 4:53.84, besting her teammate junior Winny Koskei for the title. In the women's 1,000 meters, Topham finished second to Big 12 standout Kassidy Johnson. Topham crossed the line in 2:49.71, which was three-hundredths of a second off of the school record. The 1.000m run is not an event held in the AAC Indoor Meet. Her mile time is about 4 seconds off of her 4:49.60 she ran in winning the mile in last years AAC Indoor meet. Winny was 1.5 seconds behind Rebekah at 4:55.34. Winny will probably not run the mile at the AAC Indoor. She will probably run the 3k abd 5k races. Winny won the 3k race in today's trangular in a relatively pedestrian time for her but a decent time for this early in the season.
Sidney Sapp won the women's high jump. She cleared 1.75m/5-8.75 to win the event. She was five centimeters off of her personal-best in the high jump. That jump is about what Sidney jumped in finishing 3rd in last year's AAC Indoor meet. Sidney has some good perfourmances last year but needs to develop more consistency. Juniors Sydney Wilson and Kendra Henry jumped 5-5 which potentially could be in the hunt for a top 8 finish at the AAC Indoor.
Kendra Henry put the shot 43-5.75 which is a new PR for her. That would not score points in the AAC Indoor individual shot put event but would score very good points in the pentathlon in which Kendra will probably compete.
Kendra Henry (9.08) and Sydney Wilson (8.91) also set new PR's in the 60m hurdles and Senior Claudia Rojo (8.87) was only .06 seconds of of her PR. Not marks the would score in the AAC Indoor individual 60m hurdle but marks that would score very favorably in the pentathlon in which all 3 of these ladies will most likely compete.
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AAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Sidney Sapp * So. * Wichita State
Sapp secured the top finish in the high jump at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular, clearing 1.75m (5-8.75) for the event win. Sapp ranks first in The American and is tied for 25th nationally in the event this season.Comment
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Jayhawk Classic and Prarie Wolf Results
The Shocks sent 5 sprinters from the Laides team to the Prairie Wolf Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska to get experience on a banked track, which is the kind of track at the AAC Championships' host site (Birmingham Crossplex).
Sprints coach John Wise said he thinks it was a valuable experience to race on the unorthodox track.
"Even though it's early in the season, and we had some up and down results, the sprinters competed hard and it will payoff at conference time," Wise said. " I'm very excited for JD Prinsloo to be in uniform and to break a school record in his first official race as a Shocker. He will be a significant athlete for us going forward."
Paula Garcia ran in three individual races and won all three of them. She won her 60-meters prelim and final. Her best time in the event of the two races was the 7.62 she ran in the prelims. Garcia went on to win the 200 meters as well, crossing the line in 24.57.
Daysha Bullocks earned her first win of the season. She won the 600 meters with a time of 1:37.06. Kylie Meier finished second in the event with a time of 1:40.55.
The Shockers sent a majority of their athletes to Lawrence for the Jayhawk Classic.
Rebekah Topham set the Anschutz Pavilion facility record in the 1,000 meters. She crossed the line in 2:49.87. Topham was again just shy of the school record in the event.
Kendra Henry set a new personal best in the pentathlon. She put up a total of 3,663 points. Henry earned two event wins within the competition (shot put and high jump).
Claudia Rojo didn't compete in the pentathlon, but was all over the results per usual. She earned top-five finishes in three events (60-meter hurdles, 600-yards and long jump).
The Shocker women also put five in the top six of the afternoon section of the Mile. Yazmine Wright, Sharon Kiprop, Abeba Sullivan, McKenna Paintin and Rita Schnacker took spots 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Steve Rainbolt said he thought a lot the Wichita State track and field athletes were flat after a good opening week.
"They still competed hard and managed some strong performances," Rainbolt said. "I do think we will learn some good lessons about what needs to happen in order to continue preparing for the AAC Indoor Championships."
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Winny Koskei ran in the 5,000 meters at the UW Invitational on Friday in Seattle. Winny finished sixth with a time of 16:21.00. She crossed the line as the second-fastest collegiate athlete at the meet. She did not improve upon her 15th-best time in the country of 16:16.75 in the 5,000 meters from December in Boston. Her PR is 16:05.65 last February in Seattle. Still a good, solid time with a month to go before the AAC Championships.
At home in the Wichita State Invittional:
Junior Amanda Kakoulias won the shot put at 47-1. 6th best in the AAC this season but 2.5 feet short of her PR.
Last edited by 1972Shocker; February 1, 2020, 02:01 PM.Comment
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Senior Rebekah Topham finished off the weekend with a strong perfomance in the 3,000 meter run at the UW Invitational with a new PR of 9:16.79 moving into 2nd place in the Shocker record book behind former Shocker All-American Aliphine Tuliamuk. Her time also slots her at No. 5 nationally in the event this year and the top time in the AAC this year by 13 seconds..
Distance coach Kirk Hunter said he was excited about Topham's race. "She's had many struggles over the last couple years," Hunter said. "This is validation of all the work she's put in to try to overcome them. The race went out slower than we had hoped, She was about six seconds off her goal for the 1st mile, but she ran terrific over the second half of the race.
Hopefully, this is a sign the Rebekah is finally overcoming the ailments that she had been dealing with for the last year or so and is ready to close out her senior year with a bang.
Last edited by 1972Shocker; February 3, 2020, 02:26 PM.Comment
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With 3 weeks remaining before the AAC Indoor T&F Championships I have perused the AAC Performance Charts for this year to try to get a feel for how the Lady Shocks will fare this year. Last year they finished 3rd behind Houston and Cincinnati with 84 points. At this point it is looking like a score in the mid-60's may be more likely this year which would probably slot then in 5th or 6th place. Perhaps they are sandbagging things a bit at this point. Usually Coach Rainbolt looks at this more intelligently than I can prior to the meet so we'll see what his expectations are then.Comment
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The Wichita State track and field teams traveled to three separate meets Friday to open the second-to-last weekend before the championship season. The Shockers had athletes in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Tyson Invitational; Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic; and Pittsburg, Kansas, for the Gorilla Classic.
Jacque Darby jumped a new personal best for the second consecutive week at the long jump competition in Pittsburg. She jumped 5.97m/19-7 to improve her ninth-best mark in school history. Darby came within three centimeters of No. 6 on the Shockers' performance list. That jump slots in at 6th best in the AAC this winter.
Paula Garcia continued her solid season with another good performance in the 200 meters at the Gorilla Classic. She finished the race in 24.26 seconds and has now finished in the top four of every race she's run this season (3rd overall, 2nd in her heat). Paula is just out of the Top 10 in the AAC this winter.
In Fayetteville, Alex Adams PRd for the second consecutive meet. She threw the weight 18.70m/61-4.25 for eighth place. Throws Coach John Hetzendorf said earlier this week that the competition in Arkansas would be similar to the field at the AAC Championships. That throw is 9th best in the AAC this winter.
Rebekah Topham and Winny Koskei also ran in invitational sections at Iowa State in the 3k and 5k, respectively, and both had good solid times just off their season bests. Good work in advance of the AAC Championships in 2 weeks.Comment
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At the Arkansas qualifier Taniyah McMillian, in a tune up for the AAC Indoor Championships next Friday and Saturday made her 400 meter debut and took advantage of the fast, banked track in Fayetteville to clock in at 54.87 which is the 2nd best time in school history and #3 on the AAC performance charts this winter.
Alex Adams tossed the weight 18.94m/62-1.75 for a victory in the women's weight throw. She improved on her third-best mark in school history with a PR for her 3rd consecutive week. She moves up to 9th on the AAC charts this winter.
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As I previously stated I really don't think the Lady Shocks will be in the hunt for an AAC Indoor Championship this year. Nothing happened on day 1 today to change that outlook.
The Lady Shocks failed to qualify anyone for the finals in the 60m dash, the 60m hurdles, the 200m dash, the 400m dash or the 800m run. So. Taniyah McMillian in only her 2nd competitive 400m race of her career just missed qualifying for the finals in the 400 as she finished 9th. Perhaps something to build on for the future there. So. Yazmine Wright also just missed out on qualifying for the 800 finals also finishing 9th in the prelims.
Sr Rebekah Topham did qualify for the 12-runner final in the mile run.
Jr. Winny Koskei finished 2nd behind SMU Sr. Hannah Miller in the 5,000m run to score 8 points for the Shockers.
The Shocks finished 8th, picking up 1 point, in the distance medley relay.
The Shocks did not score in the pole vault.
Jr. Jacque Darby picked up 5 points, with a 4th place finish the the long jump with a leap of 19' 5.5"
Sr. Alex Adams picked up 3 points with a 6th place finish in the weight throw with a PR of 64' 7.5" which is 3rd best in Shocker history.
In the pentathlon Jr. Kendra Henry finished 6th, and Jr. Sydney Wilson 7th to combine for 5 points toward the Shocker total. As with the Shocker men, not the traditional strong showing in this event that the Shockers haver grown accustomed to
With only 6 events scored after day 1 the teams are pretty tightly bunched in scoring. But with the Shockers failing to reach the finals in so many of the running events there opportunities for scoring on day 2 are relatively limited. Rebekah Topham in the mile and perhaps Rebekah and Winny in the 3,000m run, maybe Sidney Sapp in the high jump if she has a good day, and possibly Amanda Kakoulias in the shot put with a good day look to be the top opportunities for points for the Shocks on day 2.
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Shocker Sr. Rebekah Topham adds the 2020 AAC Indoor Mile Championship to her impressive career trophy case picking up 10 points for the Shocks. Congratulation Rebekah.
Rebekah added the 3,000m title to her trophy case as well edging SMU's outstanding Hanna Miller by 1 second. That would have been a fun race to watch. Shocker Jr. Winny Koskei finished 4th as the Shocks picked up 15 points in this event.
Shocker Jr. Amanda Kakoulias picked up 3 points with a 6 place finish in the shot put. Shocker freshman Anna Zimmer just missed out on the scoring finishing 9th.
So. Sidney Sapp finished 2nd in the high jump with a very solid jump of 5-9.25 to bag 8 points for the Lady Shocks.
So the Shocks got their points today form exactly where I was anticipating they would. Great job by Rebekah Topham in her final AAC Indoor meet. Also really nice finish by Sidney Sapp in the high jump.
The Shocker women scored 59 points (same as the Shocker men) and finished in 5th place 1.5 points behind SMU and 2 points ahead of ECU. The Shocks did finish well ahead of Tulsa and to win the Havoc in the Heartland points.
Houston takes the women's championship by the slimmest of margins over Cincinnati 84 points to 83.5 points.
Last edited by 1972Shocker; February 29, 2020, 03:25 PM.Comment
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Rebekah Topham - 2020 AAC Indoor Mile Run Finish
https://twitter.com/AmericanXCTrack/...06819535065088
Rebekah Topham - 2020 AAC Indoor 3k Finish
https://twitter.com/AmericanXCTrack/...52134350819328
Rebekah Topham - This Is What You Earned
Last edited by 1972Shocker; March 27, 2020, 07:42 PM.Comment
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