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Kansas State women take 2nd at Big 12 indoor championships

The Wildcats won four individual titles and swept the medals in the high jump.

By Luke Thompson
Kansas State junior and Barbados native Akela Jones is one of the world's best long jumpers and will be favored to win her first NCAA Division I title next month.
Kansas State junior and Barbados native Akela Jones is one of the world's best long jumpers and will be favored to win her first NCAA Division I title next month.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe you're like me and you haven't noticed how awesome the No. 6 Kansas State women's track and field team has been this season.

It's time to start paying attention, now that the Wildcats finished second at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field championships for the first time since 2001, just 6.5 points behind No. 4 Texas. No, they couldn't quite win their first conference title since 1976, but K-State did have four individual champions.

Anyone familiar with the work of longtime coach Cliff Rovelton won't be surprised to learn Kimberly Williamson, Akela Jones and Alyx Treasure took first, second, and third, respectively, in the high jump, or that Jones won the long jump despite not even getting close to her PR of 6.64 meters, the best jump in Division I this season.

The more surprising results may be junior Dani Winters' win in the shot put, and Sara Savatovic's winning throw of 67 feet, 9.5 inches in the weight throw. That's why K-State finished 27.5 points ahead of Baylor, the No. 8 team in the country.

Texas won on the strength of its sprinters, which provided 74 points from the 60-meter, 200-yard, 400-meter and 600-yard dashes, including three individual titles. The Longhorns also won the 4x400 meter relay to clinch the title, beating the second-place Wildcat team by more than three seconds.

Still, K-State got some decent results in the sprints, most notably a second-place finish by junior Sonia Gaskin and a third-place run for freshman A'Keyla Mitchell in the 200 meters. The Wildcats are always going to do well in the field events, but it's their newfound success on the track that helped them finish better than fifth for the first time since 2004.

Meanwhile, the men's team came in last but still got a second-place finish in the high jump from freshman NaTron Gipson, as well as fourth in the same event for fellow freshman Christoff Bryan.

Next up is the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13 and 14 in Fayetteville and later K-State will try to win its first ever women's outdoor title. Go ‘Cats!