Lots of Track, Lots of National Qualifiers
After a very enjoyable break spent with my family and a school trip up the West Coast through America’s national parks, I’m back and ready to take this newsletter to the next level. Buckle up, we have a lot to cover!
Kansas State Track and Field Jumps U
As of this very moment, the Kansas State track and field program has three men ranked in the top fifteen in the high jump, along with another man in the top thirty and two women in the top twenty-five in the triple jump. This success comes at no surprise, as Kansas State produced Erik Kynard, (now gold medal winner of the 2012 London Olympic Games). Tejaswin Shankar, the number one high jumper (and 29th in the triple jump) in the nation has done his best to live up to Kynard’s legacy, and has built quite the résumé in his time as a Wildcat. Five Big 12 championships, along with ten All-Big 12 honors, topped with a bronze, two silver and a national title in the high jump in 2018. Shankar currently sits at the top of the national leaderboard, joined by Kyle Alcine (3rd) and Devon Richardson (14th), who cleared 7’ 0” for the first time in his career. On the women’s side, Chantoba Wright and Velecia Williams sit in 6th and 24th in the triple jump, both looking to move up even more throughout the rankings. The tradition of dominance in the jumps extends another year, as all five athletes will look to carry their momentum through the remainder of the indoor season into outdoor.
On the Verge of Sub 4?
Adam Moore, a senior at Wichita State and Wesley Kiptoo, a junior at Iowa State are both just a few seconds away from joining an extremely coveted list. Moore is just under 2.5 seconds away from making history, while Kiptoo is under two seconds away from joining a very sought after and exclusive list. Kiptoo won’t try to break four this weekend as he is slated to compete in a loaded 3000m at the Millrose Games, where he’ll line up against a slate of Olympians and national champions. Moore on the other hand is almost definitely competing in the mile at the Adidas Classic at the University of Nebraska. Heat sheets haven’t been released yet, but a friend of mine seemed pretty confident that Moore will be in Lincoln this week. If either one can chip a few seconds off of their current time, they’ll join a list of six other collegiate runners that have broken four minutes for the first time. The list includes Ryan Schoppe of Oklahoma State, Luke Houser from Washington, Ben Veatch from Indiana, Ole Miss’ Dereck Elkins and Notre Dame’s Dylan Jacobs. Christian Noble is the final athlete on the list, but is the lone runner not in Division I, as he runs for Lee University in Division II. Hopefully we can witness these two men break four and etch their names in the history books. For those unfamiliar with Kiptoo and curious as to what his Kansas ties are, he ran at Colby Community College before moving to Iowa State after two years.
Skinner, Rutledge & a FAST 3k @ NW Missouri State
Last Saturday at the 2022 NWMS Open in Marysville, MO, Ryan Riddle of Missouri Southern won an extremely fast 3000m race, running 7:58.08 and the second fastest time in Division II. The crazy thing is that Riddle would sit at 7th in the nation in Division I, only proving how impressive his time was. Behind Riddle in 3rd was his Missouri Southern teammate JP Rutledge, a graduate of Riverton High School, located in the Southeastern corner of Kansas. Rutledge has made a heck of an impact already at MSSU, taking 6th at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships and putting up an 8:15.20 over 3000m (10th in DII) and a 14:20.56 (10th in DII) in the 5000m. Nearly a second and a half behind Rutledge was another Kansas native, Luke Skinner. He graduated from South Gray High School and took his talents to St. Mary university where just like Rutledge, he has made a name for himself. Skinner has won three national titles at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships, two individual titles in the 1000m and a team win as a member of the the Distance Medley Relay. The South Gray native ran 8:16.68, good enough for the fastest time in the NAIA by over three seconds, a personal best and the school record. Other Kansas athletes in the race were Skinner’s teammates Eric Vasquez (8:37.39), Brendan Briody (8:59.61), Luis Perez (8:59.61), Elvis Rojas-King (9:09.74), and Dominic Beine (9:16.95). Benedictine’s David Mannella (8:46.18), Colin Donovan (9:01.64), and Matthew Feldkamp (9:52.38). A lot of these men will be in action again this weekend at Pittsburg State and Washburn.
Kansas JUCO Sprints >>> Everyone Else
What if I told you that the sprinters in the Kansas Junior College system are the most dominant athletes in the nation? Don’t believe me? Let me tell you why by first letting you familiarize yourself with the NJCAA Indoor standards. For the women, 7.83 (60m) and 25.11 (200m) are the times that need to be hit to punch a ticket to the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships, while the men need to hit 6.87 and 21.89. Right now, twelve men have booked their ticket in the 60m, with an additional seven in the 200m. For the women, five have qualified in the 60m and one more in the 200m. Butler Community College has five men in the top ten, led by Caleb Jackson and his 6.65, the fastest time in the nation. Morgan Jamison (6.7), Jerod Elcock (6.71), Nazzio John (6.74) and Shawn Brown (6.77) follow closely behind. Barton County, Coffeyville, Hutchinson, Fort Scott, Northwest Kansas Technical and Cloud County all have qualifiers in the event as well, showing the depth of the Kansas system. In the 200m, Antoine Evans (21.22) of Coffeyville leads the nation, with five Butler athletes chasing him in the top eight, and Almond Small of Barton County rounding out the qualifiers.
On the women’s side, Kiara Brown of Butler sits atop the qualifiers with her 7.54, followed by teammate Toshel Brown (7.66), Fort Scott’s Ariyonna Baston (7.71), Cloud County’s Miracle Thompson (7.72), and another Butler athlete in Shawnakay Peart (7.74). Brown also holds the second fastest 200m time with her 24.18, putting her in a great position to go after the 60m and 200m double at nationals. To summarize, that is fourteen different athletes from seven different Kansas Junior Colleges, all already qualified for nationals. 🤯
Collegiate Leads: DI→NJCAA
Tejaswin Shankar, Kansas State (High Jump - 7’ 4.5”)
Wesley Kiptoo, Iowa State (5000m - 13:14.74)
Ryan Stanley, Fort Hays State (Pole Vault - 17’ 0.75”)
Pittsburg State Men (4x400m - 3:12.87)
Henry Kiner, Pittsburg State (Triple Jump - 51’ 11.25”)
Isabelle Peters, Pittsburg State (Pole Vault - 13’ 5.75”)
Trace Mosby, Pittsburg State (Pentathlon - 4122)
Corey Lyons, St. Mary (200m - 21.33)
Luke Skinner, St. Mary (3000m - 8:16.68)
Friends Men ( Distance Medley Relay - 10:14.92)
Tabatha Deines, Kansas Wesleyan (1000m - 2:57.05)
Caleb Jackson, Butler CC (60m - 6.65)
Antoine Evans, Coffeyville CC (200m - 21.22)
Elijah Mosley, Barton County (400m - 47.14)
Adrian Diaz-Lopez, Cowley College (Mile - 4:07.30)
Ricardo Barbosa, Colby CC (3000m - 8:12.61)
Northwest Kansas Technical CC Men (Distance Medley Relay - 10:15.02)
Shakwon Coke, Barton County (Long Jump - 25’ 7.25”)
Giovanni Gutierrez, Barton County (Shot Put - 55’ 4”)
Mohamed Ahmed, Cloudy County (Weight Throw - 63’ 10.5”
Kiara Brown, Butler CC (60m - 7.54)
Kiana Brown, Hutchinson CC (Pole Vault - 10’ 4”
Kelsie Murrell-Ross, Barton County (Weight Throw - 50’ 10”
Kansas Alumni Check-In
Up in Ames, three Kansas alumni and previous state champions are testing their speed against the best of the best as Iowa State Cyclones. Riley Beach, Cailie Logue and Sarah Murrow ran at the Cyclone Open to get their 2022 Indoor campaigns up and going. Beach ran 2:16.93, roughly two seconds faster than her high school personal best. Logue, coming off an amazing cross country season solidified by her 4th place finish at nationals, ran the 1000m and the Mile. The Girard native took 2nd in the 1k in 2:46.54 and 4:42.01 in the Mile, just three quarters of a second away from the win. The St. James graduate Murrow ran her second ever track race as a Cyclone due to a number of setbacks, but she came out with a bang and ran 4:59.15, breaking the five minute barrier for the first time in her career. Congratulations to all three ladies on a great start to the new year!
Danny Bohnemann and Hunter Henderson both made a name for themselves in their time at Leavenworth and Shawnee Heights, primarily in the middle distance events. Now, Bohnemann is at Creighton and Henderson is at Central Arkansas. Last weekend, at the Jim Emmerich Alumni meet, Bohnemann ran 4:18.20, a four second improvement from his high school 1600m best. Henderson competed at the 2022 KMS Invitational, where he ran the mile in 4:19.24, his third fastest time as a Sugar Bear. Meanwhile at the University of Central Missouri, Alex Kirk is riding his momentum from the Fall into the indoor season. At the UCM Invite, Kirk ran the 3000m and won the event in 8:38.68, a forty-three second personal best according to his TFFRS. That’s good enough for a converted 7th fastest time in the MIAA, and 9th without the conversion.
Over in the Big 10, Katie Moore represents the Iowa Hawkeyes, where she won the 800m at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa City. Moore ran 2:16.66. Last Winter she ran 2:11.94, so personally I’m excited (and hoping) to see if she can dip under 2:10 this year. At Nebraska, Michael Hoffer, a five-time state champion jumper from Shawnee Heights is back to his ways after injuries and setbacks did their best to keep him from success. After finishing 7th and 5th in the high jump and long jump at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds last May, Hoffer punched his ticket to the national championships in Eugene. In his two meets this year, Hoffer has gotten close to matching both of his personal bests, as he looks to win some conference championships and make an even bigger name for himself on the national stage.
Our last alumni check-in is Zouhair Talbi, a former Maverick at Northwest Kansas Technical Community College. Now at Oklahoma City, Talbi has been dominant on both the collegiate and professional level. Since becoming a Star, he’s captured three individual national titles, and one team relay title. Since his last title in November, Talbi has seemingly been training for a little longer distance, as he made his half-marathon debut a few weeks ago at the Houston Half-Marathon. In a time of 1:01:01, the Moroccan Olympian took 14th while averaging 4:44 per mile. As always, keep an eye out for him because I am pretty positive he’s capable of some big things in the near future.
Besides the high school competition, I think that just about covers everything else that has happened as of recent. There is high school content on the way, so don’t worry. It’s good to be back, and I hope you all enjoy the new format for the track and field season. Also, if you read this and think that I missed something that needs to be talked about, don’t be shy! Our inbox is always open and we love hearing what our readers have to say! See you next week!