The RoundHouse | 5/13/2019 11:14:00 AM

 
On Friday, Steve Rainbolt talked with a javelin thrower searching for a boost before the final moments of her career and told her "You can do this. I know you've got a big one in you."
 
It was one of hundreds of interactions – most involving high fives, fist bumps and hugs - over the weekend between Rainbolt and his assistant coaches and the Wichita State track and field team. 
 
The pep talk on the grass near the Cessna Stadium throwing area didn't result in a dramatic victory or a personal record. It did tell the story of Shocker track over the weekend – Carlea Miles scored two points to add to the eventual championship total, Wichita State totaled eight in the event to demonstrate its depth and Rainbolt's relentless positivity made another imprint.
 
"It's a big deal to have someone who really believes in you and to know that no matter what happens he's going to be proud of me and knows I've always done my best," Miles said. "Bolt has always told me that, since the beginning of my career - 'You can always find one. You can always find one throw.'"
 
Wichita State won the women's American Conference Outdoor Championships with 126 points on Sunday, one year after finishing ninth with 45.5 points. The men pushed national power Houston to the final event before finishing second behind the Cougars by 12 points. Wichita State's 166.75 points is the most scored by a second-place men's team in the meet's six-season history. 
 
Both results, as Rainbolt said, validated everything about the program, from the conference records and NCAA qualifiers to the small moments that are part of the routine.
 
"Our philosophy is to build a team with depth and balance," he said. "To keep coming at you, event after event after event. This is a legitimately upper-level league and it means the world to me that our philosophy seems to hold true in a conference championship."
 
Miles, a senior from Cheney, won two Missouri Valley Conference javelin titles. She is Wichita State's career leader in the javelin with a throw of 164 feet, 11 inches. She finished third in the American last season with a throw of 163-3. 
 
On Friday, she finished seventh and it felt perfect for the moment.
 
Miles tore a forearm muscle in her right arm on the first throw of the first meet this spring. That changed her goal from contending for a title to doing what she could to score points.
 
Before her final competition, she sought Rainbolt out and told him she needed a pep talk.
 
"I've been struggling and rehabbing back just to get ready for conference," she said. "I was going into it thinking I would take one throw and probably be done, because it was so painful. I got to take more throws than I thought I would and on my last throw I moved up from ninth to seventh, into scoring position."
 
She threw 141-10 with her sixth attempt. Later, Rainbolt texted her to tell her how proud her effort made him and how much he enjoyed coaching her college career.
 
"There's nobody like him, anywhere," she said. "It's one thing if you can get good athletes to your program. It's a whole 'nother thing to develop them and support them into a championship team. It doesn't just happen. You have to have some cohesiveness. You have to have a team atmosphere and coaches that can support their athletes. Coach Bolt is the best at getting someone to believe in themselves."
 
The Shockers finished 19 points ahead of Cincinnati in the women's points total with four championships and 11 all-conference performances (finish in the top three). Rebekah Topham scored 22 points to earn Most Valuable Outdoor Performance honors with a title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, a runner-up finish in the 1,500 and fifth in the 5,000. Winny Koskei added 18 points with a win in the 10,000 and second in the 5,000.
 
Wichita State joined the American in 2017, after winning three straight MVC women's outdoor titles with a dominant class. When that class graduated after 2017, coaches decided to reset the program with a bold redshirt plan. The made for a struggle in 2018, minus most of the depth that carried the program and minus leaders such as Topham.
 
"We didn't know if we were making the right decision a year ago when we redshirted 26 girls," Rainbolt said. "We were trying to build for the future and we were hoping that it would work out. And it did. This is a fabulous validation for that."
 
Wichita State's men pushed for a sweep with five titles and 11 earning all-conference honors. The Shockers trailed Houston by two points entering the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. An injury knocked Wichita State's team out of the race and Houston won the event's 10 points.
 
"We were tasting it," Rainbolt said. "It was right there. To not be able to finish it off was hard. Painfully close, But, it's a terrific validation for our men's team, as well."
 
Cory Martens scored 17 points in the throws. Zack Penrod won the 1,500 meters with a conference record time of 3 minutes, 49.07 seconds and Mason Buckmaster won the high jump at 7-1/2.
 
The Shockers, in another successful transition from the MVC, dominated the multi-events. Ben Johnson won the decathlon with 7,413 points and teammates grabbed fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth. Kendra Henry, who placed third in the javelin, won the heptathlon with 5,249 points with teammates Claudia Rojo (5,219) and Sydney Wilson (5,106) behind her.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.