WICHITA – Wichita State is set to open its indoor track and field season at home with the Shocker Multi Thursday and Friday at the Heskett Center indoor track.
 
Four men and five women will compete in uniform for the Shockers while two freshman, Lexi Gagnon and Natalie Hill, will compete unattached.
 
Destiny Masters, a two-time all-conference honoree in the multi-events and Second Team All-American in the high jump, looks to make a splash in the season opener.
 
"Destiny has been training very well, and we are very hopeful for a good performance that will set her up nicely for the season," head coach Steve Rainbolt said.
 
The El Dorado, Kan. native holds a personal-best pentathlon score of 4,043 points (4064 adjusted) from last season's Herm Wilson Invitational in the Heskett Center, the 32^nd-best mark in the nation at the conclusion of the indoor season. Top 16 in the NCAA in each event qualify to the NCAA Indoor Championships, a goal for the junior.
 
"[This will] absolutely [be a meet Destiny will be trying to put up a score that would qualify to the NCAA Indoor Championships], and I say absolutely because of how well she has done in training," Rainbolt said. "She's just has really looked good, and she's preparing for a terrific season."
 
Masters holds high jump personal records of 1.82m/5'11.5" indoor and 1.83m/6'0" outdoor and has been jumping even higher in practice.



Rainbolt feels really good about her training all around, complimenting her long jump, shot put and hurdles practices, in addition to her improvement in her 800-meter training.
 
"Destiny has gotten to the level in her training that she cannot experience any hiccups, but she does not have to be at absolute 100% and she could still get qualified for nationals," Rainbolt said."
 
Masters has typically found the 800 meters to be her toughest event to overcome, but Rainbolt feels that she has gained confidence in the final event of the pentathlon.
 
"She has done some good things to prepare for it," Rainbolt said. "It remains a challenge for her, but she's come a long way and she's much more comfortable and confident than she was two years ago. She's still nervous, but everybody is nervous about the 800."
 
Abby Klipstein, Tess Roman, Sadie Millard and Kenisa Meyer are also set to make their season debuts in the pentathlon.
 
"The women have trained very well and are ready for good performances, so I'm looking forward to watching all of the girls," Rainbolt said.
 
Adria Navajon, the two-time American Athletic Conference heptathlon champion, along with Hudson Bailey, Luke Porter and Luke Czarnecki, are set for the multi-event season opener.
 
Navajon, the sixth-best heptathlete in Shocker history will be compete conservatively to keep an eye on a hamstring issue he has dealt with during fall training.
 
"Adria is a fabulous competitor," Rainbolt said. "We're going with a conservative approach in this meet and trying to be smart about the intensity going through this to give him a chance to feel good about his preparation for a more meaningful competition in the season and at the conference meet."
 
Bailey won the Shocker Multi a year ago and has scored in three AAC multi-event competitions.
 
Day one of the men's heptathlon kicks off Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Heskett Center, and day two starts at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The women's pentathlon begins at noon on Friday.
 
Live results can be followed at http://results.tfmeetpro.com/Goddard_Schools/Shocker_Multi_2023/.