Sanderson, Jeuschede Earn Big 12 Titles

05.14.2016 | Track and Field

By: cyclones.com

FORT WORTH, Texas – Iowa State crowned its first two Big 12 champions of the weekend as Taylor Sanderson won the decathlon and Jan Jeuschede the men's shot put at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Lowdon Track and Field Complex saw Sanderson take the title, his first Big 12 title in his last Big 12 Championships, with a score of 7,204, while Jeuschede claimed gold on his final throw of the day at 61-2.

Heading into the final day of the Big 12 Championships, both teams find themselves in the upper half, with the women fourth on 29 points, and the men fifth at 30 points.

Sanderson used the best method to defend his lead early on: win. Sanderson was tops in the 110-meter hurdles (wind-aided 14.62) and discus (137-5) to open up his lead to close to 400 points. That work was beneficial, as a challenging pole vault with a best of 12-5 1/2 still kept him over 175 ahead, as he bounced back with the second-best javelin throw of 166-2. The 1,500 belonged to his teammate, Wyatt Rhoads, who won in 4:33.58 and moved up to seventh with a career-best 6,494 points.

Jeuschede was ahead after three rounds with his first throw of 59-2 ahead by over six inches. The competition heated up, as Jeuschede got passed over twice to drop down to third. He was then down to fourth, in spite of improving to 60-1 when his teammate Nace Plesko fired a career-best 61-0 that eventually saw him claim the bronze medal. On the last throw of the competition, the German was able to pip Oklahoma's Chase Sammons with a toss of 61-2 to win by less than an inch. It was Jeuschede's first Big 12 title, ISU's third of the Big 12 era and first since Jamie Beyer in 1999.

Iowa State was able to rack up eight points in the heptathlon via Kaci Storm and Emma Whigham. Storm took fourth with a personal-best 5,027 points, the fourth-highest total in ISU history and the fifth Cyclone all-time to go over 5,000 points. Her day was highlighted by a personal-best 2:25.53 in the 800. Whigham took sixth at 5,016 points, three points off her best from earlier this season.

The Cyclones qualified four runners for finals on Sunday. The highlight of those performances came from Jasmine Staebler, who will go into the women's 800-meter dash final as the No. 2 seed after a personal-best 2:06.59. The effort moved the freshman up to eighth in Iowa State history in the event. Also qualifying for finals were Alyssa Gonzalez and Derek Jones in their respective 400-meter hurdles events, and Elijah Young earned a free pass into the 110-meter hurdles final with only eight entrants in the event.

Up Next
Iowa State closes out the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships tomorrow. Field events will begin at 11 a.m., with track action starting at 4:30 p.m. The track finals will be shown live on Fox Sports Go tomorrow, starting at 4:30 p.m. Replays of the broadcast will be shown across the Fox Sports Networks, with the schedule being announced next week. Stay tuned to cyclones.com for updates on that schedule.

Team Scores
Men (7 events scored): 1. Oklahoma – 54; 5. Iowa State – 30
Women (6 events scored): 1. Oklahoma – 46.5; 4. Iowa State – 29

Iowa State Results
Decathlon: 1. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 7,204; 7. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 6,494
110m Hurdles (Dec.): 1. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 14.62(w); 5. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 15.53(w)
Discus (Dec.): 1. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 137-5; 8. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 101-0
Pole Vault (Dec.): 1. Chase Hood, Baylor – 16-0 3/4; 6. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 13-1 1/2; T-7. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 12-5 1/2
Javelin (Dec.): 1. Chase Hood, Baylor – 173-2; 2. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 166-1; 6. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 154-8
1,500m Run (Dec.): 1. Wyatt Rhoads, Iowa State – 4:33.58; 6. Taylor Sanderson, Iowa State – 4:52.87

Heptathlon: 1. Natalie Thompson, Texas Tech – 5,471; 4. Kaci Storm, Iowa State – 5,027; 6. Emma Whigham, Iowa State – 5,016
Long Jump (Hep.): 1. Kaylee Hinton, Texas Tech – 19-0 1/2(w); 2. Kaci Storm, Iowa State – 18-3(w); 4. Emma Whigham, Iowa State – 17-8(w)
Javelin (Hep.): 1. Ashtin Zamzow, Texas – 142-5; 5. Emma Whigham, Iowa State – 101-7; 8. Kaci Storm, Iowa State – 89-5
800m Run (Hep.): 1. Natalie Thompson, Texas Tech – 2:21.73; 3. Emma Whigham, Iowa State – 2:22.71; 6. Kaci Storm, Iowa State – 2:25.53

1,500m Run Prelim (W): 1. Millie Paladino, West Virginia – 4:21.09; 10. Evelyne Guay, Iowa State – 4:26.52; 11. Kate DeSimone, Iowa State – 4:26.72; 14. Perez Rotich, Iowa State – 4:30.40; 19. Maryn Lowry, Iowa State – 4:41.04; 22. Kristen Henson, Iowa State – 4:57.01; 23. Maddie Nagle, Iowa State – 5:04.47
1,500m Run Prelim (M): 1. Joshua Thompson, Oklahoma State – 3:44.29; 9. Christian DeLago, Iowa State – 3:47.62; 13. Dan Curts, Iowa State – 3:51.22; 22. Greyson Dolezal, Iowa State – 3:59.74
400m Dash Prelim (M): 1. Kyle Collins, Texas Tech – 46.01; 10. Deon Sanders, Iowa State – 47.41; 20. Jacob Hoogensen, Iowa State – 49.14
100m Dash Prelim (M): 1. Senoj-Jay Givans, Texas – 10.14; 20. Jomal Wiltz, Iowa State – 10.86
800m Run Prelim (W): 1. Kaylee Dodd, Oklahoma State – 2:06.07; 2. Jasmine Staebler, Iowa State – 2:06.59; 12. Erinn Stenman-Fahey, Iowa State – 2:09.95; 24. Jackie Feist, Iowa State – 2:21.44
800m Run Prelim (M): 1. Joshua Thompson, Oklahoma State – 1:49.97; 9. Brandon Wheat, Iowa State – 1:50.81
400m Hurdles Prelim (W): 1. Ariel Jones, Texas – 58.17; 8. Alyssa Gonzalez, Iowa State – 1:01.82
400m Hurdles Prelim (M): 1. JW Smith, Texas Tech – 51.94; 3. Derek Jones, Iowa State – 52.38; 10. Davis Eldridge, Iowa State – 55.13; 12. Tyrell Erb, Iowa State – 1:01.75
200m Dash Prelim (M): 1. Aldrich Bailey Jr., Texas - 20.59; 17. Trever Ryen, Iowa State - 22.02

Shot Put (W): 1. Dani Winters, Kansas State – 57-0 3/4; 4. Christina Hillman, Iowa State – 56-6
Shot Put (M): 1. Jan Jeuschede, Iowa State – 61-2; 3. Nace Plesko, Iowa State – 61-0
Long Jump (W): 1. Akela Jones, Kansas State – 22-1 3/4; 2. Jhoanmy Luque, Iowa State – 20-5 1/4(w)
Long Jump (M): 1. Charles Brown, Texas Tech – 25-5 1/4; 11. Chandler Diercks, Iowa State – 22-8