Track and Field Returns to Kansas for DeLoss Dodds Invitational

MEET NOTES

The Basics
A week after the Razorback Invitational, which included four top-10 teams in the country, the Pokes return to action at the 2018 DeLoss Dodds Invitational. Last year at the same meet, Dave Smith's squads swept the 600-yard titles and multiathlete Cole Verble set three personal-best marks.

Follow the Meet
To follow the competition, live results will be available on heartlandtiming.com and the Kansas State athletics website, kstatesports.com.
OSU's results and a full recap of the event for the teams will be available on okstate.com following the completion of both days of competition.

Broadcast
The 2018 DeLoss Dodds Invitational will not be streamed online or broadcast on television.

Meet Format/Schedule – All Times CT
The 2018 DeLoss Dodds Invitational is a dual-meet beginning Feb. 2 with the Austra Skujyte Women's Pentathlon at 10 a.m. Friday. The Steve Fritz Heptathlon will start shortly after at 11 a.m. and will continue into the second day of the meet.
Friday will hold two field events (weight throw and pole vault) and two running events (800m and 400m). The field and running events are set to kick off at 5 p.m. and conclude after the men's and women's pole vault.
Saturday's schedule kicks off at 11 a.m. with the field events. The first of which will be the men's and women's high jump, followed by the long jump. After the long jump, the shot put and triple jump will take place, completing the field event section of the meet.
The running event section of Saturday is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. with the men's and women's mile. Afterward is the 60m hurdles followed by the 600-yard run. Following will be the 200-meter dash, the 1,000-meter run and the 3,000-meter run.
As customary, the 4x400-meter relay will cap off a busy weekend for the Pokes.
A full tentative schedule of events can be found on kstatesports.com.

Head Coach Dave Smith on the Meet
On who will be competing this weekend

"It'll be a different group than who competed last week, with more concentration the field events, rather than sprints, middle distance or long distance. We're going to use it as a stepping stone for the following week, which is a big week for us in Seattle, New Mexico and Arkansas. We're just looking to tune up a few things that we feel some athletes need between now and the big meets at the end of the season."

On the team's fitness

"It's still early. It's still early, but the indoor season is almost over. That's the nature of indoors. It just comes and goes so quickly. From when we start in January, we only compete for seven to eight weeks. So it goes by awfully quick. For a lot of these athletes, they're also competing in cross country and outdoor track, so there has to be some down time. Sometimes indoors is the toughest one to prepare for and excel in while concentrating on cross country and outdoors as well."

On competing against top-10 teams last weekend

"I think it was really good for us and it might have been a little bit of shellshock for some of them. We kind of realized where we are and where we aren't yet. I shared with the team some of the results from last year's Razorback Invitational when it was a pretty rough day for us. Then said, 'Look what happened two weekends later in the middle of February and look what happened at the conference meet.' Some of our athletes who struggled the most won Big 12 titles in the indoor season. And some of them who were really struggling at the Razorback Invitational last year ended up being first team All-Americans at the indoor championships. Kaylee Dodd is a good example. Savannah Camacho ran really well late in the season. Abbie Hetherington really struggled last year at that meet and was a Big 12 champion four weeks later. So, I think number one, it kind of wakes you up. It makes you think, 'Wow, there's some really good people ahead of us right now.' But also looking back in year's past, we've got a lot of time to make up ground and we'll be OK by the time we get to the Big 12 Championships."

A Look Back – Razorback Invitational
Senior Hassan Abdi notched a win for the Oklahoma State indoor track and field team on the final day of the Razorback Invitational.
Abdi outkicked Iowa State's Edwin Kurgat in the men's 3,000 meters to win by three-hundredths of a second, running it in 8:15.03. Abdi's win puts him at No. 40 in the NCAA in the men's 3,000 meters, but his personal-best time in the event is nearly 15 seconds faster.
Despite not getting wins, seven personal-best marks were set on the second day of the meet. Three Cowgirls achieved personal bests in the women's 3,000 meters.
In the women's 800 meters, four Cowgirls took top-20, highlighted by Essex, England native Kaylee Dodd. Dodd is looking to improve on her ninth-place finish in last year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
Junior Malik Givens ran the preliminary 60-meter dash in 6.79, allowing him to qualify in the 60-meter finals, which he took seventh overall.

DeLoss Dodds – 2017
At the same meet last season, Oklahoma State won two titles in the men's and women's 600-yard runs and Cole Verble set three personal bests at Ahearn Field House
The Pokes swept the top-five places in the 600-yard run with All-American Brandon Singleton leading the posse of Cowboys across the finish line in 1:12.21, the best time of the year for OSU in that event. Senior All-American Tre'Tez Kinnaird finished second, Tyler Jackson took third, Tanner Green took fourth and Heinrich van Niekerk claimed fifth.
Both Jennifer Celis and Danielle Coleman topped OSU's season's best list in the 600-yard run. Coleman won the race in 1:26.33 and Celis took second in her season debut with a time of 1:26.39.
Verble had a busy and productive day of competition. The junior multiathlete snagged personal bests in three events including the indoor shot put, 60-meter hurdles and pole vault. His best finish of the three events came in the pole vault where he cleared 4.45m/14-7.25 to take seventh.
Sophomore multiathlete Donovan Nunley also competed in the same three events and took fourth in the 60-meter hurdles and 12th in the shot put before missing out on a height in the pole vault.
Logan Daily ran a personal best in the 60-meter dash of 6.92 seconds. The time got him third in the race and put the young Cowboy in a tie for the seventh-fastest mark in school history.
In total, the Cowgirls picked up 11 top-five finishes in the meet led by Coleman's 600-yard win, Ieva Zarankaite's second-place throw in the shot put and the Cowgirl 4X400-meter relay team's third-place finish.

Middle Distance Magic
For nearly a decade, a staple of the OSU track and field has been the middle distance section. Last year, senior Josh Thompson won the Big 12 title in the 1,000m, setting the school record in the process.
Thus far, the OSU track team has followed suit. The Cowboys own four of the top-15 spots in the 800 meters in the conference and four of the top-20 in the 1,000 meters in the Big 12. Luis Martinez, Kevin Mulcaire, Ashenafi Hatte and Isai Rodriguez are all ranked inside the top 10 in the Big 12 men's mile.
The Cowgirls are no different, led by senior Kaylee Dodd. Dodd is currently ranked third in the conference in the women's 800 meters. Six other Cowgirls are inside the top 20 in the same event.
Dave Smith's squads have made a living in the middle-distance groups, and so far in 2018, this season is shaping up to be another successful one.

Making A Way Through The Crowd
In a season that has already seen world records broken, it's difficult to push through the crowd and make waves in the NCAA.
The Pokes are doing just that, starting with Essex, England native Kaylee Dodd. Dodd is ranked 13th in the country in her main event, the 800 meters. Ariane Ballner, Molly Sughroue and Abbie Hetherington are also among the NCAA top-100 in the same event.
On the men's side, Malik Givens remains a top sprinter in the nation. His time of 6.74@ at the Corky Classic slots him at No. 51 in the nation in men's 60m.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes looks to continue his legacy under Dave Smith this season. After setting the indoor school record in the long jump in 2017, Fincham-Dukes is on pace to rewrite the record books once again. His jump last weekend at the Razorback Invitational slots him at No. 19 in the nation in the men's long jump. With the same meet he broke the record in approaching next weekend, Fincham-Dukes is looking to further cement himself as OSU's best indoor long jumper in history.
The full list of OSU athletes in the NCAA top 100 can be found in the meet notes.

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Track and Field Returns to Kansas for DeLoss Dodds Invitational

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