2022-23 Shocker Women XC and Track & Field

[1972Shocker]

AAC Individual Events - Friday

800m Run (Prelims) - Sophomore Farrah Miller ran a PB time of 2:10.02 to win her heat and move on to the 8-runner final on Saturday.

Long Jump - Not surprisingly Destiny did not do much, but Zarrey Sams had a nice leap of 19-9.75 to finish 7th and pick up a couple of points in what was a very strong long jump field with the top 2 jumps breaking the meet record.

My expectations for the Lady Shocks coming into this meet were quite low and today pretty much validates those low expectations. The Shocks scored 11 points including 8 by Destiny in the pentathlon, 2 by Zarrey Sams in the long jump and 1 point coming in the DMR.

I see more of the same in store for tomorrow. I only see 2 events where the Lady Shocks are likely to score. The high jump (Destiny Masters & Marissa Jensen in a competitive field) and the 800m run (Farrah Miller). There are a few events (the triple jump, shot put and 4x400 relay) where they might eek out a point or two but I would not bet on that. The Shock will be hard pressed to reach a total of 30 team points. I would set the over/under at 28.

[1972Shocker]

AAC Individual Events - Friday

High Jump - 7 competitors have cleared 5-8.50 including Shockers Destiny Masters and Marissa Jensen. The bar has moved up to 5-10. Destiny and Marissa have both missed their first 2 attempts at this height. Both miss their 3rd attempts and are out. Destiny was not that close but Marissa just barely nicked the bar. There are 4 atheltes still jumping after clearing 5-10. Marissa finished 5th and Destiny finished 7th. Good for 6 points.

800m Run - Sophomore Farrah Miller set a new PB time of 2:08.80 as she finished 3rd just 0.22 seconds out of 2nd. She picks up 6 points and AAC All-Conference honors plus moves up to 3rd place all-time at WSU.

4c400m Relay - Shocks finish 6th, a little better than expected to pick up 3 points.

The Shocks finished 10th out of 11 teams which is where I expected they would finish but fell a little short of the already low point total I was expecting.

UCF literally ran away with the team title scoring 132.25 points well ahead of Cincinnati (94) and Houston 96.

The bottom 3 were South Florida 28, Wichita State 25.75 and Temple 15.25.

Coach Rainbolt has a lot of work to do to rebulid this women's team. The long distance running has fallen way off. The only points the Shocks scored in the running events was the 8 points from Farrah MIller in the 200, a bright spot plus 3 points in the two DMR races. 22 fo the Shockers 25.75 points came from 3 athletes. Destiny Masters (10), Farrah Miller (8) and Marissa Jenson (4) and those came in the 3 events, the pentathlon, 200m dash and high jump.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers to Host KT Woodman Classic, Multis on the Road

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/4/5/track-and-field-shockers-to-host-kt-woodman-classic-multis-on-the-road.aspx

Wichita State track and field is set to host the 75^th annual KT Woodman Classic Friday and Saturday at Cessna Stadium, while Destiny Masters competing in the heptathlon at the Stan State Multi at Warrior Stadium in Turlock, Calif.

Stan State Multi

Destiny Masters is looking to complete her first heptathlon of the outdoor season after pulling out of the Shocker Spring Invitational competition after the first event.

Masters is the No. 1 seed entering the competition.

KT Woodman Classic
Wichita State is playing host to 40 teams, including Missouri, Oklahoma and American Athletic Conference distance powerhouse Tulsa.

WSU No. 1 seeds:
Farrah Miller – 800m – 2:08.80
Faith Turner, Zarrey Sams, Sydney Johnson, Savannah Simmons – 4x100-meter relay – 45.25
Marissa Jensen – high jump – 1.76m
Zarrey Sams – long jump – 6.04m

[1972Shocker]

Destiny Master's personal best in the heptathlon is 4,949 that she scored at the AAC Championships in May 2021. I think that is the only heptathlon she has successfully completed.

I'm guessing she would like to break into the Shocker All-Time Top 10 list in this competition. That would require a score of 5,238 points which I think is doable. Tanya Friesen is the all-time Shocker record holder at 5,899.

Day 1 with the 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put and 200m Dash is probably her stronger day. Day 2 with the Long Jump, Javeline and 800m run is more of a challenge for Destiny, especially the 800m run.

Stan State Heptathlon - Day 1:

Destiny off to a good start winning the 100m hurdles in 14.15 seconds good for 957 points. That time is just .08 second off of her personal best.

Destiny matches her outdoor high jump PB from 2 years ago clearing 1.79m/5-10.5 good for 966 points.

These 1st 2 events are probably her 2 strongest events and she nailed both of them.

Destiny puts the shot 11.21m/36-9.5 for 609 points. Her PB is 37-8.5, so not a bad effort.

Destiny finishes off her day running the 200 in 26.14 seconds for 785 points.

At the end of Day 1 Destiny has 3,317 points and is in 1st place 350 points ahead of Sr. Sharde Johnson of Colorado State.

Destiny looks to be on track to score around 5,250 points.

[1972Shocker]

Stan State Heptathlon - Day 2:

Destiny off to a poor start with a very pedestrian (for her) 5.27m/17-3.5 effort good for 634 points. That's a good 1.5 feet off of her PB.

Destiny bounced back to set new PB's in the javelin 39.03m/128-0 and in the 800m run at 2:32.85 and she ended up whit a new heptathlon PB of 5,250. With that score Destiny moves into 8th all-time at WSU.

Destiny won this event by 465 points but I don't think it was a particularly strong field.

That puts her at #3 in the early season AAC performance charts but she is well behind to Tulane athletes. However, a better long jump effort would put her pretty much even with #2 AAC score. The bright spot was her high jump which she also competes in as a stand alone event. Her high jump effort is best in the AAC at this early point in the season.

Good chance this will be her only heptathlon prior to the AAC Championships in Mid-May in Tampa.

[1972Shocker]

A couple of notable performances by Shocker women at the K.T. Woodman Classic this weekend:

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase So. Miranda Dick improved her personal best time by over 20 seconds to finish third with a time of 11:03.99 which is currently the 4th best time in the early season AAC charts.

So. Maria Jensen cleared a new outdoor PB of 5-9 in the high jump putting her into the top 5 of the AAC charts.

Jr. Zarrey Sams also had a PB in the triple jump at 41-2.25 which 6th best in the AAC so far this season.

[1972Shocker]

At the Kansas Relays:

So. Destiny Masters and Jr. Zarrey Sams both set new career bests by running sub-14 second times in the 100m hurdle prelims. Destiny ran 13.82 vs her previous best time of 14.07 and Zarrey ran 13.94 vs her previous best of 14.37. Destiny qualified #4 and Zarry qualified #6 for the 9-runner final. Those times were wind aided as they ran in the same heat with a helping wind of 3.9 m/s. The maximum allowable for record purposes is 2 m/s. So those times may not be counted in the record book. However, of the 4 heats in this event that was the lowest helping wind.

Based on this article's quick and dirty method Destiny's and Zarrey's times would have been 14.22 and 14.34 with no wind or 14.02 and 14.14 with an allowable 2 m/s aiding wind.

Faith Turner qualified 3rd for the 100m dash finals with a 5.7 m/s helping wind with a time of 10.71. The was the highest wind of the 5 heat. Her previous best was 11.57. That's a big improvement even with the wind. Or at least it seems like it. Not sure I know enough to really evaluate that. That would convert to about 11.28 with no wind and 11.08 with 2 m/s wind.

The Shocker foursome of Maria Romero, Abeba Sullivan, Farrah Miller and Lea Jerkovic won the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:11.53 edging KU's team by 1.17 seconds. This is somewhat of an unusual event and I am not sure if that is a good time or not. The all-time women's NCAA record in this event is 8:17.45 set by Villanova in 2013. But always nice to pick up a win over KU.

Destiny Masters also set a new PR (and this one for sure counts) in the high jump clearing 6-0. She tied for the best jump of the day but finished 2nd as she had 2 more misses. Destiny's last to high jump events have been very good. Hopefully, she can keep this up as she had been struggling a little bit in the high jump pit. So. Marissa Jensen finished 5th with a high jump of 5-8.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers Collect Four Event Wins at Midwest Classic

Farrah Miller moved up to seventh all-time in Wichita State history, winning her second 800-meter race of the outdoor season in 2:10.80, as Maria Romero finished third with a personal-best time of 2:13.80. Farrah would need to run a little faster to score in the AAC Championships which she might do in a stronger field.

In the field, Marissa Jensen claimed her fourth high jump win of the season with a personal-best clearance of 1.78m/5'10", which moved her up to fifth in Shocker history and tied for 29^th in the NCAA this season. That also puts Marissa in a 3-way tie for 3rd best jump in the AAC this year.

[1972Shocker]

Miranda Dick Clocks a Big Improvement in the Steeplechase at the Drake Relays

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/4/2...ke-relays.aspx

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Miranda Dick made a statement by winning the first heat in 10:41.00, beating 11 athletes who ran in the second, faster heat to finish 10^th overall. Dick's 23-second personal best moves her up to ninth all-time in Shocker history and ranks third in the conference this season.

"Miranda is newer to the event, but she's showing that she can be a competitor in this event, not only winning her heat pretty easily, but running the ninth-best time in school history," Coach Kirk Hunter said. "This is an event that's going to take her a long way, and I expect her just to get better every single week."

BTW, Miranda is a Peculiar person.................Her hometown is Peculiar, Missouri.

Miranda ran three 2,000m steeplechase races in high school with the last one being in the spring of 2017. Last year she ran in two 3,000m steeplechase races and now has run two more this outdoor season. The progression of her times have been as follows:

04/30/22 - Rock Chalk Classic - 11:45.51
05/14/22 - American Outdoor Championship - 11:27.68
04/08/23 - WSU KT Woodman Classic - 11:03.99
04/28/23 - Drake Relays - 10:41.00

That is pretty impressive progression and it is always fun to see a young athlete progress like this. While that rate of improvement will certainly diminish going forward, it will be interesting to see what her ultimate potential over the rest of this year and in the next 2 years will be.

The Shocker school record holder is the great Rebekah Topham at 9:50.65 in 2021 which makes her the only Shocker woman to run the steeplechase in under 10 minutes. 2nd best in school history is Mica Land who ran a 10:12.28 in 2008.

The Miranda's recent time is about the same as just about the same time as Rebekah recorded in her first collegiate steeplechase as a freshman in 2016. And then Rebekah redshirted her junior year in 2017-18 and then the 2020 outdoor season was cancelled due to Covid. So when Rebekah set her record in 2021 she had been at WSU 6 years. Miranda will most likely not get those extra 2 years of maturity which no doubt is a benefit to distance runners.

Probably a long shot to think that Miranda has it in her to challenge Rebekah's record but if she can knock off another 25 seconds over the next couple of years she could move up to 3rd all-time. Another 5 seconds would put her 2nd behind Rebekah. Having Rebekah available as a volunteer assistant this year has to be a plus for Miranda.

[1972Shocker]

Meawhile at the Rock Chalk Classic on Saturday:

Zarrey Sams secured four top-three finishes and recorded two personal bests at the Rock Chalk Classic Saturday at Rock Chalk Park. This meet marks the final meet before the conference championship in two weeks for many Wichita State athletes.

Sams, a junior from Houston, won the long jump with a personal-best jump of 6.15m/20'2.25", her first time over 20 feet, etching her name on Wichita State's all-time list at No. 7. In the middle of the long jump competition, Sams snuck away to run the second leg of the second-place 4x100-meter relay that ran a season-best 45.90 (Faith Turner, Sams, Sydney Johnson, Savannah Simmons).

Shortly after, Sams came back for the triple jump competition, where she placed second with a jump of 12.07m/39'7.25" and slipped away again to run the seventh-fastest 100-meter hurdles race in school history, placing third with a time of 13.70.

Sams' long jump ties her for the #5 spot on the AAC Performance Charts. Her triple jump is couple feet shy of what she would need to score at the AAC Championships. Her 100m hurdle time 10th on the AAC Charts just ahead of teammate Destiny Masters.

Sophomore Marissa Jensen won the women's high jump with a clearance of 5-8.5. Marissa and teammate, Destiny Masters, look to score some decent points for the Lady Shocks in the AAC Championships.

In the javelin, Sophomore Samantha Marx threw a personal-best 44.84m/147'1", the 10^th best throw in Shocker history, to place second. That is the 3rd best throw in the AAC this year.

Sophomore Jenna Muma added to the Shockers' successful steeplechase week with a win, running a personal-best 11:07.59 by almost 21 seconds. That's the 10th best time in the AAC this year. She would probably have to get under 11 miniute to move into the scoring at the AAC Championships.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers at AAC Outdoor Championships

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/5/1...pionships.aspx

STARTING LINES
The Shocker women are aiming for a top-five finish after placing 10^th at the 2022 AAC Outdoor Championship and this year's AAC Indoor Championship.

Projections would have UCF repeating as team champions followed by Cincinnati and Houston, with Wichita State ending up 10^th, but the point spread between fifth and 10^th is just 12 points, so outperforming the form charts could slingshot the Shockers up a number of spots. (5th sounds pretty optimistic because you have to pass so many teams to get there from 10th)

SHOCKERS SEEDED TOP THREE
Wichita State's No. 6-ranked high jump squad brings the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to the championship competition. Destiny Masters' clearance of 1.83m/6'0" is 1 centimeter behind the top seed (Taylor Beard; Cincinnati), and Marissa Jensen's jump of 1.78m/5'10" ties with two other athletes for the third best entry mark. Masters is also seeded fifth in the heptathlon, seventh in the long jump and ninth in the javelin.

Miranda Dick's 3,000-meter steeplechase time of 10:41.00 at the Drake Relays shot her up to third in the conference as she will race for a podium finish as the No. 3 seeed.

After scoring in both the hammer and javelin as a freshman at last year's conference meet, Samantha Marx enters the javelin competition as the No. 3 seed with her mark of 44.84m/147'1" from the Rock Chalk Classic. Tess Roman is also in scoring position in the javelin as the No. 7 seed and holds the same seed mark in the heptathlon.

Zarrey Sams looks to make an impact in her first outdoor conference meet as a Shocker as the No. 5 seed in the long jump (6.15m/20'2.25"), No. 7 seed in the triple jump (12.56m/41'2.5") and the No. 10 seed in the 100-meter hurdles (13.70).

GO THE DISTANCE
Just outside the scoring in the projections, Abeba Sullivan is seeded ninth in the 1500 meters and 10^th in the 5,000 meters, Sarah Bertry is seeded ninth in the 10,000 meters, and Farrah Miller is seeded 10^th in thee 800 meters, the event she finished on the podium at the indoor championship.

[1972Shocker]

After scoring in both the hammer and javelin as a freshman at last year's conference meet, Samantha Marx enters the javelin competition as the No. 3 seed with her mark of 44.84m/147'1" from the Rock Chalk Classic. Tess Roman is also in scoring position in the javelin as the No. 7 seed and holds the same seed mark in the heptathlon.

With one attempt remaining Samantha, a sophomore out of Andale, was in 3rd with a thrown of 143-10 trailing Ansley Frady at 150-6. Samantha's PB was 147-1 coming into the meet. Sam nailed her 6th and final attempt with a big new PB of 153-7 to move past Frady and finish in 2nd place to pick up 2 points over her seed projection. However, Tess finished 10th offsetting the 2 points picked up by Sam. However, Destiny Masters and Emma Bezdek finished 7th and 8th. So overall the Shocks picked up 3 points over expectations in this event.

[1972Shocker]

After Day 1 in the heptathlon Destiny Masters sits in 4th place with 3,363 points, trailing the leader Tulane senior Kristen O'Handley by 267 points. I expect O'Handley to win this O'handily.

Destiny might be able to finish 3rd if she has a really good day tomorrow but I think she is more likely to finish 4th or possibly even 5th.

[1972Shocker]

Just outside the scoring in the projections, Abeba Sullivan is seeded ninth in the 1500 meters.

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Abeba ran a 4.5 second PB in the 1500 prelims at 4:26.90 and will advance to the 12-runner final. Abeba's time was 2nd in her heat and 2nd fastest overall. But if she can duplicate that time in the finals she could very well move into a solid scoring position. So the Shocks a have a chance to pick up a few points above seed here.

[1972Shocker]

Just outside the scoring in the projections, sophomore Sarah Bertry is seeded ninth in the 10,000 meters.

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Both the men's and women's 10k races, scheduled to close out Friday's events were reschedule to 8:00 ET Saturdat morning due to lighting in the area.

Sarah Bertry picked up 3 unexpected points for the Shocker women with a 6 place finish in a time of 37:48.91. Junior Lubna Aldulaimi, who was seeded 13th, finished in 9th place just 1 place outside of scoring position, with a time of 38:14.61. Tulsa' Chloe Hershenow won the race with a time of 37:02.61.

These are not especially fast times. Hershenow was the favorite and her best time this season was 33:21.75. Sarah's best time this season was 36:07 and Lubna's was 36:35. Looks the the Tampa weaher this morning is relatively warm with high humidity with a feels like temp of around 85 degrees. Not conditions conducive to fast times for distance runners. It will be interesting to see if the men's race will result in a similar pattern.