SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Wichita State track and field is set for the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships from May 10-12 at the Park West Athletic Complex. The Shockers are aiming for a top-three team finish on the men's side and a top-four finish in the women's competition.
 
Action begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. with the 10,000 meters. The meet will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
NO. 1 SEEDS
Lucy Ndungu – 10,000m – 33:41.31
Joseph Holthusen – 110-meter hurdles – 13.84W
Brady Palen – High Jump – 2.20m/7'2.5"
Josh Parrish – Long Jump – 7.94m/26'0.75" (tie)
Destiny Masters – Heptathlon – 5,749 points
 
REIGNING OUTDOOR CHAMPIONS
The Wichita State men are coming off back-to-back upsets of Houston in the men's team competition at the 2022 and 2023 AAC Outdoor Championships. The Shockers overcame significant deficits in the projections both years. In 2023, the Shocker men won the title without winning a single individual event title. The Wichita State women finished seventh as a team last outdoor season and their last championship win was in 2019. Both Shocker teams placed fifth at the 2024 indoor championships.
 
SHOCKER INDOOR CHAMPIONS
Destiny Masters is coming off her second AAC title, winning the indoor high jump after taking the outdoor heptathlon win a year ago. Masters was the indoor Most Valuable Performer, scoring 21 points for the Shockers.
 
Adria Navajon claimed his third-straight indoor heptathlon title at the indoor championships and is seeking his second outdoor decathlon title. He won the title in 2022 and battled through injury to finish third at the 2023 conference meet.
 
Brady Palen claimed his first AAC high jump title after finishing runner up to Romaine Beckford indoor and outdoor in 2022 and 2023 and taking second behind Shocker alum Davis Dubbert in 2021. He is seeking the indoor/outdoor high jump sweep this weekend.
 
NDUNGU'S REDEMPTION ARC
Junior Lucy Ndungu made an immediate impact for the Shockers after transferring from Cloud County CC this year. She was the AAC Cross Country runner up and finished fifth in the 3,000 meters at the indoor championships. An unfortunate decision by the officials in the 5,000 meters disqualified Ndungu after she was knocked off the track by a fall by another runner. After getting back in the race, she finished fourth but ultimately was disqualified. She enters the outdoor championship meet as the No. 1 seed in the 10,000 meters and the No. 4 seed in the 5,000 meters and looks to be a big scorer for the Shockers.
 
OKAY TWIN
Jason and Josh Parrish are one of two sets of twins on the Wichita State track and field team (Beau and Cali Kerschen), and the freshmen have made an immediate impact in their first year. The pair is from Olathe, Kan., where they competed for the Olathe North High School and led the team to the 2023 6A Kansas State Championship, scoring enough points by themselves to win the team competition. Their brother Jacob, plays football at Kansas State and their other brother, Jevon, was a wrestler at Nebraska. Jason enters the meet as the No. 5 seed in the 400-meter hurdles after running a personal-best 51.61 a week ago. He also will run the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay. Josh ties for the top seed in the long jump and ranks 10^th in the nation. He also is the No. 4 seed in the 110-meter hurdles and looks to run his first wind legal sub-14 second time after running a windy 13.94 at the KT Woodman Classic. The twins will run the second and fourth legs of the 4x100-meter relay as well.
 
FRESHIES ON FIRE
In addition to the Parrish twins, the Shockers have a handful of impactful freshmen on their roster. Kate Campos enters the competition as the 11 seed in the 400-meter hurdles and the 12 seed in the 100-meter hurdles, and she will also run the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay.
 
Jordan Rider is the No. 6 seed in the men's javelin with his mark of 58.22m/191'0".
 
Luke Czarnecki earned all-conference recognition at the indoor championships with his third-place performance in the high jump and finished fifth in the heptathlon. He will enter as the 11 seed in the high jump and is one of five AAC athletes who have completed a decathlon this season.
 
Tyler Carroll raced to a personal-best 14.11 in the 110-meter hurdles at the Shocker Open to give him the No. 7 seed entering the competition.
 
HOLTHUSEN'S LAST HURRAH
2021 Second Team Indoor All-American hurdler Joseph Holthusen is set for his final AAC Championship races. He enters the meet as the No. 1 seed in the 110-meter hurdles and will run leadoff in the 4x100-meter relay. He did not compete this indoor season as his eligibility was up but seeks his first AAC podium finish since 2020 this weekend. He finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles a season ago in Tampa and had an unfortunate false start in the 60-meter hurdles final at the 2023 indoor championships.
 
BROWN IS BACK
After suffering a major knee injury in the decathlon high jump at the 2022 AAC Outdoor Championships, Tanner Brown redshirted and rehabbed throughout the 2023 season. He made his return for his seventh and final season of collegiate track this indoor season but went out again with another injury. He will make his return to competition and compete in the decathlon for the final time to get back on the track one last time and score points for the Shockers.
 
MISSING PIECES
Wichita State graduated its team MVP from last year's outdoor championship. Yuben Goncalves, who scored 22 points for the Shockers in the 2023 win and 17 points in the 2022 win, exhausted his eligibility this indoor season. He was a major player in the long jump, triple jump and 400-meter hurdles.
 
The Shocker men will also be without distance star Adrian Diaz Lopez, who has redshirted this cross country, indoor and outdoor. Diaz Lopez scored 13 points a year ago for the Shockers, finishing second in the 10,000 meters and fourth in the 5,000 meters.
 
Wichita State also graduated three other all-conference performers from a season ago, Clayton Duchatschek, the 2022 steeplechase champion and 2023 runner up, Weston Lewis, a three-time all-conference high jumper, and Nate Vann, the 2023 decathlon runner up and three-time all-conference performer.
 
The Shockers are also without notable sprinter Joakim Genereux and sprinter/hurdler Jaleel Montgomery, two athletes who are redshirting this outdoor season to even out their indoor/outdoor eligibility.
 
MEN'S TEAM PROJECTIONS (based on championship start lists and TFRRS standings)

1. South Florida
2. Charlotte
3. Rice
4. UTSA
5. Wichita State
6. Memphis
7. North Texas
8. Tulane
9. East Carolina
10. Tulsa
11. Temple

 
WOMEN'S TEAM PROJECTIONS (based on championship start lists and TFRRS standings)

1. Charlotte
2. South Florida
3. Rice
4. East Carolina
5. Wichita State
6. UTSA
7. Memphis
8. North Texas
9. SMU
10. Tulsa
11. Tulane
12. Temple
13. Florida Atlantic
14. UAB

 
ROAD TO EUGENE
The NCAA Division I Championships will take place June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through Fayetteville, Ark., where the top 48 individual athletes and the top 24 relays in the region will compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries (NCAA First Round) May 22-25 for a spot at the NCAA Championships. The top 12 in each event advance to the championship. Combined event athletes (heptathlon and decathlon) do not attend the First Rounds, but instead, the top 24 athletes overall advance directly to the NCAA Championship in Eugene.
 
SHOCKERS IN THE NCAA WEST TOP 50
MEN
29. Jason Parrish – 400H – 51.61
35. Bryan Haney – 400H – 51.91
6. Brady Palen –HJ – 2.20m/7'2.5"
9. Josh Parrish – LJ – 7.94m/26'0.75"
 
WOMEN
26. Lucy Ndungu – 10,000m – 33:41.31
14. Destiny Masters – HJ – 1.81m/5'11.25"
39. Marissa Jensen – HJ – 1.75m/5'8.75"
45. Destiny Masters – Jav – 47.46m/155'8"
 
MULTIS IN THE NCAA TOP 25
11. Destiny Masters – Heptathlon – 5,749 points
 
USTFCCCA EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
The heptathlon squad ranks No. 2 in the NCAA with just one heptathlon under its belt. Destiny Masters, Tess Roman, Sadie Millard and Kenisa Meyer averaged 5,070 points to rank second behind Oklahoma State.
 
The men's 400-meter hurdles squad of Jason Parrish, Bryan Haney, Brock Merz and Tyler Carroll came in at No. 9 in the most recent event squad rankings, averaging 52.76.