Wichita State track and field had its first meet on the recently renovated facilities at University Stadium Friday with the annual Shocker Open.
WSU director of track and field Steve Rainbolt said the meet was primarily used as a tune-up to get the athletes ready for the American Outdoor Championship beginning next Thursday.
“We always have a nice meet at the Shocker Open,” Rainbolt said. “Because everybody is ready for (the) conference (championship), so they’re tuning up, and they’re ready to go good.
“They usually have good performances. And then some guys are battling for a spot on the conference roster.”
As the only home outdoor meet, the team recognized 21 seniors at around 5 p.m.
Junior twins Josh and Jason Parrish took the men’s 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles, respectively, once the running events started. Josh completed the 110-meter hurdles in 13.48 seconds, while Jason completed the 400-meter hurdles in 50.22 seconds.
“I think I’ve still got a little more to go,” Jason said before heading to Denton, Texas, next week. “(I) still have a high intensity (while) training because I’m looking for the end goal.
“My number one goal is to win conference, but I’m also looking to win nationals and become All-American. So I’m still training pretty high, but I am tuning up. I feel myself getting faster by the week.”
The Parrish twins, as well as freshman Brody Anderson and sophomore Chairo Ogbebor, won the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 39.84 seconds, good enough for fourth all-time in program history.
“We ran pretty fast, fourth all-time,” Jason said. “I think once we clean up our handoffs, our time is going to drop a lot.”
Freshman Zada Brown claimed first place in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 24.43 seconds. Senior Jelese Alexander also took first in the pole vault with a mark of 1.76 meters.
In total, the Shocker women won all but two of the field events: long jump and hammer throw.
It was also a return to University Stadium for senior Luke Porter, who has battled back from a Jones fracture. He had surgery last December to repair his foot and has been able to compete in the outdoor season since missing the indoor season this year.
Although he placed 18th in the 200-meter dash, he finished second in his section to the cheers of his teammates as he took off.
“I can’t even begin to describe how magical it is to run this track, man,” Porter said. “… I’ve been doing everything I can to get back and finally have a good run. The good 200 where I just put my head down and spring, get out, run fast, and my teammates have been there for me, (and) my coaches.”
While Porter is a senior this year, he wasn’t honored because he was granted a medical redshirt after the injury.
“God’s got a plan, and you might not see it at first,” Porter said. “You’ve just got to trust it, because I wanted to get into med school this next year.
“But I think I’ve got an even better shot to get into a school next year, because I’m just going to keep making my application better.”
With the regular season for track and field wrapped up for the Shockers, their next step is in Denton at the American Conference Outdoor Championships from May 14-16.
“By this time next week on Saturday, we’ll be bringing home a (championship),” Jason said.
