K-State Set for NCAA Championship in Eugene
Image courtesy of Kansas State University Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State University Athletics) – The K-State track and field teams will be represented by seven athletes at the NCAA Championship at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., from Wednesday (June 5) through Saturday (June 8).
Individually, four seniors will compete– Urte Bacianskaite in the women’s heptathlon, Eugene Omalla in the men’s 400 meter dash semifinals, Hannah Stewart in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase semifinals and Andrew White in the men’s discus.
The men’s 4×400 relay team, with freshman Nen Matlock, E. Omalla and seniors Jaimie Omalla and Kyle Gale, will also race in the semifinals.
During the first day of competition on Wednesday, E. Omalla will race at 8 p.m. CT, before the relay team takes the track at 9:48 p.m.
The last time the Wildcats featured a sprinter and relay team in the outdoor Championship was 1998– Randy Melbourne finished 7th in the 400 meters in 46.95 seconds while also running with his team, Perry McBride, Scott Galas and Keith Black, to a 4th place finish in 3:05.31.
On Thursday, Stewart will be the Cats’ only competitor at 8:02 p.m. CT. She is the first steeplechase runner for K-State in a decade, Martina Tresch previously competed in the 2011 and 2013 championships where she finished 10th both years.
During the second day of men’s competition on Friday, White will take to the cages at 7:35 p.m. CT. He will be the first discus thrower for the men since 2019 when Brett Neelly finished 8th at a distance of 58.23m/191-0.
Bacianskaite will also kick off the women’s heptathlon on Friday with the first four events starting at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the final three events will resume at 12:30 p.m. CT.
This will be Bacianskaite’s third consecutive trip to the outdoor championship in the heptathlon, the first by a Wildcat in school history. Previously, five women competed in consecutive years, Lauren Taubert (2019, 2021), Nina Schultz (2017, 2018), Akela Jones (2015, 2016), Ryann Krais (2011, 2012) and Austra Skujyte who won in both 2001 and 2002.
All four days of events will be broadcast on ESPN/ESPN 2, with each event being streamed individually on ESPN+.
