2023-24 Shocker Women's XC and Track & Field

[1972Shocker]

NM

[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]

Considering that Lucy Ndungu did not run in this race and the course conditions may have been less then ideal the ladies did okay.

Not sure why Lucy did not run but not too surprising to hold her out with the AAC XC Championships coming up on Saturday, October 28th, in Greenville, NC. Hopefully, it wasn't injury related.

[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 Shocker women return one all-conference athlete (top 15 finish) from a year ago with junior Sarah Bertry returning. A season ago, the Shocker women improved from sixth place in 2021 to fifth place in 2022. The Tulsa women made it four-straight championships last year.

SMU looks to dethrone the Tulsa women, while Wichita State seeks a top-four or top-five finish in this new-look conference. The Shocker women have placed in the top five in every race this season and look to carry that into the championship meet.

With the added depth of the six new AAC teams, breaking into the top-15 individual places will provide an even tougher challenge than in past seasons.

Lucy Ndungu and Miranda Dick have been racing well and should have a strong chance at a top-10 or top-15 finish, while Lubna Aldulaimi has also shown vast improvement throughout the past year.

"Lucy's goal is to win; I don't think she has any other goal in her mind," Hunter said. "Miranda is running spectacularly right now. She's been beating some really good athletes out there, so I'm confident that if she does what she's been doing all year she'll be top 10 at conference."

A win for Ndungu would mark the fifth AAC individual title for Wichita State cross country in the seven years the Shockers have been in The American. The junior transfer from Cloud Country Community College has made a splash in her first season with the Shockers, finishing in the top three in all three regular-season meets, running personal bests in each race.

She will be up against SMU's top five runners, who have all run sub-21 minutes, three Tulane athletes who have gone sub-21 and Tulsa's reigning champion, Chloe Hershenow, and Alicen Ashley.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Summer In the Mountains - Lucy Ndungu Prepped For a Big Year at Elevation

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/10/26/the-roundhouse-rh-shockers-race-in-aac-championships-on-saturday.aspx

Lucy Ndungu's training for this fall started at 8,000-plus feet in the mountains of southwest Colorado.

"The scenery is amazing," she said. "It reminded me of back home in Kenya."

While Ndungu made time for camping and playing at the Great Sand Dunes National Park near Alamosa, mileage stayed on her mind in the summer. On Wednesdays and Sundays, she and several college runners went to the mountains. Other days, they ran the streets of Alamosa, home to Adams State University, a cross country power in NCAA Division II.

She ran 60-70 miles most weeks to prepare for her first season at Wichita State after transferring from Cloud County Community College. Ndungu, who attended Pattonville (Mo.) High School, moved to the United States as a fifth grader.

She ran 60-70 miles most weeks to prepare for her first season at Wichita State after transferring from Cloud County Community College. Ndungu, who attended Pattonville (Mo.) High School, moved to the United States as a fifth grader.

She is one of the favorites in Saturday's American Athletic Conference Championships in Greenville, N.C.

An injury kept Ndungu from maximizing her summer training in 2022, so she was thrilled to return to good health and push herself in the mountains.

Wichita State coach Kirk Hunter followed Ndungu's progress throughout the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023. She didn't run well last fall in cross country, because of the injury. Hunter watched her improve throughout the spring and she won NJCAA titles in the 5,000 meters (17:59.69) and 10,000 (38:17.21).

"You could see her progressing," Hunter said. "I saw her running against our girls. I saw her running some big PR's."

When Ndungu came to Wichita in August, she exceeded Hunter's expectations, thanks to her busy summer schedule.

Hunter advises all his runners to build up mileage over the summer to prepare for the fall schedule. Ndungu took that advice seriously.

"She was doing what she needed to do to take that next step," Hunter said. "A great summer will lead to a great year. The ones who buy into it are the ones who have a great year. Lucy bought into that quickly."

[1972Shocker]

Lucy Ndungu Races to Runner-Up Finishat AAC Championships

After being out from running for multiple weeks, spending that time cross training, Ndungu toed the line for her first race in a month and battled her way to a runner-up finish in an extremely tough field of runners with a time of 20:45.8.

"Lucy showed extreme maturity," Hunter said. "A lot of people would mentally struggle and not be able to come back from that…but she has the strength and the knowledge, and she's smart enough that she knows if she just goes out and does her best, sticks her nose in there and tries, good things might happen, and she did that today. She's extremely impressive."

The junior transfer from Cloud County CC moved up from fourth to second over the last 2K to claim the Shockers' sixth-straight top-five individual AAC finish and seventh overall top-three finish.

"Those girls in that race are legit competitors; they're top NCAA Division I runners, and Lucy proved she belongs there," Hunter said. "That was an absolutely fabulous race on her part, probably the most impressive race I've seen her run so far."

Miranda Dick, a redshirt junior from Peculiar, Mo., claimed another top-15 finish for the Shockers, giving the women's team multiple all-conference awards for the sixth-consecutive season. She came through the 4K in 12^th place and passed five people in the final 2K to place 7th with a time of 21:09.6, a 21-second personal best.

"That was as good of a performance as Lucy's and maybe better," Hunter said. "That was just an unbelievable performance. The girls that she beat were running low 19s a couple weeks ago at another course, so that shows you what times mean; they mean nothing. You get in there, and you compete, and you battle." joined Lucy in the top 15 finishing 7th with a time of 21:09.6 to earn All-Conference honors. The Shocker women finished fifth with 128 points while Tulane ended Tulsa's four-year reign, winning its first AAC team championship.

For the women's team, junior Sarah Bertry (27^th; 21:52.2), senior Lubna Aldulaimi (31^st; 21:57.8; PB) and freshman Isabelle Hartnett (62^nd; 22:56.2) completed the Shockers' top five.

"As a true freshman, being able to come in and contribute like [Isabelle] has doesn't happen very often," Hunter said. "You don't usually have somebody that can step in that quickly and be a contributor. She's got a lot to learn, but she's going to be a really good runner for us. The future of Wichita State looks a lot brighter because she's on our team."

WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. Tulane – 42 pts
2. Charlotte – 58 pts
3. SMU – 76 pts
4. Tulsa – 102 pts
5. Wichita State – 128 pts
6. Rice – 162 pts
7. East Carolina – 229 pts
8. South Florida – 251 pts
9. Memphis – 258 pts
10. Temple – 275 pts
11. Florida Atlantic – 283 pts
12. UTSA – 292 pts
13. North Texas – 305 pts
14. UAB – 318 pts

Wichita State will race at the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday, Nov. 10 in Stillwater, Okla. for a chance to qualify to the NCAA Championships.

Ndungu looks to have a good chance at earning an individual berth if she continues racing the way she has been.

[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.

Lucy Ndungu, a junior transfer from Cloud County CC, looks to qualify to the NCAA Championships by finishing as one of the top four individuals who are not part of an automatic qualifying team or an at-large team. A top-10 finish could give her a good chance at advancing to the national meet in Charlottesville, Va. on Nov. 18.

With Oklahoma State and Iowa State ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the Midwest Region, they are the favorites to earn the automatic bid to the championship, while Northwestern and Nebraska sit at No. 3 and No. 4 in the regional rankings and will hope for an at-large bid if they don't finish in the top two. Ndungu will aim to beat Northwestern's and Nebraska's top finishers in order to secure an individual bid without having to wait on the NCAA Selection Show.

"She's raced head-to-head with [some] of those girls and beaten them and if she can accomplish that goal again, then I think she'll make it to nationals," head coach Kirk Hunter said.

Ndungu knocked off Nebraska's top runners at the Gans Creek Classic earlier in the season but has yet to face Northwestern.

"There's really not anything different she needs to do. Zero," Hunter said. "I believe if she races the way she has all year, she'll qualify."

[1972Shocker]

Doesn't look like Lucy will qualify for the nationals. She finished 22nd in the women's 6K race with a time of 21:11.7. I think there were at least 7 runners not on an automatic qualifer or at-large team that finished ahead of her. She needed to be in the top 4 of that group. Still a very nice year for Lucy. Hopefully, this will provide the motivation to push Lucy even harder next year, although she seems to have plenty of self-motivation anyway.

Lucy did earn All-Region Honors with her top-25 finish.

As a team the Shocks finished 20th in the 32 team field.

https://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=5852

[SubGod22]

Great Bend Tribune - Cardinals' Farmer signs with Wichita State

Hoisington senior Shellamae Farmer, a two-time 3A state pole vault champion, has signed a track and field offer from Wichita State University.

Farmer captured the 2023 pole vault 3A title by clearing the bar at 11-6 on her final attempt to edge Smoky Valley’s Breanna Peters (11-0).

As a sophomore, Farmer cleared 11-6 at the 3A state meet, beating Breanne Peters and Nickerson’s Ava Jones.

As a freshman Farmer cleared 10-0, but placed fifth at the 3A regional to miss qualifying for the state track meet.

[1972Shocker]

I haven't been posting about the signings because I thought I would wait until Coach Rainbolt announces his the whole signing class (if he does) because there are so many of them and it's not always easy for find meaningful info on track and field athletes. Unless there was a obvious home-run signing. So far I counted 12 athletes whose signing has been announced on Xitter. 11 of those are for the women's team and 1 for the men's team.

That said, it looks like the Shockers have signed a couple of decent pole vault prospects for new vault coach Aliyah Welter to work with. The Shocks previously announced the signing of vaulter Abby Rexford out of Wilmore, Kentucky. Perhaps Coach Welter had a good part in signing these 2 athletes.

From what I have found Rexford appears to a have PB of 12-0 and Farmer has a PB of 11-9. Both good marks for high schoolers. Last year the top mark among the Shocker women vaulters was senior Margaux Thompson at 11-9.75 in her final year. Margaux's PB was 12-9.5 back in the Spring of 2022. Sophomore Allison Burke's outdoor best last year was 11-9 but she did go 12-5.5 indoors last January. Sophomore Lillie Diaz best jump was 11-6.5 at the May 2022 AAC Championships as a freshman but the best she could do last year outdoors 10-6. I wonder if Coach Pat Wilson's health issues may have had a negative impact on the performance of our vaulters last year.

As far as this year goes Margaux finished her career last year and Alison Burke and Lillie Diaz are not listed on the Shocker roster for 2023-24. Not sure what happened with them but the Shockers do have 4 women vaulters listed on the 2023-24 roster as follows:

Jr. Bailey Hartley - Arp, Texas/McPherson College - Her outdoor PB is 10-8
So. Arantxa Cortez - Lima, Peru/Cowley County - Her PB last year at Cowley were 12-1.5 indoors and 10-11.75 outdoors.
R-Fr. Kinslee Stokely - Princeton, MO - Her high school PB was 10-6. She competed unattached in 3 meets last year with a best of 10-3.25
Fr. Kennedy Jarnagin - Cimarron, KS - Her high school PB was 11-0.

So it would appear that coach Welter is pretty much starting from scratch with a full rebuild on her hands. It will be interesting to see how and to what extent these vaulters progress under her tutelage.

As far as Rexford and Farmer go it will be interesting to see how they do this spring and they appear to have some potential to work with when they arrive next fall.

To be a factor in the AAC it looks like they will need to get to 12-6 and above. Also 12-6 would put them in the Shocker All-Time Top 10 in the women's pole vault.

[SubGod22]

Didn't Welter vault for former Shocker Brooke Demo at one of the Kentucky schools?

That alone means she's been coached well and probably has a good mentor. It might also help explain landing Rexford.

I'm not sure how much improvement vaulters generally make from HS to college, but you would think getting to 12-6 and beyond should be attainable for both of these athletes before their time here is done.

[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.

Destiny Masters, a two-time all-conference honoree in the multi-events and Second Team All-American in the high jump, looks to make a splash in the season opener.

"Destiny has been training very well, and we are very hopeful for a good performance that will set her up nicely for the season," head coach Steve Rainbolt said.

The El Dorado, Kan. native holds a personal-best pentathlon score of 4,043 points (4064 adjusted) from last season's Herm Wilson Invitational in the Heskett Center, the 32^nd-best mark in the nation at the conclusion of the indoor season. Top 16 in the NCAA in each event qualify to the NCAA Indoor Championships, a goal for the junior.

"[This will] absolutely [be a meet Destiny will be trying to put up a score that would qualify to the NCAA Indoor Championships], and I say absolutely because of how well she has done in training," Rainbolt said. "She's just has really looked good, and she's preparing for a terrific season."

Masters holds high jump personal records of 1.82m/5'11.5" indoor and 1.83m/6'0" outdoor and has been jumping even higher in practice.

Rainbolt feels really good about her training all around, complimenting her long jump, shot put and hurdles practices, in addition to her improvement in her 800-meter training.

"Destiny has gotten to the level in her training that she cannot experience any hiccups, but she does not have to be at absolute 100% and she could still get qualified for nationals," Rainbolt said."

Masters has typically found the 800 meters to be her toughest event to overcome, but Rainbolt feels that she has gained confidence in the final event of the pentathlon.

Abby Klipstein, Tess Roman, Sadie Millard and Kenisa Meyer are also set to make their season debuts in the pentathlon.

"The women have trained very well and are ready for good performances, so I'm looking forward to watching all of the girls," Rainbolt said.

In addition, to the Shockers there are a couple of athletes from Fort Hays St. and a couple from Southern Nazarene entered.

If you have time on your hand going and watching Destiny to to Qualify for the NCAA's might be pretty entertaining.

[1972Shocker]

Destiny is off to a good start in Shocker Multi pentathlon at the Heskett Center.

Destiny set a new PB in the 60 hurdles at 8.37 (vs previous best of 8.47) good for a whopping 1,046 points, cleared 5-11.25 in the high jump just shy of her 5-11.5 PB indoors good for 991 points, set a new PB in the shot put at 40-4 (vs previous best of 37-8.5) good for 680 points for a total of 2,717 points which is 549 points clear of the 2nd place competitor from Southern Nazarene.

The long jump, potentially a strong event for Destiny, and her nemesis the 800m run remain.

Not her best long jump but not bad at 18-10 puts Destiny at 3.488 points with the 800m race to go.

Destiny needs 646 points in the 800 to set a new Shocker school record in the pentathlon held by Breanne Borman set in 2016 with 4,133 just ahead of Nikki Larch-Miller's mark of 4,121 in 2017.

Destiny's needs a time of 2:33.8 or better to score the needed points. Her PB is 2:27.47 so she has a great shot.

Destiny clocked in at 2:32.37 in the 800 and had indeed set a new school record in the pentathlon with 4,151 points.

That exceeds the NCAA qualifying standard of 4,075 points but you still need to finish in the Top 16 marks during the season to make the NCAA Championship. Last year that took a score of 4,160 points. Destiny's close but I'm sure she will want to put a higher score at some point, preferably at the AAC Indoor Championships.

Sophomore Tess Roman won the 800m run with a time of 2:24.39 and edged ahead of Ariel Thrash of Southern Nazarene to finish 2nd overall with a new PB of 3,495.

Sophomore Sadie Millard finished 4th with a new PB of 3,442 points.

[1972Shocker]

[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.