The Basics
            The Wichita State track and field and cross country programs have a busy week ahead, featuring a two-day meet at the Heskett Center followed by the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at 4 Mile Creek Resort.
            Winny Koskei will try for her third-straight individual conference title and the Shockers look for team titles on their home course. Koskei won the JK Gold Classic on the same course earlier this year.
            The Herm Wilson Invitational features the first full multi-event competitions for the Shockers this year. It will be the first multi-event competition in nearly one year.
            Antonio Norman, Joseph Holthusen and Michael Bryan look to better their already stellar performances from a week ago.
 
Follow The Meet
            Fans can follow along with updates on Twitter @GoShockersTFXC. A full recap of each day will be posted on Twitter, Facebook and GoShockers.com.
            A live results link for the Herm Wilson Invitational will be posted when it is made available.
            The AAC Championships will be available via streaming on ESPN+, which requires a subscription. The link for that stream is here. Live results for the meet will be available here.
 
Meet Schedule
            The Herm Wilson Invitational kicks off at Noon on Thursday with the pentathlon and start of the heptathlon competitions. It continues at 9:30 a.m. on Friday with the conclusion of the heptathlon, track and field events.
            The Shockers play host for the AAC Championships, which are slated to kick off at 10 a.m.
 
Last Time Out
            The Shockers competed last weekend at home in the Shocker Invitational and Wichita State saw some of the nation's best performances go down.
            Antonio Norman and Joseph Holthusen are one of the best hurdling duos in the country and proved why on Friday. Norman ran the 19th-best time in the nation this year in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.89. Holthusen was right behind his teammate with a time of 7.90, which puts him at No. 20 in the NCAA.
            Michael Bryan also threw down a top performance in the weight throw. He won the men's weight throw with a toss of 20.10m/65-11.50. Bryan's mark slots him at No. 27 in the nation.
            Cassidy Androff and Jocelen Ruth also had a solid showing in the weight throw, entering the Shocker top-10. Androff is now No. 8 all-time and Ruth is No. 10 on the Wichita State performance list.
 
Throws Coach John Hetzendorf on the Meet
On why his group had success last week
"I don't know if there's one thing. I'm just pleased my group seems to be engaged with this whole process even though we don't know exactly what's going on all the time with all the hoops we have to jump through and not having an AAC Indoor Championship. I'm just happy that they're getting better. I feel like they're determined to get better despite all the hurdles."
 
On coaching during an unusual season
"Well, I would say I feel like we're asking a lot of them as far as testing them all the time and having them self-isolate and asking them to do these things when we're not sure what we can even do. What I have tried to do is to give them more ownership and input into what we're doing. COVID has taken some control away, so I've tried to give them some control over the situation in their track and field world and maybe that's helping them. There are so many demands on them, so I've tried to lay out all the things they have to do, but then ask them what they want to do rather than me just telling them and being another person that demands they do something."
 
On what he's looking for in this week's meet
"We're looking to improve and focusing on the process. Training looks a little different this week than last week. We've picked up the intensity in training. Maybe they're tired and maybe that'll help them. We have track meets on our schedule, but it doesn't mean we're going to go to them. Instead of looking to this meet and having specific goals, I am more focused on the day-to-day process. I talk to everyone specifically to see what they can do to get better."
 
Throwing Their Weight Around
            The throws group had an outstanding meet at the Shocker Invitational.
            Michael Bryan threw a personal best in the weight throw with a mark of 20.10m/65-11.50. His toss moved him into No. 5 on the Shockers' all-time performance list as well as No. 27 in the NCAA this season.
            Cassidy Androff had a breakout performance, throwing a personal best in the weight throw with a mark of 16.65m/54-7.50. Her throw landed her at No. 8 in school history in the event.
            Jocelen Ruth and Anna Zimmer had good meets as well. Ruth broke into the Shocker's all-time top-10 in the women's weight throw and Anna Zimmer won the women's shot put.
            Amanda Kakoulias has shown she is a force in the throws group as well, scoring at last year's AAC Indoor Championships and already has a top-65 mark in the country in the shot put this year. 
 
American Athletic Conference Championships history
            The Shockers host the AAC Cross Country Championships this weekend, and even though they're the newest kids in town, they don't seem like it.
            The Shockers have been in The American since the 2017-18 season, but have taken home two team championships since their time in their new conference.
            The Wichita State women have won both titles. In 2018, the Shocker women won the cross country team title, and during the 2019 outdoor season, the Wichita State women took home the team conference title.
            Winny Koskei is the two-time defending individual champion. She will look for her third straight individual title on Saturday.
            The Shocker women were the team runners-up at the conference meet in 2019 and the men finished fifth in the team race.
 
Hurdlers Starting Hot
            Going into the 2021 indoor track and field season, the Shocker men looked to have one of the best hurdling groups in the conference with all-conference performer Joseph Holthusen, nearly all-conference honoree Antonio Norman, a promising freshman in Jaleel Montgomery, transfer athlete Yuben Goncalves and young talent in Kieron Hunter.
            Sprints and hurdles coach John Wise said the group has big goals this year.
            "We've talked about having the best group in the country," Wise said. "Getting multiple people to the Olympic Trials this year. They want to accomplish some major things."
            The group proved their hype again last weekend. The Shockers own four of the six fastest 60-meter hurdle times in the conference with Norman and Holthusen holding strong at first and second.
            The success from the last week translates nationally. Norman is No. 19 in the country with his time of 7.89 and Holthusen is right behind him at 20th with a time of 7.90.
            When this group is firing on all cylinders, it will be hard to stop them and it will be for quite some time. All five of them have at least three years of eligibility left.