A Bakker's Dozenš©
The 'Cats, 'Hawks, and Shocks' are in Eugene, history was made in St. Louis, and Olivia Bakker is a fantastic interviewee
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NCAA preview (and recap)š¦
If you are reading this on Friday, June 9th, there are still two days left of the NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but that doesnāt mean there hasnāt been any action. After the first day alone, five Kansas athletes and one relay earned either first or second-team All-American honors. The three first-team honorees were Michael Bryan and Taran Taylor of Wichita State, and Jayhawkās Clayton Simms in the pole vault. Bryan got things started for the Shocker pair as he took 5th in the menās hammer throw, notching a PR and school record in the process. Taylor followed suit in terms of the PR and school record, but had to one-up his teammate and take 4th placeĀ overall. Simms, a true freshman, took 7th in the pole vault to earn his second first-team All-American honor after he finished 8th at the indoor championships. Simmsā teammate Zach Bradford took 9th in the event, earning him his 7th All-American honor, capping an incredible career as a Jayhawk. Kansas Stateās Kade McCall took 13th in the hammer, more than enough for a second team All-American honor. The final All-Americans of the evening were the four men on the Kansas State 4x400m relay. The quartet made up of Kyle Gale, Tim Lambert, Sean Wilson and Antonio Hanson finished 15th with a time of 3:04.33, their third fastest time of the season. Crazy thing is, the relay is made up of a sophomore, two juniors and a freshman, so Iāll bet decent money that theyāll be back.
Last night on the second day of the championship, the women had their preliminaries, along with six final rounds, including the hammer, pole vault, javelin, long jump, shot put and the 10k. Kansas qualifiers racked up five second team All-American honors during Thursdayās session, led by K-Stateās Tommi Hintaus, who had the highest finish among the in-state women, placing 12th in the pole vault. Hintaus cleared 13-9.25, less than half of a foot away from first team honors. Another Wildcat closed out her career on one of the sportās biggest stages, as Kassidy Johnson took 14th in the semi-finals of the 800m, earning second team honors. Johnsonās 2:03.85 was the second fastest time of her career. Right behind Johnson was Honour Finley, the Jayhawkās school record holder in the event. In just her fourth time racing at this distance, Finley ran 2:04.42, and just like Johnson, it was her second fastest 800m ever run in her career. Finley wasnāt done for the night after she crossed the finish line though, as she had to run a leg on the 4x400m semi-finals to close out the evening. Joined by Mariah Kuykendoll, Satanya Wright, and Anna Siemens, Finley and company placed 14th in the 4x400m, as the ladies ran 3:34.96 to take 14th in the field. Though sheās wearing an Aggieās jersey, Andale graduate and three-time state champion Katelyn Fairchild earned second team All-American honors in the javelin with a throw of 170-7. After the second day of competition for the menās Decathlon, Kansas Stateās Emil Uhlin ended the competition with 7546 points, enough for 12th place and second team honors.
If you werenāt able to catch any of the first two days of competition, you can still catch both days of finals over the next two days. Hereās a schedule of Kansas athletes who are still set to compete over the rest of the championship.
Friday, June 10th
Menās High Jump ā 5:30 (PT) Tejaswin Shankar & Kyle Alcine
Womenās Heptathlon ā Urte Bacianskaite
Saturday, June 11th
Womenās High Jump ā 2:00 (PT) Rylee Anderson
āMeet Me in St. Louisā (at the Festival of Miles)š
Judy Garland would have loved the HOKA Festival of Miles solely because it was in St. Louis. Everyone else loved it because it was where Connor Burns became the second ever high school junior to break the four-minute barrier for a mile! The man to accomplish that feat first was none-other than Kansasā own Jim Ryun back in 1964 when he became the first high schooler to break four. The craziest thing about the race is that Burns wasnāt even the fastest high schooler in the race. Resident cool guy Gary Martin had lowered his PR to 3:57.89, the sixth fastest mile in high school history. Burnsā 3:5.83 squeezed him right behind Martin for the seventh best performance. At that point, Burns became the third high schooler to break four, joining Martin, and arguably one of the greatest high school athletes of all time, Colin Sahlman. If you live under a rock (or donāt follow track & field as crazily as I do), you may have missed that the Northern Arizona signee ran 3:56.24 at the PreClassic the previous Saturday, leaving him behind only Ryun and the American record holder, Alan Webb (3:53.4 HS).
A good number of Kansans made the drive to the āGateway to the West,ā including a few state champions. In the first high school race of the night, the Spewak Training High School Girls Elite Development Mile, Olathe North senior and Iowa State signee Kaylee Tobaben was riding solo as the only Kansan in the field. Tobaben went out with the pack, which almost completely opened in a 74. Tobaben would eventually finish in 5th in 5:04.32, a new Mile PR and over a one second improvement from her 5:05.52 1600m that she ran early last month.
Just after her in the Spewak Boyās edition, three state champions took the line together. Augusta senior Sawyer Schmidt, along with the Harvard bound senior out of Lawrence Free State Ben Shryock and Shawnee Mission East junior Wyatt Haughton had a short break in-between races. Schmidt was coming off three runner-up finishes in the 800m, 1600m, 3200m and a 4x800m medal, with Shryock (3200m) and Haughton (1600m/800m) taking the 6A crowns.
Jacob Meyers of Festus HS in Missouri and a future Shocker at Wichita State won the race in 4:10.73, but Schmidt and Haughton made their way onto the podium, both with huge PRās in the event. Schmidt went from 4:16.76 in the 1600m to 4:11.20, while Haughton dropped from a 4:12.78 1600m to 4:11.38. The duo finished 2nd and 3rd in the field of 15. Shryock ran 4:14.21 for 7th place and his fastest Mile/1600m of the year in 4:14.21.
In between the high school races was the Eric Fernandez High School Boyās 800m, where Bret Beard of Olathe Northwest joined St. Thomas Aquinasā Alex Waldie as the only Kansas high schoolers to break 1:54 this spring. Beardās 1:52.98 was enough for 7th in the same race where it took a 1:50.81 to win, run by Hinsdale Centralās Daniel Watcke.
Next on the docket was the Big River Running High School Girlās Championship Mile where two-time state champion Olivia Bakker joined thirteen other high school girls to break five minutes. When I say the race was fast, I mean it was fast. It took 4:42.15 to win, which is the 11th fastest time in the nation this season. The Blue Valley West senior and future Cyclone alongside Tobaben was just .01 away from breaking 4:55. Bakkerās 4:55.01 is the seventh fastest mile in Kansas high school history.
The Drury Womenās Mile was won by Cascadia Eliteās Susan Ejore, who crossed the line in 4:32.33. Ejore was in third as the bell rang at 1200m, but closed in 63.1 to edge out Alexina Teubel of Northern Iowa. A familiar face in Yazmine Wright continued her post-Wichita State career last Thursday as well, running her way to an 8th place finish and a shiny new PR of 4:37.27, which according to TFFRS and World Athletics is an eight second PR. Letās go Yazmine!
Tanner Newkirk and Clay Shively both made it into the Big River Running High School Boys Championship Mile, a race that has seen some incredible performances in the meetās history. Last Thursday it wasnāt about history, it was about the only two boys in the state to break 4:11 in the 1600m. Both boys had different paths to the championship race in terms of the races where they dropped their qualifying teams. Newkirk, a graduate of Topeka-Hayden, soloed a 4:10.88 at the Topeka City Championships, while the Wichita-Trinity sophomore in Shively pulled away from a loaded field at the Shawnee Mission North Relays, running 4:10.08. Newkirk wouldnāt be alone this time though, heād have the pleasure of running with fifteen other high schoolers who all ran between 4:06.14 and 4:12.38. Shively just missed a sub-4:10, while Newkirk was at 4:11.00. Not too shabby for two of the fastest guys in Kansas history.
Last but not least was the valiant effort put up by Connar Southard as he was so close to dipping under four. Like all of the Kansas high schoolers, Southard was busy the previous weekend himself, helping the Pittsburg State men win their first outdoor track & field championship in program history. The Pittsburg native did his part, taking 4th in the 1500m, just 1.18 seconds away from the DII title. Southard crossed the line in St. Louis in 4:01.66, finishing 12th in the professional field. For what itās worth, Southardās 1500m split en-route was 3:45.11, which would have won the final on Saturday. Personally, I would love to see him continue racing, especially because heās fun to watch, but also because heās pretty fast.
From a Jaguarš to a CyclonešŖ
Fresh off of a 17:51.30 in the 5k at the Olathe Twilight Invitational, Blue Valley West senior Olivia Bakker was in the shape of her life and had just thrown down the third fastest time in the state and was only going to get faster from there. Over the next two weeks, Bakker ran 18:07.20 at Rim Rock and then 18:30.10 the next week at the KC XC Classic, her second and fourth best times ever. Unfortunately for the soon-to-be Iowa State Cyclone, the KC XC Classic was the last high school cross country race of her career, as a stress fracture would sideline her until the spring. At that point, Bakker knew that the only place to go was up, and that is precisely what she did. Flash forward to less than two weeks after state track, and the Kansas record books have āOlivia Bakkerā written all over. The 14th fastest in state history in the 1600m, 11th all-time in the 3200m, and the 7th fastest miler in Kansas history. Not to mention she also won gold at the 6A state championships two weeks ago, winning both the 1600m and 800m! Sheās also fresh off of a near sub-4:55 from her time at the HOKA Festival of Miles last Thursday, but you hopefully already knew that. If youāre curious as to how a runner of her caliber approaches injury and setbacks, and would love to hear about it, Iāve got just the thing.
1. First off, you had an incredible state weekend, so congratulations! After just barely missing out on the 3200m title, you responded by winning the 1600m and 800m in exciting fashion! What was your mindset heading into the competition on Saturday? Did you feel like you had something to prove?
I definitely had to reset my mindset and not be upset about losing. I went into the 1600 with a lot of confidence that I could win. After I won the 1600 I had to remember that it wasnāt over and that I still had something to prove.
2. This last cross country season you were on an absolute tear! You went sub-18 for the first time in your career and didnāt finish outside of the top four in the four races you were able to compete in. Just as you were hitting your stride, an unfortunate stress fracture derailed your season and kept you out for a few months. You responded extremely well to the setback, opening up your track season in a 5:11.67 at the Blue Valley West Triangular, eventually lowering your PR to 4:56.82. Can you walk me through your thought process and eventual plan of action after learning about the fracture? What did your winter training look like and did you think that you were going to end your senior year with two state titles and four PRās (800m, 1600m, Mile, 3200m)?
When I got my stress fracture I was determined to keep training over the winter. For about 3 months I was only swimming and biking. I did physical therapy for a while and worked on strength and proper nutrition. Once I started running again it was very tough at first. I started off the winter by only running for 4 minutes and slowly built from there. I was scared because I went from running 40 miles a week to 23. I was really scared that my season was going to be rough. Once I ran my first race I started to slowly gain confidence. I definitely did not expect this season to go so well.
3. How was your experience at the HOKA Festival of Miles? Did you have a strategy getting on the line, or was your goal just to run the race and see how it panned out?
Festival of miles was an amazing meet. I wanted to go out there and pr. My plan was to stay with my future teammate Mya Trober for as long as possible. I was very happy with how it went!
4. This fall youāre heading to Iowa State, one of the best distance programs in the country! Youāre joining a lot of Kansas alumni, such as Riley Beach, Taylor Briggs, Sarah Murrow, and obviously Cailie Logue. Did having those athletes, in addition to the program itself, play a factor in you choosing Iowa State over other programs? What made Iowa State stand out over the rest of your options? Finally, what are you most excited about as you prepare for the world of collegiate running?
I did like that I knew a lot of athletes who were going there, but that isnāt the only reason I wanted to go to ISU. The team chemistry was amazing. I loved the coach and wanted to join a strong program. I loved the campus and it was a perfect fit for me academically. I am most excited to have a good group of girls to train with!
5. Do you have any other races slated for the summer? If not, is your summer training going to be focused on building up a base, or are you trying to keep your fitness at the same level it is now for the fall?
I do not have any races for the rest of the season. Towards the end of the season I was a little tired from running 4 events at regionals and state and wanted to play it safe. I definitely want to try to build a better base this summer.
6. Throughout your career, has there been a certain person or an athlete that you have looked up to and drawn inspiration from? If there is someone, what made you look up to them?
Riley Beach has been one of my biggest inspirations. Her kindness and drive has taught me so much throughout my running career. She helped me stay motivated during injury and inspired me to be a better person on and off the track.
7. Being one of the best athletes in the state, I can imagine there is a large number of younger female athletes that look up to you and other athletes of your caliber. If you could tell the next generation of female runners one thing for them to keep with them as they get older and more involved in the sport, what would it be?
My advice is that it is ok to have bad days and take time off when your body needs it. Sometimes a break is what you need when you are struggling physically or mentally and itās very important to put your health first.
I mean come on, how could anyone not root for her? Weāll hear a lot more about Olivia as she transitions from high school to the DI realm, where Iām sure sheāll make her presence known.
Even though the high school season is finished, and the collegiate competition year will be done by Sunday, thereās no need to fret. There is still so much track and field set to happen over the next month and a half, and there is plenty of it to go around. Hopefully my calendar below will help you keep up with the competition.
Brooks PR Invitational (06/15) @ Husky Track, Seattle, WA
Nike Outdoor Nationals (06/16-19) @ Hayward Field, Eugene, OR
New Balance Outdoor Nationals (06/16-19) @ Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA
Adidas Outdoor Nationals (06/17-20) @ Truist Stadium, Greensboro, NC
USATF Outdoor Championships (06/23-26) @ Hayward Field, Eugene, OR
World Athletics Championships (07/15-24) @ Hayward Field, Eugene, OR
AAU Junior Olympic Games (07/29-08/06) @ Truist Stadium, Greensboro, NC