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

[SubGod22]

I can't believe it's been that long since Kellyn Johnson was a Shocker. Doesn't seem like it.

[shoxlax]

Sunday Field Events

Triple Jump: Jr. Chidera Okoro finished 6th with a personal best hop, skip and jump of 41-3.75 to pick up 3 points for the Shocks.

High Jump: Jr. Destiny Masters finished tied for 2nd with a leap of 5-10.75 and Jr. Marissa Jensen finished 6th with a jump of 5-7.75 to gather 10 points for the Shocker cause.

Sunday Running Events

800m Run Finals: Sr. Farrah Miller finished 2nd in the 800 with a new personal best time 2:06.24 which is just .12 of a second off the all-time Shocker mark of 2:06.12 set by Kellyn Johnson in 2009.

5000m Run: Lucy Dnungu finished 2nd in the 5k with a time of 16:46.49 to go along with her 2nd place finish in the 10k on Fridaty morning. I'm calling it right now. Little Lucy will win both the 5k and the 10k next year.

Women seemed to be much improved this year. Have some good recruits too from what I hear.

[1972Shocker]

Women seemed to be much improved this year. Have some good recruits too from what I hear.

Yeah, I think this was there best finish since 2021. I have been waiting to see some recruiting payoff from the the new Student Athlete Center that now houses the Track & Field program and is a humongous upgrade for their previous digs in the bowels of Cessna Stadium. Hopefully, the new stadium will also help with recruiting if and when that gets done.

Whether or not they will ever be able to get back to challenging for conference championships remains to be seen but that needs to be the goal.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Women Qualify Four to NCAA West Preliminaries

Wichita State women's track and field will send four student-athletes to the First Round of the NCAA Championships May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Ranking in the top 48 of declared athletes in the NCAA West Region earns athletes an entry to the NCAA West Preliminaries where they will compete to place in the top 12 to advance to the NCAA Championships (June 5-8).

Destiny Masters and Marissa Jensen will compete in the high jump for the second-straight year. Masters advanced from the prelims to the NCAA Championship in 2023. Masters also qualified to this year's NCAA West Prelims in the javelin and is one of two Shockers to compete in multiple events.

Lucy Ndungu qualified in the 10,000 meters, where she will race in the semifinal for a chance to move on directly to the final in Eugene.

Farrah Miller is set to race in the first round of the 800 meters on Thursday for a chance to move on to Saturday's quarterfinals.

As of now this is where the Shockers sit on the performance charts in the West Region (note there may be a few athletes ahead of them that have not declared in that event. So there actual rank in the declared field could by a little higher):

Jr. Destiny Masters - High Jump: 3-Way Tie for 10th (6-0.75)
Jr. Marissa Jensen - High Jump: 6-Way Tie for 47th (5-8.75)
Jr. Destiny Masters - Javelin: 48th (155-8)
Jr. Lucy Ndungu - 10,000m Run: 28th (33:41.31)
Sr. Farrah Miller - 800m Run: 50th (2:06.24)

So Destiny has a shot to advance to Eugene in the HIgh Jump. She has not chance to make in the javelin as the mark listed was a throw way outside of her norm. In fact, I'm a little surprised that Destiny declared in the javelin. She will probably finish last in this field. However, Destiny has already punched one ticket to Eugene with her top-24 national mark in the heptathlon. She ranks 14^th nationally with her score of 5,749 points from the Wichita State Combined Events meet earlier this spring.

ROAD TO EUGENE
The NCAA Division I Championships will take place June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through Fayetteville, Ark., where the top 48 individual athletes and the top 24 relays in the region will compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries (NCAA First Round) May 22-25 for a spot at the NCAA Championships. The top 12 in each event advance to the championship. Combined event athletes (heptathlon and decathlon) do not attend the First Rounds, but instead, the top 24 athletes overall advance directly to the NCAA Championship in Eugene.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: "I'm Going To Hope It's My Amazing Day"

Marissa Jensen hesitated to call Steve Rainbolt, the coach she wanted to high jump for and later turned down.

"I was terrified," she said. "I de-committed from Wichita State and I would feel terrible calling him up after I entered the portal and saying 'Hey, Bolt would you take me back?'"

Jensen, in her second year at Missouri, called Rainbolt. No need to be worried. Rainbolt, Wichita State's director of track and field, welcomed the chance to coach her, even after her detour from planning on WSU to signing with Missouri.

"I had full intentions of coming (to WSU)," she said. "As a high schooler, you get in the mentality of 'I want to go as big as I can.' I will say to all the high schoolers – do not have that mentality. Go to the coach you have a connection with."

That connection held when Jensen, from Stanberry, Mo., decided to leave Missouri before the 2021 indoor season. She called Rainbolt in January, certain she wanted to come to WSU and restore her confidence in her abilities.

"I was tickled to death when I found she was interested in coming to Wichita State," Rainbolt said.

That started a process of Rainbolt listening and encouraging and Jensen methodically improving after a rough time at Missouri.

"I knew I trusted Bolt," she said. "He really was amazing. I was destroyed as bad as I could be mentally. I had no confidence in myself. He sat with me for weeks on end, listening to me, and saying 'I believe in you. I know we can get you back to where we were.'"
Jensen is one of nine Shockers qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries this week in Fayetteville, Ark. She jumps on Saturday and is making her second appearance in the meet after finishing 14^th in 2023. The top 12 finishers in each event advance to the NCAA Championships on June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.

"I'm going to be relaxed and thankful for the journey, she said. "High jump can vary from one week to the next. I'm going to hope it's my amazing day."

Jensen is halfway through her master's degree in exercise science after majoring in exercise science with a minor in entrepreneurship. She is a two-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic selection and a regular on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll with a 4.0 grade-point average.

Jensen, who jumped 5-foot-7 in high school, competed for the Shockers in the 2021 indoor and outdoor seasons, peaking at 5-foot-5. In 2022, she improved to 5-5 ¾ indoors. When the outdoor season ended, she faced a turning point. To finish her career strong, she needed a plan and dedication.

"I was hitting a low," she said. "At this point, I needed to make a drastic change. I decided I'm going all in. I knew I could do more. I don't want to leave here and feel I've left myself as average."

Jensen worked out daily at Cessna Stadium during the summer of 2022. She talked herself into the car on mornings she didn't want to go. She stuck to the routine until she saw rewards.

She cut out most snacks. She swapped out brownies for rice cakes with syrup, Pocky biscuits or chocolate protein bars. She loaded up on chicken, rice and sweet potatoes.

"I started really focusing on my nutrition," she said. "I ran a lot on campus. I ran on the trail near Oliver (Street). If it was a lift day, I would run later."

Jensen's love of the event and her attention to detail never wavered. As her confidence and conditioning improved, progress came quickly.

"She really is a deep thinker about the high jump event," Rainbolt said. "She is really, really into it. Minute details such as foot placement, angles in the plant and takeoff. Every angle of every lever we deal with. I admire how analytical she is."

When workouts started in the fall, she could tell a difference in preparations for the 2023 season. She jumped 5-9 ¼ indoor and placed fifth in AAC Championships at 5-8 ½. She finished third outdoors in the AAC Championships at 5-10 ½, tied for fourth on WSU's career list.

She redshirted for the 2024 indoor season after a car accident sidelined her with a concussion. She returned for outdoors and jumped 5-8 ¾ to win the Ward Haylett Invitational at Kansas State in April. She jumped 5-7 ¾ to finish sixth in the AAC Championships earlier this month.

Over the past three weeks, she turned to writing down cues in a blue notebook to fine-tune her stride, her approach and her take-off.

"I'll sit off by myself, notebook in one hand and water bottle in the other," she said. "I run through the cues. I focus on quickness. Quick, quick, quick. Put the foot down and give myself those cues."

Last year, Jensen came close to advancing to the NCAA Championships. On Saturday, she hopes her notebook, her cues and confidence can carry her into the top 12.

[1972Shocker]

Actually a pretty solid effort for Destiny.

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

Congratulations to the Little Lady Shocker from Kenya.

[1972Shocker]

Ndungu Punches Ticket to NCAA Championships

Wichita State's Lucy Ndungu advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships with her 11^th-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminaries Thursday night at John McDonnell Field.

"I'm just really proud of her that she was able to achieve this," distance coach Kirk Hunter said. "It was a huge goal for her. The effort, the time and the commitment that she's put in, not just on the track but away from us, is evident in the way she's racing. It's hard to express in words how good it makes you feel when [athletes] achieve their goal after all they've put into it like that."

The junior from St. Louis, Mo. entered the competition seeded 25^th and needed to finish in the top 12 to move on to the NCAA final on June 6 in Eugene, Ore.

"I told her before the stories of the number of girls that I've had come in here not ranked in the top 12 that made it and I said, 'why can't you?'" Hunter said.

Ndungu ran 34:23.39, her second-fastest career time to punch her ticket to Hayward Field.

Ndungu is just the third Shocker woman ever to qualify to the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 meters and the first since Aliphine Tuliamuk in 2013. Tonya Nero advanced in 2010 and 2011, and Tuliamuk qualified in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

[WstateU]

This is what it’s all about…

[ShockTalk]

As I watched the video, and someone of less than average height, all I thought at first was how many more strides she must she take to cover the distance than her taller competition. Then, at her completing the race, stopping in her tracks with emotion and sitting on the ground, full of emotion at what she had accomplished, I too, got a little misty-eyed.

After her running over to her coaches to celebrate, we also got to see her as a very radiant young lady. Congratulations Lucy!!

[1972Shocker]

As I watched the video, and someone of less than average height, all I thought at first was how many more strides she must she take to cover the distance than her taller competition.

That has crossed my mind as well. OTOH, the payload she is hauling is quite a bit lighter than her competition. It seems like her biggest challenge might be the jostling she has to deal with. She was knocked off the track in the AAC Indoor Championship 5k race this past February and was DQ'd (which Coach Rainbolt was not happy about) and she took a fall in the AAC Outdoor Championship 10k race 2 weeks ago on lap 17 of 25 but was able to recover and finish 2nd.

[1972Shocker]

Masters Punches Second Ticket to NCAA Championships

Having already punched her ticket to Eugene, Ore. in the heptathlon, Masters was seeking her second entry to the national meet. The junior from El Dorado, Kan. cleared 1.81m/5'11.25" on first attempt to place 12^th and claim the final qualifying spot.

Masters is the first female Shocker in history qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump in back-to-back seasons and is one of three to qualify in more than one event in the same season. She is the first female Shocker since Connie Long in 1989 to qualify in the high jump to both the indoor and outdoor championships in the same year. Masters is also one of three Shockers to qualify in both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon in the same season, joining Tanya Friesen (2013), Breanne Borman (2017) and Nikki Larch-Miller (2017).

Marissa Jensen wrapped up her season with a season-best clearance of 1.76m/5'9.25" to take 16th in the high jump.

So the Shocker women will send Destiny Masters (heptathlon and high jump) and Lucy Ndungu (10k) to along with Brady Palen (high jump) on the men's side to Eugene.

[1972Shocker]

Coach Rainbolt on the hunt for his next top notch mulit-event athlete:

Wichita State T&F/XC
@GoShockersTFXC

Inked. Join us in welcoming Anna Bundy to the Shocker family!

image.png

I don't think Anna is related to Al Bundy. Actually looks a bit like Jody Foster.

Anna's bets high school events appear to be the high jump where she has cleared 5-7 and the long jump where she has leapt 18-4.5. Both pretty solid marks. Her best high school time in the 100m hurdles was 18.13 which is a bit on the slow side but who knows how much she worked on that event.

Anna won the class 6A high jump state championship with a clearance of 5-6.

By comparison Destiny Masters high school bests were 5-2 in the high jump, 17-4.75 in the long jump and 16.01 in the 100m hurdles.

What kind of multi-event athlete Anna might make is pretty hard to predict. But Coach Rainbolt has a pretty good record of developing multi-event athletes. I think Coach Rainbolt was a high jumper turned decathlete in his college days as well.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Ndungu Runs in NCAA Championships on Thursday

Up to the halfway point, Lucy Ndungu labored along through a mob of runners and doubted herself.

"Am I able to finish it off?" she said she remembers thinking.

The 5-kilometer mark of the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA West Preliminaries is not the ideal place for hesitancy. Ndungu, a Wichita State junior from St. Louis, quickly returned to her strategy and positive thoughts.

"I realized 'This is the race and I have to stick with people. Whenever they make a move, I move with them,'" she said. "I just hang on to people."

That competitive spirit carried Ndungu into the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. She runs Thursday evening at Hayward Field after qualifying with a time of 34 minutes, 23.39 seconds in the preliminary meet in Fayetteville, Ark. She placed 11^th after entering the field ranked No. 25. The top 12 finishers advance.

"She just hangs in there," distance coach Kirk Hunter said. "I am incredibly impressed by her spirit. To beat girls that had run a minute faster than her during the year, to hang in there. In those last few laps, she was working hard but she kept picking it up and picking it up."

"I move with faith," she said. "Throughout the race, I'm trying to speak to God, trying to overcome whatever I'm going through with faith."

Ndungu, who NJCAA titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 for Cloud County Community College last spring, will enter Thursday's race again as one of the underdogs. Hunter said the work she did last summer, training in Alamosa, Colo., prepared her for the adjustment to NCAA Division I running. She finished as the runner-up in the American Athletic Conference Championship cross country meet last fall.

Equally important, she asked Hunter questions about her training and voiced her opinions about what works.

"She shows how important running is to her," Hunter said. "She is not scared to state her opinion about running. She's not scared to come in and say 'Coach, I need this to get better.' She seeks me out. The best athletes do that."

Each fall, Hunter said, he tells his runners that he wants to push them to be better runners and he expects them to push him to be a better coach. While some routines and tactics might work for some runners, Hunter also wants to know how to coax the best out of others, mentally and physically.

"Telling me that was a huge help in me helping her," Hunter said. "Now I know what she needs to motivate her to be successful. Each person will grasp onto different things. That helped me be a better coach. Communication is key for us."

Ndungu will enter Thursday's race seeded No. 23 in the 24-person field. The top eight finishers in each event earns first team All-American, with the ninth through 16^th place finishers earning second team recognition and all others earning honorable mention status.

Junior Destiny Masters, from El Dorado, will compete in the heptathlon on Friday and Saturday and the high jump on Saturday. Junior Brady Palen, from Beloit, competes in the high jump on Wednesday.

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Good luck, Lil' Lucy, Destiny and Brady.