WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State track and field heads to Charlotte, N.C. for the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships from May 15-17 at the Irwin Belk Track & Field Center.
 
Competition will run from 9:30 a.m. CT to 8 p.m. CT on Thursday, 9 a.m. CT to 7 p.m. CT on Friday, and 1:30 p.m. CT to 8 p.m. CT on Saturday.
 
The Wichita State men seek to knock of the projected favorite and reigning champion, South Florida, going for their third outdoor team title in four years. The Shocker women continue to battle for higher team finishes, aiming for a top-three placement, while Charlotte and UTSA look to be at the top of the team standings. Charlotte will have the opportunity to defend its team title from last season.
 
HISTORICALLY
The Wichita State recorded 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, using their depth and balance to score points in 15 of 21 events. Both Shocker teams finished fourth at last year's outdoor championships, and the Wichita State women claimed their only AAC Championship win in 2019. At the 2025 AAC Indoor Championships, the Wichita State men came in third as a team, and the women finished ninth.
 
Last year at the AAC Outdoor Championships, Wichita State claimed 10 podium finishes. Brady Palen and Adria Navajon won the Shockers' only two event titles, Palen winning the high jump and Navajon winning the decathlon. Josh Parrish took second in the 110-meter hurdles and third in the long jump, Destiny Masters took second in both the high jump and heptathlon, Lucy Ndungu finished second in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, Farrah Miller finished second in the 800 meters, and Hudson Bailey took third in the decathlon.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE LEADERS
Yared Kidane – 800m – 1:46.73
                  In his first year in uniform for the Shockers, redshirt-junior Kidane has broken both the indoor and outdoor AAC records, earned all-conference recognition in the indoor 800 meters and 4x400-meter relay, and run on both the indoor and outdoor school record-breaking 4x400-meter relays. He was also the Shockers' top cross country runner all season, showing his versatility over a range of distances. He ranks 15^th in the NCAA and first in the AAC. Kidane has great kick and finished sixth in the 800 meters at the 2024 Swedish Championships.
 
A win for Kidane would be the Shockers' second-ever AAC men's outdoor 800-meter title and first since Zack Penrod in 2021.
 
Josh Parrish – 110m hurdles – 13.50
Josh Parrish – long jump – 7.98m/26'2.25"
                  Just a sophomore, Josh Parrish has already collected four all-conference awards. He leads the conference in both the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump, events he podiumed in last outdoor season. Josh and twin, Jason, who ranks third in the AAC in the 400-meter hurdles, come from an athletic family. Their brother Jacob just got drafted from Kansas State to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their other brother Jevon wrestled for Nebraska. Growing up, they were competitive with each other, playing multiple sports in high school, and they bring a healthy level of competition to practice and meets between the two of them.
 
A long jump win for Parrish would be the Shockers' second-ever AAC men's outdoor long jump win and first since Rayvon Allen in 2019, and a hurdles win would be the first ever 110-meter hurdles win for the Shockers.
 
Rikard Trogen Hedin – decathlon – 7,191 points
                  Trogen Hedin was the 2024 Swedish U20 Championship decathlon winner and prior to his time at Wichita State, he also competed in the biathlon, cross country skiing, handball, floorball and soccer. He just missed the podium at the AAC Indoor Championships, taking fourth in the heptathlon.
 
A win for Trogen Hedin would be the fourth AAC decathlon win by a Shocker and second straight.
 
MASTER OF ALL, JACK OF NONE
Destiny Masters, ranked No. 2 in the conference and No. 8 in the NCAA in the heptathlon, will compete in 11 events over the course of three days. In addition to the seven events in the heptathlon, she will also look to score points in the high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin. Masters is tied for second in the AAC in the high jump, sixth in the javelin, seventh in the shot put, and ranks 10^th in the long jump. The Shocker women rely heavily on Masters for team points, and her goal is to just take the meet event by event.
 
ROAD TO EUGENE
The 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor will take place June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through College Station, Texas, 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 28-31 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 48
MEN
24. Jaleel Montgomery – 100m – 10.23
7. Yared Kidane – 800m – 1:46.73
29. Josh Parrish – 110H – 13.67
23. Jason Parrish – 400H – 50.72
21. Josh Parrish – LJ – 7.69m/25'3.75"
33. Ridge Estes – Discus – 56.72m/186'1"
42. Jordan Rider – Javelin – 64.81m/212'7"
43. Blake McCormick – Javelin – 64.75m/212'5"
 
WOMEN
39. Aurora Wessel – 110H – 13.47
13. Destiny Masters – HJ – 1.82m/5'11.5"
44. Arantxa Cortez – PV – 4.16m/13'7.75"
31. Jenna Kuepker – Javelin – 48.74m/159'11"
41. Destiny Masters – Javelin – 46.74m/153'4"
 
RELAYS IN THE NCAA WEST TOP 24
MEN
20. 4x100 – Joakim Genereux, Jason Parrish, Josh Parrish, Jaleel Montgomery – 39.89
16. 4x400 – Joakim Genereux, Josh Parrish, Yared Kidane, Jason Parrish – 3:06.79
 
MULTIS IN THE NCAA TOP 24
WOMEN
8. Destiny Masters – Heptathlon – 5,715 points
 
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