K-State Track & Field: Men 2nd, Women 4th at Big 12 Championships

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Kansas State men’s and women’s track and field teams delivered strong performances at the Big 12 Championship this weekend, achieving their best collective results in years. The men finished as the runner-up with 124 points, while the women secured a fourth-place finish with 78.5 points at the Sports Performance Center.

For the K-State men, the 124 points represent the highest team total since 2016, when they scored 98.5 points to finish third. It marks a significant leap forward under second-year head coach Travis Geopfert, transforming a 13th-place finish from the previous season into a competitive runner-up showing. The last time the men finished as runners-up was in 2004, when they earned 77 points in a 12-team conference.

The women’s team similarly experienced a resurgence, scoring 78.5 points – their highest total since reaching 100.5 points in 2021. This performance also secured their highest team finish since that year, placing third overall. Texas Tech claimed the top spot in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

A highlight of the men’s performance was the 4×400 relay team, comprised of Nen Matlock, Heath Grant, Bongumusa Nkosi, and Tavon Underwood, who secured a victory with a season-best time of 3:05.59. The win added 10 crucial points to the team’s final tally.

The women’s 4×400 relay team continued to break new ground, shattering their own school record for the second time this season with a time of 3:31.44, shaving another two seconds off their previous best. The team of Desirae Riehle, Delaney Brinker, Anastasiia Kretova, and Vanessa Mercera finished third in the race.

K-State’s strength in the multi-events was on full display in the men’s heptathlon, where Dorian Charles, Emil Uhlin, and Mattix DaCunha all scored points with top-eight finishes. Charles led the way, finishing third overall with 5,698 points – a personal best. Uhlin finished fifth with 5,649 points, and DaCunha rounded out the group in seventh place with a personal best of 5,533 points.

Charles’s performance was particularly noteworthy, representing a 63-point personal best and the seventh-best performance in K-State school history. He achieved personal bests in five of the seven heptathlon events, including a runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.94 seconds, the eighth-fastest time in school history. He also recorded personal bests in the long jump (7.09m) and pole vault (4.55m).

The Wildcats also excelled in the jumping events. Selva Prabhu earned a silver medal in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 16.59m, while Aaron Antoine claimed bronze at 16.32m, returning to the conference podium for the first time in two years. Jhavor Bennett finished fourth with a season-best jump of 16.05m. Daniela Wamokpego tied her personal best in the women’s triple jump at 13.59m to secure a bronze medal, and Destini Smith finished fifth with a personal best leap of 13.33m.

Tah Chikomba secured a bronze medal in the men’s 60-meter dash, finishing in 6.59 seconds – a new personal best and the second-fastest time in school history. Trevon Hamer finished sixth in the same event with a time of 6.66 seconds.

Vanessa Mercera continued her impressive weekend, setting a new school record in the women’s 600 yards with a time of 1:18.1, earning a bronze medal. Delaney Brinker finished sixth in the same event at 1:19.06, the second-fastest time in K-State history. Heath Grant added another bronze medal for the Wildcats in the men’s 600 yards, finishing in 1:08.53.

The NCAA will announce the final list of participants for the NCAA Indoor Championship on Tuesday, March 3. Qualifying Wildcats will compete at the championship, which will be held on March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.