The RoundHouse | 2/5/2021 2:51:00 PM

 
John Wise watched Yazmine Wright work out after the pandemic interruption and thought she returned in great shape.
 
She did, and not only in the ways observed by Wise, Wichita State assistant director of track and field. 
 
Wright, a senior from Hutchinson, kept up her mileage during the time off from competition. More important, she said, she learned to remove stress created by a busy life by sharing issues with teammates and meditation. Wright majors in biological sciences (with a chemistry minor) and plans to attend physician assistant school.
 
"This is something I've thought about a lot – the reasons I've made some pretty good improvements are less about what I've done and more about my mental state and the confidence I have in myself," she said. "I worked a lot on my mental state. A lot of times I get overwhelmed with school and running and I've talked to a lot of people about a way to not let all of that get to me."
 
Wright is one of the key figures for Wichita State entering the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday at 4 Mile Creek Resort near Augusta. Senior Winny Koskei will attempt to win a third individual title. Wright, who finished 13^thlast season, will need to improve on that finish if the Shockers are to contend. 
 
The women's 6-kilometer race begins at 10 a.m. The men's 8-kilometer race begins at 10:50. Both are on ESPN-plus.
 
Tulsa, the 2019 women's champion, returns three runners who finished in the top 10 and is ranked sixth in the Midwest Region. The Shockers finished second in 2019 after winning the title in 2018 with Wright finishing No. 18. They are ranked No. 9 in the region.
 
On the men's side, Tulsa is ranked fourth nationally and has won six straight American titles. The Shockers are ranked No. 9 in the region.
 
Wright finished third in the JK Gold Classic in late January, the only other cross country meet the Shockers ran. Koskei won the 5-kilometer race and Cincinnati's Ellie Leather placed second, about 15 seconds ahead of Wright. Wright knows her home course and knows that sticking close to Koskei should put her in good position.
 
"I know exactly what parts of the course are going to be hard and what parts are going to be easy," she said.
 
Wright came to Wichita State to run the 400 meters. She went out for cross country to stay in shape and didn't plan to run in meets. As a freshman, she led the Shockers with an 80^thplace finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional. In track, she moved into the middle and long distances and ranks fifth (2 minutes, 11 seconds) on Wichita State's indoor 800 list and sixth (2:10.76) in the outdoor 800. 
 
"She realized she was a really good distance runner when she started running cross country," cross country coach Kirk Hunter said. "A lot of kids bump up when they go to college. To go from being a sprinter with a 400 emphasis, with 55-second speed, to being one of the best girls in the conference in cross country, 6K and 5K, I'd never had that."
 
The goal is for Wright to be in position to use that sprinting background as a finishing kick that other distance runners may lack.
 
"She has a really strong mind in that she is able to handle the (distance races)," Hunter said. "With all that speed, if she can use that to her advantage at the end of race, she's really going to be successful in terms of being one of the better distance runners in the country." 
 
Wright started to evaluate her performances and her mind-set after last season's conference indoor meet. She struggled in her events and realized she was closing in on the end of her running career without the success she desired.
 
"Indoor did not go the way I wanted," she said. "I didn't want to have problems like that again, where I was not making finals in an event that I should have been placing highly in."
 
Soon after the conference meet, COVID-19 ended the outdoor season. That gave Wright time to think and make changes. She talked about meditation with teammate Ben Flowers. She learned time management techniques to keep her school work organized. She decided it was OK to take a weekend off from school and running and spend time with friends and family.
 
The result, she said, is that she runs with more focus and confidence. She noticed the difference during time trials in the fall.
 
That is when Wise noticed that the time off during the pandemic didn't set Wright back.
 
"You go months without seeing kids, especially the distance kids because I don't see them as much," he said. "She looked – not just like her old self – she looked better than her old self."
 
Wright feels the same way and wants that change to pay off Saturday and into indoor and outdoor track seasons.
 
"This sport is a lot more mental than people give it credit for," she said. "If you have all these things going on in your life, it can affect your racing without you even realizing it. Being in a better mental state allows you to focus better when you're in those moments. You don't have a million things racing through your mind."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.