WICHITA, Kan. -- After the first week of competition, Wichita State Track and Field athletes hold 16 Top 50 marks in the NCAA, set 11 personal bests and four Top 10 WSU all-time marks.
"It is really common for me to leave a season opener and feel almost dejected that our team was not ready and this year I did not feel that way," Raidbolt said. "We had a bunch of great performances up in Manhattan. We had a bunch of freshmen do some great things. Generally, event-by-event-by-event I was pleased and feel that our athletes did a good job of maintaining their fitness over the holidays and came back ready to go. We thought it was a great springboard into the season."
Leading the way the first week of competition was the four Shockers named MVC Student-Athletes of the Week:
Taylor Larch-Miller edged
Deja Young 7.72 to 7.73 to win the 60 meters at the Kansas State Indoor Invitational Saturday inside Ahearn Fieldhouse. Her time is currently the 25th-best in the NCAA.
Jamesia Milton's weight throw toss of 65.7 won the event for WSU's women at the Kansas State Indoor Invitational Saturday inside Ahearn Fieldhouse. Milton's throw is the second-best in school history and currently ranks No. 6 in the NCAA. She also threw the seventh-best shot put distance in school history with a throw of 45-1.5.
Freshman
Zack Penrod won the 800 meters in a time of 1:55.76 at the Kansas State Indoor Invitational Saturday inside Ahearn Fieldhouse. His time is the 29th-best in the NCAA.
Freshman
Jared Belardo won the long jump and the triple jump at the Kansas State Indoor Invitational Saturday inside Ahearn Fieldhouse. He won the long jump with a distance of 24-4.25, and the triple jump with a jump of 49-5.5 to complete the sweep. Both distances currently rank No. 11 in the NCAA and No. 9 on the WSU all-time list.
Taylor Goldsmith's weight throw of 64-2.5 is the 23rd-best in the NCAA and
Chris Peters' height of 16-0.75 in the pole vault is the 31st-best. Shazz Michael-Lindo's triple jump of 47-10 is the 32nd-best in the NCAA and
Weston Cottrell's weight throw of 60-8 is 44th-best.
On the women's side, four Shockers have top-30 NCAA Pentathlon scores led by Martiesha Caines' 3,758 points.
Gavyn Yetter's 3,668 is ninth,
Claudia Rojo's 3,637 is 12th and
Sierra Hays' 3,389 points is 29th.
Ashley Petersen's high jump of 5-8 is the 26th-best in the NCAA and
Breanne Borman's height of 5-7.25 is the 36th-best. Courtney Mills' riple jump of 38-7.5 is the NCAA's 46th-best.
In addition,
Kaden Griffin set his personal pest in the long jump with a distance of 22-4.25 and in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.27.
