Herald-Tribune

WICHITA -- Area athletes won five medals at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium here Friday afternoon. Competition continues throughout the day today.

Area medalists include Jayhawk-Linn sophomore Steven Mann, who took two medals in Class 3A, Uniontown's Jamie Shelton and Abbie Smith and Pleasanton's Danny McCullough, each of whom won one event in Class 2A.

Sixteen competitors began the day in each event with preliminary rounds narrowing the field down to eight for finals in jumps, throws and sprints. Distance events do not have prelims and will have their finals today, excluding the 3,200 meters, which had its final Friday.

Jayhawk-Linn, Class 3A

Mann, a sophomore, matched the finishes he earned in his events last year. Mann was fourth in triple jump, where he was last year. His best jump, 42 feet, 2 inches, came on his second attempt of the preliminaries. Scott City senior Chase Chelemdos won with a mark of 44' 6 3/4" followed by Halstead junior Spencer Soward at 43' 10 1/4" and Norton freshman Lane Terrell at 43' 3 1/2".

Mann was also sixth for the second straight year in long jump, going 21' 0 3/4", which he got on the second jump of finals. He fouled on his final jump but the last good jump moved him up one spot in the final standings. The winner was Sedgwick senior Dillon Richardson, who got his winning jump, 22' 4", on his first attempt of the day. Senior Andrew McNary of Whitewater-Remington was second at 21' 10 1/2" and Lane was third at 21' 7 3/4" even though he fouled on his last four attempts.

Junior Madison Beckman was 11th in the 3,200 meters with a time of 12:57.92 while classmate Sylvia Grant was 15th in 14:52.10. Senior Annie Martin of Riley County, which always produces outstanding distance runners, was the winner in 11:41.45 with senior Jylian Jaloma of Atchison Maur Hill Mount Academy second in 11:43.72.

Freshman Shelby Krull finished 14th in girls' pole vault at 7' 6" and classmate Chelsea Beckman 14th in discus with a mark of 97' 7". Belleville junior Lauren Keefer won pole vault at 10 feet even while Allen-Northern Heights senior Jacquelyne Leffler won discus at 157' 7", setting a new Class 3A State meet record by knocking out the 151' 8" mark set in 1995 by Belleville's Marlea Woodman.

Senior Kris Bogan was 15th in boys' shot put with a throw of 42' 9". The winner was Garden Plain senior Zack Puetz with a mark of 56' 4". Senior Dan Purinton was 15th in javelin with a mark of 139' 8". Calvin Hughes of Scott City won the event at 185' 3".

In preliminaries -- finals in the following events will be held today -- sophomore Briar Snyder finished with the third-best time in Class 3A 110-meter hurdles while senior teammate Brock Johanning turned in the fourth-best. Snyder ran a 15.39 in the first heat while Johanning turned in a 15.40 in the second. Phillipsburg senior Gabe Wickham had the best time of 14.99 while Whitewater-Remington senior Andrew McNary had a 15.01. The finals will take place this morning at 10 a.m. Snyder was also seventh in the 300's, qualifying for finals in 41.37. McNary had the best time, 39.74, followed by Southeast-Cherokee senior Nick Renfro in 39.99 and Wickham in 40.21.

The Jayhawk 4x400-meter girls' relay team made it to finals in what looks to be anyone's race based on the preliminary times. Whitewater-Remington won the second heat and recorded the best time of 4:11.72. Conway Springs won the first heat in 4:11.78. Scott City has the second-best time after finishing second in the second heat in 4:11.76. Jayhawk-Linn turned in a time of 4:11.98 after taking second in the first heat. The fifth-best time, by Salina Sacred Heart, is two seconds behind that pack. The finals in this event take place tonight at 6:30 p.m.

The Jayhawk-Linn boys'4x100-meter relay was sixth in Class 3A prelims with a time of 45.08. Garden Plain was best at 44.51 followed by Lyons in 44.60 and Phillipsburg in 44.64. The girls' 4x100 team also turned in the sixth-best time, a 52.10. Gypsum-Southeast of Saline had the best prelim time of 50.71 followed by Garden Plain's 51.78 and Marion's 51.08. Finals for the girls will begin at 3 p.m. this afternoon while the boys follow at about 3:20.

Jayhawk-Linn's boys 4x400 relay was eighth in the prelims with a time of 3:35.09. Hillsboro had the best time of 3:29.77 followed by Salina Sacred Heart with a 3:30.63 and Lyons with 3:30.85.

Sophomore Morgan Eastwood qualified for the finals of the girls' 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Eastwood had the fourth-best qualifying time in the 300's, 48.97. Lisa Weishar of Jefferson County North had the best time by far of 45.58 with Whitewater-Remington junior Lacey McFadden next at 47.40 and Marion sophomore Julia Zeiner third-best in 47.43. The 300-meter finals will be held today about 4:25 p.m.

Eastwood had the eight-best preliminary time of 17.27 seconds in the 100's. Classmate Amory Miller was 14th in 19.26. Holcomb sophomore Ashley Baier had the fastest time of 16.12 with Norton senior Courtney Leclair next at 16.42 and McFadden third in 16.43. Finals in the 100's will take place this morning at 9:30 a.m.

Sophomore Taylor Dawson was unable to get out of preliminaries in the 200-meter dash, finishing ninth in 27.91 and missing finals by 0.11 seconds. However, she will defend her Class 3A long jump championship today at 3 p.m.

Uniontown and Pleasanton, Class 2A

Shelton, a senior, improved his placing in javelin by 10 positions from last year as his mark of 170' 11" took third place. That mark came on his second throw of the day, establishing his position behind Frankfort senior Jordan Broxterman, whose mark of 182 feet even came on his second throw, and Sublette junior Brice Peters, whose 181' 6" also came on the second throw.

Smith, a sophomore, won her second career State medal as she took third in long jump with a mark of 16' 11 3/4". That came on her second jump of finals. She could not improve on that as she scratched on her final jump. Smith took second-place last year with a jump of 16' 4 1/2", which shows how much tougher the competition was this season. Senior Macy Migchelbrink of Atwood was the winner at 17' 1 3/4" and Hill City senior Kelsi Griffin was second at 17 feet even.

McCullough, a senior, won his first State medal in pole vault after qualifying the previous two years. He took fifth place after clearing 12 feet, 6 inches and did so in fewer attempts than Josh Sommerfield of Elbing Berean Academy and Bryant Flesher of Clifton-Clyde. Pretty Prairie junior Keith Zerger was the winner with a mark of 13' 6". Syracuse junior George Huser won a tie-breaker for second at 13 feet even to take second. Colt Rolfers of Smith Center, who was third, and Kyle Zabokrtsky of Washington, who was fourth, also cleared 13 feet.

Uniontown junior Drew Johnson tied for ninth in boys' high jump, clearing 5' 10" , while Shelton tied for 12th at 5' 8". Sonny Lee of Howard-West Elk won the State title on a tie-breaker after clearing 6' 4".

Pleasanton senior Chris Duggins finished 10th in shot put with a mark of 44' 4 1/2. Atwood senior John Binning was the winner at 54' 6 1/4".

Pleasanton junior Rachel Richmond was 11th in girls' high jump, tying with two others at 4' 6". Sublette junior Emily Lucas was the winner at 5' 6". Richmond was also 15th in the 400-meter prelims in 1:09.22. The two best times were turned in by freshmen: Lauren Pickens of Peabody-Burns in 58.73 and Oakley's Dayna Kuhlman in 59.84. Those were the only times under a minute.

Pleasanton senior Chris Duggins finished 12th in discus with a mark of 123' 7" while freshman Skyler Martin was 14th with a 115' 1". Smith Center senior Braden Wilson was the winner with a throw of 171' 6". Washington junior Denton Dittmer followed at 154' 8" and Peabody-Burns senior Andrew Loucks was third at 151' 5".

Three area girls competed in triple jump. Pleasanton senior Megan Allen finished 14th with a mark of 30' 9", Uniontown senior Riley Stephens was 15th at 30' 4 1/4" and Pleasanton sophomore Carlee Campbell was 16th at 30' 2".

In preliminary sprints, seniors Zach Mason of Uniontown and McCullough both advanced to the finals in the 300-meter hurdles. Racing in the same heat, Mason clocked in at 42.03 while McCullough came in at 43.20. The best time was from Bennington senior Lawson Montgomery, a 39.66. Solomon senior Derek Knight had the next-best time of 41.03 while Meade junior Taylor Headrick was third in 41.27. Finals will be held today at about 4:45 p.m.

Allen finished with the fifth-best time in girls' 200-meter preliminaries at 27.47. The top three times were 26.20 by Pickens, 26.53 by junior Whitney Taylor of Ellis and 27.09 by junior Caitlin Sherlock of Washington. The finals of the 200 meters will take place at about 5:50 this evening. Allen will also compete in 100-meter prelims at 8:30 a.m. with finals at 12:45 if she's able to advance.

Pleasanton's girls' 4x100-meter relay team finished 11th in Class 2A preliminaries with a time of 53.20. Sublette had the best time of 51.15. The Blu-Jays' boys' 4x1 was disqualified for exchanging the baton outside the exchange zone.

Mason was 11th in the 110-meter hurdles prelims in 16.36. The best time was Montgomery's, again, in 14.03 with Meade junior Headrick Taylor a distant second in 15.52. Montgomery, at least unofficially, shattered the previous 2A State record of 14.80 set by Greensburg's Brian Goodheart in 1986.

Smith was 13th in the 100-meter hurdles prelims in 17.29 while Pleasanton senior Michelle Mitchell was 15th in 19.46. Migchelbrink had the best time of 15.67.