Kansas State track and field continued its hot start to the season with multiple Wildcats performing at their best while competing against some of the top athletes in the world.
The two-day event ran from Jan. 30-31 and served as a World Athletics event that K-State had the honor of hosting and participating in. Events included women’s pole vault, men’s high jump and men’s and women’s long jump.
Three of the athletes who competed were Olympic medalists Shelby McEwen, Claire Bryant and Jasmine Moore, making the competition extra high. Countless fans turned out and made Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track a rowdy environment that many of the athletes fed off of.
“First and foremost, the atmosphere was awesome,” K-State head coach Travis Geopfert said. “We asked K-Staters to come out and support, and they did. We had a few thousand people here, an electric atmosphere, the compliments that we got from the other coaches and the pro athletes who were here said they hadn’t been part of anything like this.”
Senior Vanessa Mercera led the women’s pentathlon in record-breaking fashion. She not only finished first in the event and recorded her personal best in all five events, but Mercera now holds the collegiate record for the most points in the pentathlon, according to TFRRS.
“Vanessa [Mercera]’s number one in the NCAA,” Geopfert said. “And it wasn’t just Vanessa, the rest of those [multi] athletes did an awesome job as well.”
While there was stiff competition in the men’s long jump, it didn’t stop the Wildcats as Tah Chikomba took home first place with a jump of 8.09 meters, a meet and facility record.
“The jumpers did a great job, Tah Chikomba is number two in the NCAA, number five in the world in the long jump right now, number two on our all-time list,” Geopfert said.
In the women’s long jump, Maud Zeffou-Poaty had a career night, jumping 6.58 meters, which was good enough for third place. The jump was her personal best by over a foot, which is a staggering number at the collegiate level.
“Maud is number three in the NCAA,” Geopfert said. “You know that kid PR’d by a foot in the long jump tonight. I mean, it was absolutely incredible. And you know, she was struggling, struggling, struggling, but then, through the competition, trying to get it right, was really coachable. Just to see the smile on that kid’s face, she’s a great kid, and she deserves every bit of success she’s having.”
One of the most anticipated events was the men’s high jump on Friday as some of the top athletes in the world were competing against some of the best at K-State.
Last week, true freshman Alan Hanna stole the show by winning the men’s high jump. This weekend, he didn’t reach the same height but still jumped well enough to finish eighth in the event.
Senior Devin Loudermilk, however, had one of his best meets, finishing third by jumping 2.22 meters, the fourth-best height in the NCAA. Loudermilk’s jump tied Shelby McEwen, who was a silver medalist at the Olympic Games in 2024.
Four other Wildcats finished first in the field events on day one of the meet. Sharie Enoe won the women’s high jump, Gary Moore Jr. won the men’s weight throw, Monique Hardy won the women’s weight throw and Croix DaCunha won the men’s long jump invite.
Dominating on the track, senior Oskars Bambals finished first in the men’s 800-meter event with a time of 1:48.90, the 5th fastest time in K-State history.
On day two of the event, more headlines were made when junior Vienna Lahner broke the women’s mile record, which had stood since 1983.
“I just felt like I was in a really good place for it,” Lahner said. “I just feel like my coaches had me really capable and set up for this. I wasn’t really scared going through it, and then I knew exactly what I needed that last lap, and I watched the time go up, and I was like, yeah, we did it.”
K-State also took second and third in the men’s triple jump, with Selva Prabhu jumping 16.63 meters and Trevon Hamer jumping 16.47 meters.
Two more Wildcats crossed the finish line first as junior Angi Pondler won the women’s 600-yard run and senior Oskars Bambals won the 1,000-meter race, his second first-place finish of the event.
After another successful home track meet, the Wildcats will now take their talent on the road, where the competition will be higher, but the highly talented K-State stars will be ready for anyone.
