Your announcing crew will try to keep you focused on what is happening, but even then, it is easy for a great performance to slip by.
So, here are a few of the “expected-to-be” highlight events of the up-coming 100th running of the State Meet.
You’ll want to make sure you have your seat staked out early Friday morning because the finals of the 3200-meter runs for the large classes [4A-5A-6A] begin at 7:45 a.m., and the first set of field event finals begin at 8:00 a.m.
Sprints & Hurdles (100-200-400-100/110H-300H)
If things go according to form, you should see the state’s all-time #1 and #3 performers in an event go head-to-head with state meet gold on the line at approximately 12:40 p.m. Saturday.
The Class 5A girls’ 100 meters will, hopefully, bring together again Topeka West freshman Macahla Wesley and Shawnee Heights senior Abreanna Parker in Saturday’s final. They have gone head-to-head several times this season, including at last week’s regional at Topeka-Seaman, and their top marks (Wesley, 11.61, #1 All-time; Parker, 11.72, #3 All-time) came when they met at the Topeka Track & Field Carnival on May 7th. Wesley passed on the Centennial League meet with a slight hamstring strain, but she appears to be back and ready to go. Wesley also enters the state meet with the #7 all-time best time in the 200 meters, 24.42 FAT plus a slightly superior hand-timed mark of 24.1.
The state’s top 400-meter mark is Class 2A Peabody’s Lauren Pickens’ clocking of 57.49. The 2A 400 meters will take the track around 3:40 p.m., Saturday. The 6A girls’ 400 meters (Saturday, 3:50 p.m.) should be interesting with four girls having run under 59 seconds led by Janessa Clay (SM North) at 57.61.
Hallie Kuhlman (Sharon Springs-Wallace County) swept the Class 1A 100-200-400-800 last year, and is back to go for another gold medal quad. This is a an especially tough one though since the 800 meters immediately precedes the 200 meters, but she showed last year it can be done.
When talking about the girls’ hurdles and sprints you also have to look for Breeana Coleman (Olathe East) and LeTristan Pledger (KC Washington) to be at the front in Classes 6A and 5A, respectively. Coleman has qualified again in both short sprints and the 100-meter hurdles where she leads the state with a 13.96. Pledger will run both 100-meter events (i.e., dash and hurdles), but will long jump, where she ranks #5 all-time, off her state title win last year, as her third individual event.
The 4A boys’ 100 and 200 will again bring together area rivals Joe Fisher (Valley Center) and Morgan Burns (Wichita-Trinity). Fisher tops the boys’ state list in both events, clocking a 10.47 100 meters and 21.6 hand-timed 200. Burns has gone sub-49 in the 400 meters so has the strength, but will have to get out quickly to have a chance against Fisher in the short sprints.
Shawn Smith (Olathe East) leads the 6A short sprinters with a 10.4h and has the state’s best FAT 200 (21.91), but don’t be surprised to see an upset in the large school dashes.
Miles Ukaoma (Maize) leads the state 400-meter list at 48.18. He was just one-hundredth of a second out of a spot on the all-time top 10 list last year with his 47.95, so we know what his goal is when he takes the track around 4:05 on Saturday. Ukaoma also leads the state 300m hurdles list (38.72), and if he makes it through Friday’s prelims, he’ll have the luxury of about an hour between the finals of the 400 and hurdles on Saturday, unlike the break between events during the season.
The state’s hottest 110 meter hurdler is Wichita Northwest’s Andrew Etheridge. He equaled the state’s #3 all-time mark earlier this spring with his 13.84. Etheridge should be joined in both 6A hurdle events by Ukaoma and dark horse Meshach Kennedy (Derby).
Finals in the 100 meters will begin on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., with the 400 meters scheduled for 3:40 p.m., and the 200 meters at 5:45 p.m.
The finals in the short hurdles are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, with the 300 hurdles final scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
Distances (800-1600-3200)
The only finals on the track on Friday will be the 3200 meters for all classes. The smaller classes’ [1A, 2A, 3A] 3200’s will begin around 6:30 p.m., wrapping up Friday’s action on the track.The 4A girls will start the whole meet off at 7:45 a.m., Friday. Molly Milbourn (ElDorado) tops the Class 4A girls and ranks second on the state list with her 10:51.2. A 7 ½ -second improvement in junior’s season best can move her into the state’s all-time top 10. Milbourn will come back on Saturday (approx. 1:25 p.m) with the state’s top time at 1600 meters, 5:01.85, before wrapping up her weekend going for gold in the 800 meters around 5:15 p.m.
Look for the 6A girls’ 3200, scheduled for 8:35 a.m., to be a dandy with 9 of the state’s top 13 times qualifying. Avery Clifton (Topeka-Washburn Rural) leads the state with a season best 10:50.97, but while that is about 10 seconds off her #9 all-time state performance from last year, she appears to be peaking right now. Clifton also ranks second on this year’s 1600-meter state list, and will be back on the track Saturday around 1:35 with an eye on the distance double.
Heather Ruder (3A - Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian) will also be going for the distance triple. She ranks third on the state list entering the championships in the 800 and 1600, and is ninth overall in the 3200 meters.
An interesting triple to watch, one that will carry over between the sprints and the distance races, will be 6A Maize’s Danielle Walker. She leads the state at 800 meters (2:16.35), is fourth at 1600 (5:09.04), ninth in the 400 (58.78), and is going for the gold in all three.
The 6A boys’ 3200, immediately following the 6A girls, should be a good one. Seven of the state’s top 10 performers have qualified in that class, led by Neil Metler’s (Derby) 9:23.70. The Kansas City and Lawrence areas are loaded though and this always seems to be a great race.
The movement of the finals to Friday has given the state’s distance runners a better opportunity to double and triple to the best of their abilities over a two-day meet. I believe this was one of the better changes in the meet’s schedule in recent years, and salute the KSHSAA and the coaches for making the change.
Brendan Soucie (Osawatomie) moved in to the state’s all-time top 10 with his 1:52.96 800 meters at the Pioneer League meet. If he can get gold in Friday morning’s high jump, he has a shot at completing one of the more unusual state meet doubles Saturday afternoon around 5:40 p.m.
Relays (4x100-4x400-4x800)
You can throw out the form chart on the short relays. One little bobble and it is all over. The key is getting the stick around the track!Wichita Southeast’s girls threw down the state’s #3 all-time best in the 4x100 relay with a 47.5. Eight of the top 11 times in both the girls’ 4x100 and 4x400 come from Class 6A so both of those finals should be dandies, and Friday’s prelims could be really fast!
Olathe East has posted the only all-time top 10 mark for boys this spring, clocking 42.02 for the #10 4x100 mark. Surprisingly, one boys’ team, Olathe East, tops the state 2010 charts in all three relays. Whether they go home on Saturday with three gold medal finishes though is another thing.
Vertical Jumps (HJ-PV)
One of the highlight events of the entire weekend should be the Class 6A girls’ pole vault scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Friday.At last weekend’s regional meet, Drue Davis (Lawrence-Free State) upped the all-time state best in the pole vault to 12’8”, bettering Christi Lehman’s (Hesston) previous all-time best of 12’7” set in 2001. Davis won’t lack for competition though as 6A also has Katie Thurbon (Topeka-Washburn Rural) and Abby Row (SM North), who come in ranked tied for 4th and tied for 9th on the all-time state list at 12’3” and 12’0”, respectively.
Sharing the 8:00 a.m., Friday morning spotlight with the 6A girls’ vault will be the Class 5A boys’ vault. Four qualifiers have cleared 14’6” or better, led by Kyle Wait’s (Gardner-Edgerton) 15’3”. Wait’s teammate Casey Bowen and Emporia’s Ethan Pearson have been over 15’0” and 14’11”, respectively. Surprisingly, the state leader Luke Arnold of Bishop Carroll (15’8”) failed to qualify.
Two classes of boy high jumpers stand out: Class 4A (Friday, 8:00 a.m.) and Class 1A (Friday, 3:00 p.m.).
Class 4A has four guys over 6’7”, topped by Griffin Knopp (Fort Scott) with a state leading 6’10.5”, but you can’t count out Trevor Miller (Hoyt-Royal Valley), Jess Bahner (Carbondale-Santa Fe Trail), and Brendan Soucie (Osawatomie) as the Cessna Stadium apron has been kind to the state’s high jumpers over the years and we may see the state’s first 2010 7-foot clearance right out of the chute as the 4A boys’ high jump opens the meet in the 8:00 a.m. time slot on Friday.
Don’t overlook Topeka West’s Nic Giancana. He leads the 5A boys (Friday, 11:30 a.m.) by four inches with a 6’10” best and if the 4A guys don’t get the first 7-footer, he may.
The most competitive high jump may be the 1A boys, scheduled for Friday at 3:00 p.m. Spencer Amerin (Ashland), Greg Prescott (Little River), and Jerell Nightingale (Centralia) have all topped 6’8”, but ready to challenge are Jerell’s brother Gale Nightingale, Cody Howell (Pretty Prairie), and Angel Mason (Natoma), all who have cleared 6’5” or better.
Horizontal jumps (LJ-TJ)
Jamillah Bonner (Wichita Southeast) bounced into a tie for the #3 mark on the state’s all-time triple jump list early this spring, hitting 40’3”. She will take the state meet stage in the triple jump on Friday at 1:15 p.m.
Two ladies are over 19-feet in the long jump and two more have hit 18’11” this spring. Abreanna Parker (5A - Shawnee Heights) holds a narrow lead for the state’s season best, having gone 19’4.75” ahead of Alyssa Kelly’s (6A - OP-Blue Valley West) 19’4”.
Parker ranks #7 all-time off her 19’8.25” from last season, but the top returning jumper is LeTristan Pledger of Class 5A KC Washington. Pledger hit 19’10.75” last year for #5 all-time, and along with Dana Gates (Wichita Southeast) enters the state meet a 2010 season best of 18’11”. The Class 5A long jump is 9:45 a.m., Friday, and Class 6A goes off at 9:45 a.m, Saturday.
On the boys’ side, watch Steven Mann (2A - Mound City-Jayhawk Linn) in both horizontal jumps. He leads all classes in the triple jump (47-01.75) and ranks second in the long jump (23-07.25) to the 23-10.25 of Alex Reed (5A - Great Bend).
Four classes are represented by the four jumpers over 23-feet in the long jump, and three different classes give us the top three triple jumpers so the horizontal jumps are really up for grabs.
Throws (SP-DT-JT)
Kearsten Peoples will leave Ottawa HS as one of the state’s all-time best throwers. She holds the state’s all-time best in the shot put and ranks #4 in the discus. People’s 49”11” in the shot is just short of her prep 50-foot goal, and her 160’0” toss in the discus is just over five feet short of the state’s all-time best in that event. The 4A shot put is scheduled for 1:15, Friday, and the discus at 8:00 a.m., Saturday.
Joining Peoples in the all-time top 10 in both the shot put and discus is Alex Hartig (Great Bend). Hartig will enter her final state meet ranked #10 in the shot and #7 in the discus. Hartig is going for her fourth straight title in the shot (Saturday, 1:15 p.m.) and third straight in the discus (Friday, 8:00 a.m.).
When talking about the boys’ throws, you have to start with the javelin. The boys’ all-time state leader in the javelin, Johannes Swanepoel (SM South) will be taking on the rest of Class 6A at 1:15 p.m., Friday. Swanepoel popped a toss of 231’11” at the Seaman Relays on April 30 to raise the all-time state best by over two feet.
Joining Swanepoel on the all-time top 10 was Macauley Garton (Shawnee-Mill Valley) who tossed the spear 211’4” last week at the Class 5A regional (also at Topeka-Seaman) good for the #9 all-time mark. The 5A boys’ javelin is scheduled for Saturday at 9:45 a.m.
The state has only one 60-foot throw in the shot this spring, Luke Wilson (4A – Paola). Three others have bettered 57-feet and all are capable of the breaking the 6-0 mark.
The complete meet schedule is available at http://www.kshsaa.org/TRACK/Track&FieldSched.pdf
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