Wichita State track and field’s men’s 4×400-meter relay team is bearing the fruits of its labor in a way the Shockers haven’t since 1975 — a qualification for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Despite the success, uncertainty emerged after the final heat crossed the finish line at the NCAA West Preliminaries on Friday, May 30. The initial results of the event left WSU’s team of Joakim Genereux, Yared Kidane and twin phenoms Josh and Jason Parrish in 13th place, dropping them out of qualification by one spot even after setting a program record time of 3:06.38.
Coaches on the team appealed to officials for a review of the race, but they were denied. Director of Track and Field Steve Rainbolt said they missed the appeals deadline by “two or three minutes.”
At first, Genereux, a senior, thought this was his final race in a Shockers uniform.
The Quebec, Canada native said it was conflicting because, after all, the team did just set a program record. At the same time, they weren’t in the standings for the Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“It was mixed feelings,” Genereux said. “I was satisfied with it ending there. But, I wanted also to make it (to the Outdoor Championships). I was, like, frustrated.”
Luckily for WSU, a raised flag from the previous heat signaled that a review was underway. Officials eventually determined that Cal Poly ran multiple times on the lane line, which resulted in an immediate disqualification and moved the Shockers into the 12th and final qualification spot.
“I feel bad for San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly),” Rainbolt said. “That’s a tough way to get deleted from the national meet.”
Despite feeling bad for the competition, Rainbolt said that for Genereux to qualify in his final season was “epic.”
“It was really special for that guy,” Rainbolt said. “He’s going to finish off his five-year career with a really special experience.”
The qualifying quartet didn’t run together in an outdoor relay until early May at the TCU Horned Frog Invite. At that meet, they broke a then-24-year-old event record with a time of 3:06.79 before breaking their own record at the West Preliminaries.
They didn’t all get to compete together until then due to conflicts with Kidane’s middle-distance schedule during meets. Josh Parrish said that once Kidane was on the team, it gave them an extra boost of confidence and speed.
“We just knew that we could break records and do the things that we can do,” he said.
NCAA Outdoor Championships preview
Going into the Outdoor Championships, the team said they expect to be one of the top two teams in their heat to qualify for the finals and earn First-Team All-America status automatically. The top eight teams heading into the finals earn First-Team All-America.
But, they think it will take another program record to beat out teams like Georgia and Arkansas, who have the Shockers’ heat’s top times at 3:02.06 and 3:01.82, respectively. WSU’s time at the preliminaries ranked them 24th out of the 24 teams that qualified.
“(We’ll have to be) awfully fast,” Rainbolt said. “We will have to have a … huge personal record, a huge season best in order to go to the final. I think something in the 3:02 range is what it’s probably stacked up as.”
Other teams competing in the Shockers’ heat include Duke, Princeton, North Carolina A&T, Texas Tech and Iowa.
The Outdoor Championships run from Wednesday, June 11, to Saturday, June 14.
WSU’s 4×400 team will race in the first heat on lane two on Wednesday. Their start time is approximately 9:36 p.m. Central Daylight Time.
Kidane, Josh Parrish and Jason Parrish will also compete in individual events earlier that day. Kidane will run the 800-meter, Josh Parrish will compete in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump and Jason Parrish will compete in the 400-meter hurdles.
All day-one events can be streamed on ESPN.
