2022-23 Shocker Women XC and Track & Field

[1972Shocker]

In a shocking development in the women's heptathlon Tulane's Kristen O'Handley appeared poise to waltz to the wiin as she had a big lead and was one of the better 800m runners in the field. Her teammate Margot Termines was in 3rd but only 21 poitns behind Destiny Masters and with about an 8 second advantage (worth about 70 points) over Destiny in the 800 was poised to move into second.

Then the unthinkable happened, O'Handley running right in front of Destiny clippled the inside rail on the turn about 50 meters in the race and fell. The race was stopped but O'Handley had sprained her ankle. After the restart Destiny went out strong for the first 400 and not only stayed close to Termines but finished ahead of her with a new PB by about 5 seccods. And that was needed as SMU's Olivia Dobson finished 3rd in the 800 with a time of 2:21.67 picking up 76 points on Desinty whose PB of 2:27.4 was just enough to hold of Dobson 5,557 points to 5,537 points and Destiny is the 2023 AAC Heptathlon Champion.

O'Handley, despite a no mark, in the 800 finished 7th and Termines was 3rd at 5,515 points. O'Handley has qualified for the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon so her season is not over assuming she recovers from the ankle sprain.

Shocker freshman Tess Roman looked to be out of scoring position with 2 events to go but she set PB's in winning the javelin and in finshing 2nd in the 800 behind fellow Shocker freshman Sadie Millard. Tess moved up to 6th place finishing her inauguaral collegdiate season with a new PB in the heptathlon of 4,989.

So the Shocks ended up scoring 13 points in this event when at the end of Day 1 it was looking like they might get 5 points.

So it is looking like injuries will have huge impact on the outcome of both the heptathlon and decathlon.

Destiny set new AAC Championship records in the heptathlon high jump and long jump. Her 5,557 points is 4th best all-time at WSU as she edged ahead of Gayvyn Yetter-Veith by 4 points. That score is also 3rd best in AAC Championship competition.

[WuDrWu]

Looking forward to 1972Shocker (and anyone else watching) take on what happened in the 800 Hep final. Leader and defending champion Krystin O'Handly fell early and withdrew (after a stop and restart).

On the restart, Destiny Masters managed to stay in front of Margot Temines of Tulane and just close enough to Olivia Dobson of SMU to win the heptathlon and Tess Roman climbed all the way to 6.

Curious what others saw there.

[WuDrWu]

I'm also a little curious why they stopped the race (and eventually restarted from the beginning).

[1972Shocker]

In Destiny's post-event interview she said O'Handley clipped the railing on the first turn and that is what it looked like to me live but it was hard to tell.

I think the reason they restarted is because O'Handley's fall did effect Destiny and perhaps another runner or two that were behind her. Initially, I was concerned they would rule Desting tripped her which perhaps would haver resulted in a DQ.

Have to feel for O'Handley because I'm pretty sure she would have won the heptathlon (and deservedly so) as the 800 is a strong event for her.

[WuDrWu]

In Destiny's post-event interview she said O'Handley clipped the railing on the first turn and that is what it looked like to me live but it was hard to tell.

I think the reason they restarted is because O'Handley's fall did effect Destiny and perhaps another runner or two that were behind her. Initially, I was concerned they would rule Desting tripped her which perhaps would haver resulted in a DQ.

Have to feel for O'Handley because I'm pretty sure she would have won the heptathlon (and deservedly so) as the 800 is a strong event for her.

I am probably looking for something that isn't there, because as you said, O'Handley was a mortal lock to win the event, but it appeared to me that the 2nd Tulane athlete, Margot Temines, tried to box in Destiny, perhaps in an effort to have the Tulane athletes finish 1, 2 overall. That's just how it looked to me. Destiny was adorable in her interview and it also kind of seemed (again to my biased/conspiracy laden self) like she was thinking something was going on too. IDK

[1972Shocker]

I am probably looking for something that isn't there, because as you said, O'Handley was a mortal lock to win the event, but it appeared to me that the 2nd Tulane athlete, Margot Temines, tried to box in Destiny, perhaps in an effort to have the Tulane athletes finish 1, 2 overall. That's just how it looked to me. Destiny was adorable in her interview and it also kind of seemed (again to my biased/conspiracy laden self) like she was thinking something was going on too. IDK

Went back and looked at it again. They may have been trying to box Destiny in, although not sure how how that helps them that early in the race. Destiny was probably just wanting to stay as closed to Termines in this event and not thinking she could beat or gain on O'Handley. I really didn't see anything nefarious there.

Yeah, Destiny was pretty hyped. First time I have ever seen an interview with Destiny. She was like a little girl who got exactly what she wanted for Christmas but wasn't expecting it.

[1972Shocker]

Destiny barely had time to descend from the clouds before getting back at it in the long jump. However. she has fouled on her first 2 attempts. I'm sure the Shock were counting on Destiny to score in this event. At this point competition is suspended due to lightning. So whenever they rersume she needs to hit a good one. I believe the top 9 after 3 attempts each get 3 more attempts.

[1972Shocker]

.

Not sure what time zone that time is.

[1972Shocker]

Destiny did get a clean jump in on her 3rd attempt but it was very poor at only 17-4.75 and she does not make the long jump finals. Zarrey Sams does make the long jump finals with a jump of 19-6. Zarrey did not improve on that distance in her final 3 jumps and I think she finished 4th.

The Shockers failed to qualify anyone for the 100, 200, 400, 800, 100H or 400H finals.

Miranda Dick shaved 4.5 seconds off her previous best 3000m steeplechase time to finish in 4th at 10:35.44. That moves Miranda up a notch to 8th on the Shocker All-Time Top 10 list.

Update: Zarrey actually ended up 6th in the long jump. Destiny not scoring in the long jump was disappointing.

[1972Shocker]

While the Lady Shocks weren't contention for a championship, in fact they were slotted in to finish 10th, they out-performed expectations with 59 points to finish 6th.

Last year the Shocks did finished 10th and only scored 31.5 points. So hopefully this is a sign the they are making progress with the rebuilding although they have quite a bit of work to do still to get to where they want to be.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Women Outperform Projections

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/5/14/track-and-field-shocker-men-defend-aac-outdoor-title-women-outperform-projections.aspx

After entering the championship meet slated 10^th out of 11 teams, the Shocker women outperformed the projection, finishing seventh with 59 points as the UCF women won their second-consecutive title with 163 points.

"This is a fabulous validation for our women's team to finish seventh and a significant step in the right direction," Rainbolt said. "We had ups and downs, but we were competing hard, and I'm really proud of this women's team. We are absolutely rebuilding."

[SubGod22]

Here's a nice piece on Masters and her journey from small town long jumper to AAC Heptathlon champion.

AOL - How small-town athlete found self-confidence at Wichita State to become AAC track champion

Standing at the starting line, Destiny Masters knew she was 800 meters away from a breakthrough.

At stake was a personal-best score in the heptathlon that would not only cement her status among the greats in Wichita State history, but also make her a conference champion.

All that separated her from glory was her least-favorite event, the race she dreads the most.

“She absolutely hates the 800,” WSU track and field head coach Steve Rainbolt said. “She has some real emotional difficulties with the 800. It can be a very intimidating race for someone who is explosive, but not wired for endurance. I know the 800 isn’t exactly an endurance event, but it is to her.”

Masters, a fourth-year sophomore, wasn’t even considering a college track and field career until Rainbolt convinced her to come to WSU. She arrived as a mostly unheralded jumper from Bluestem, a nearby Class 2A high school.

I also forgot that Bluestem had dropped to 2A.

[1972Shocker]

Sophomore Samantha Marx finished 40th in the javelin at the NCAA West Region preliminaries today with a throw of 142-0. I suspect she was a little disappointed in that as her PB is 153-7. In any case, she's not close to be able to compete for a top 12 region finish needed to advance to the NCAA Champoinships. She was seeded 46 of the 48 competitors in this event so she did outperform her seed a little bit. Good experience for the sophomore and she has a couple more years to try to climb the ladder.

Junior Zarry Sams who was seeded 45 out of 48 long jumpers far exceeded her seed as she finished 25th with a jump of 19-9.5. Zarry improved quite a bit throuht the season and finished strong. She has more in her though as she was about 5 inches shy of her PB. Looking forward to see continue progress from Zarry next year.

[1972Shocker]

Brady Palen, in the high jump, is the lone Shocker to advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin for the Shocker men.

The Shocker women have two high jumpers still with a chance to qualify for Austin. Sophomores Destiny Master and Marissa Jensen. Destiny enters the West Region as the 11th seed and Marissa is the 19th seed. The top 12 finishers in the field of 48 will advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin.

The competition has just started. Destiny and Marissa are both in Flight 2 (of 2 flights). The opening height is 5-5.75. Marissa has cleared that height on her first attempt.. Destiny is 1 of 14 who have passed at that height.

Only 2 of the 48 competitors have been eliminated at the opening height. The bar moves up to 5-7.75.

Both Destiny and Marissa have cleared 5-7.75 on their first attempts. 9 more jumpers eliminated. Bar moves to 5-9.75. The attrition should start picking up at this height.

Marissa clears 5-9.75 on her first attempt. Destiny misses on her first attempt but is able to clear on her 2nd attempt. Number of misses may well come into play on who makes the top 12. 17 jumpers eliminated in this round.

With only 20 of the 48 competitors remaining the heat is on as the bar is moved up to very challenging 5-11.5. I think this clearance will probably get you into the top 12 but we will see.

Destiny clears 5-11.5 on her 3rd and final attempt but Marissa is unable to clear at that height.

13 competitors remain so 12 with advance and 1 will not. Marissa will not advance but made a very good effort. Destiny and Rice's Josie Taylor look to be the 2 jumpers on the bubble based on misses. Destiny looks to have the advantage there by 1 less miss. Of course, the best way to get off the bubble is to clear the next height which is 6-0.75. I think that would be a new PB for Destiny.

Neither Destiny and Josie were able to clear 6-.075. Not official but I think Destiny will finish 12th which would advance her to NCAA Championship finals in Austin. Official results pending.

Only competitors are able to clear 6-.075 and will move on to 6-2. However, Destiny does appear to have edged out Rice's Taylor, who set a new PB, for the 12th and final qualifying spot.

Congratulations Destiny as she joins her fellow Shocker Brady Palen in advancing to the NCAA Championship.

[WstateU]

“Why do I do that to myself!”