Wichita State track star caps year of 5 All-American honors with one more award

In the span of the past year, Wichita State track and field dynamo Destiny Masters has become a five-time All-American.

A whirlwind of a year, which recently concluded with a 13th place finish in the women’s high jump at the United States Olympic Trials, finally slowed down for the El Dorado native this week.

When she was named College Female Athlete of the Year at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet at Intrust Bank Arena on Wednesday, Masters was given the chance to take a step back and reflect on a life-changing year.

“When I think back to (high school) Destiny when I was that age, I would have never put myself in the position that I am now,” said Masters, who still has one year of eligibility left with the Shockers. “I would never expect myself to be where I am now and doing so well. I never had goals or dreams for anything like this. It’s just so crazy to think back to how far I’ve come.”

Masters is the latest in the long line of small-town Kansas kids who have blossomed into All-America athletes under WSU track and field coach Steve Rainbolt. In fact, she is positioning herself to be at the very top of the list.

There’s no database to be sure, but Rainbolt strongly suspects Masters’ pentathlon score of 4,338 points at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships, which broke the program record, is the highest pentathlon score ever registered by a Kansas female native.

After a stellar indoor season, Masters battled through an injury during this most recent outdoor season to notch two more All-America accolades to her resume: second-team honors in both the heptathlon (13th, 5,691 points) and the high jump (5 feet, 9¾ inches).

“When I watched her win that award (on Wednesday), it made me think about the big picture,” Rainbolt said. “It’s been a wonderful year and Destiny has shown herself to be a remarkable competitor who can show up in clutch situations and compete hard even when things are tough. She has also shown herself to be more upper-level than we could have ever imagined. I don’t even think Destiny realizes how good she has become.”

Masters said she competed the entire outdoor season with a slight injury to her lead leg, which limited her explosion and, in turn, her potential. She tried everything from dry needling to massages to icing to simply resting, but nothing seemed to fix the ailment to her inner thigh.

Instead of chasing personal-best marks come May and June, Masters had to remind herself to appreciate the experiences and do her best given the circumstances.

“Of course I wanted to do better, but with me still being injured I was just happy to be able to stay in the top-16 and be an All-American in both the heptathlon and high jump,” Masters said. “Honestly, I was just trying to do the best I could with what I had. It was a very frustrating thing, especially when we couldn’t figure out what was going on and we still haven’t figured it out.”

There was a time in Masters’ career where an injury of that nature would have derailed her season.

But in her fifth year of college, the Bluestem graduate has steadily improved her mental fortitude.

“There are some injuries that are completely debilitating and thankfully this one was not debilitating, but it was an aggravating, nagging, problematic and frustrating injury,” Rainbolt said. “I could not be prouder of Destiny for battling through it. Just being around her every day, the thought of allowing it to sidetrack her never even crossed her mind. It was just not an option. It was really remarkable to see.”

Masters will focus on regaining her health the rest of the summer, then gear up for another run at All-America honors in her final season at WSU.

She has big plans: competing for a national championship in the indoor pentathlon with a top-3 finish in mind.

But until then, she has some time to enjoy the successes she’s already won.

“It’s been such a cool and awesome experience, especially having Bolt right here beside me for the whole way,” Masters said. “I’m just blessed to have the experiences that I have had the past year. I didn’t think I would ever make it to the Olympic Trials, so just being there was a win for me.”

Greater Wichita Sports Banquet award winners

Lynette Woodard High School Female Athlete of the Year

Elizabeth Tjaden, Clearwater volleyball, basketball and softball

Barry Sanders High School Male Athlete of the Year

Omari Elias, Kapaun Mt. Carmel football and wrestling

Junior College Female Athlete of the Year

Kiki Smith, Hutchinson Community College basketball

Junior College Male Athlete of the Year

Jeff Nwankwo, Cowley College basketball

College Female Athlete of the Year

Destiny Masters, Wichita State track and field

College Male Athlete of the Year

Keegan Martin, Friends football

Professional Athlete of the Year

Jay Dickman, Wichita Thunder

High School Girls Coach of the Year

Steve Harshberger, Bishop Carroll softball

High School Boys Coach of the Year

Shelby Whemrna, Cheney football

Gene Stephenson College Coach of the Year

John Ontjes, Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball

Bob Hanson Impact Award

Tony Atta, Wichita Sports Commission

Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year

Walker Janek, Sam Houston State