Two-time defending champion Macy Hammerschmidt entered the Class 1A long jump as a heavy favorite, owning the second best mark in the state at 18-6.50. 

In the 100-meter dash, however, the Victoria senior considered herself more of a dark horse. 

Hammerschmidt took second in the 100 at regionals and was sixth on the state meet performance list for the race.

“I thought I might do better than my previous times, so I was thinking about maybe third or fourth,” Hammerschmidt said. “But I was not expecting first place at all.”

After posting the top time in prelims, Hammerschmidt ran a season-best 12.44 to win the 100 at state for the first time in career, edging Ness City’s Taegin Liggett’s 12.58. 

Her title defense in the long jump proved to be more of a challenge, but Hammerschmidt came through on her final attempt to secure her third straight title. 

“I was still kind of in shock until later that night that I had actually won both,” Hammerschmidt said. 
 

Liggett, a standout freshman, had topped Hammerschmidt in the 100 in their last two races at the regional in Tribune and the Central Prairie League meet in Kinsley. 

“Taegin and I go back and forth all the time,” Hammerschmidt said. “She’ll beat me and I’ll beat her. And I was like, ‘Ok, maybe this will be a time when she beats me again.’

“I was kind of nervous the whole race, but at the end it was just a feeling of joy, going out with a bang.”

Hammerschmidt had to refocus after a runner false-started in the 100 on the first attempt. 

“We got on our blocks, and right away I watched the girl next to me jump the gun, so that already makes you anxious to go back and restart,” said Hammerschmidt, who was runner-up in the 100 last year and placed fourth as a sophomore. “But once they fired the gun, I had a good start, and I just knew that I had a pretty good chance at winning it.”

While the 100 went smoothly, the long jump was more of a grind, and Hammerschmidt was feeling the pressure after her first few attempts. 

“Honestly, it was not very good at all right away from the beginning,” Hammerschmidt said. “My legs were tired and I was just not really in it. The lengths of my first jumps were not good at all. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make finals. I was in my head bad, like, ‘This hurts bad. You’re going to lose.’ 

“It’s OK to lose, but it was just the fact that I was already a two-time state champion, I had a high expectation for myself to be able to go out and do it again.”

After failing to make 17 feet on any of her first five attempts, Hammerschmidt came through on her last try, going 17 feet, 7.75 inches to edge Clifton-Clyde freshman Sevy Wurtz by half an inch for the title. 

“I felt like I had my back up against the wall and I had to fight through it to be able to win,” Hammerschmidt said. “It was more of a mind game. I had to go against myself to be able to get it done.”

After initially being unsure about continuing her track and field career in college, Hammerschmidt signed with Fort Hays State for track earlier this month. 

“If you would have asked me last year I would have said ‘Absolutely not. I just want to be a student and focus on my studies,” Hammerschmidt said. “Then I got into looking at Fort Hays and their program. They have an awesome program and great coaches. I set up a visit and met with (FHSU head coach) Jason McCollough and their sprinting coach.

“Everyone there seemed to thrive in their program and I wanted to be a part of a family like that.”
 

PERFECT POLE VAULT THREE-PEAT FOR DIGHTON’S NEELEY
 
It wasn’t going to be easy for Max Neeley to leave Cessna Stadium after the completion of the 2023 State Outdoors.
 
Not because the Dighton senior had some unfinished business to take care of at the facility. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
 
All Neeley did was take care of business at Wichita State’s stadium.
 
In winning the Class 1A pole vault title last Friday, Neeley capped an undefeated career in Cessna Stadium. The title was his third straight, Neeley denied a fourth when the 2020 track season was canceled.
 
“I definitely feel like this one had the most pressure behind it as well as being the most exciting,” Neeley said of his three-peat. “Just because it’s going to be my last time in Cessna for my high school career. My senior year, it was a huge relief that I ended so well and left it at a good spot. Going back-to-back-to-back, I can always look back on that and be proud of it.”
 
Neeley was the overwhelming favorite for the 1A title, his season-best height of 15-7 not only the best in 1A by 7 inches, but also ranking fourth in the state overall behind Andover Central’s Bryce Barkdull (5A), Gardner-Edgerton’s Pierson Carlisle (6A) and Olathe East’s Andrew Kirby (6A).
 
When he won the title a year ago, he cleared 14-6 to be Minneola’s Mason Pfaff by a foot. When he began that title defense this year, he passed all the way until the bar was at 14 feet.
 
By that time, there was only one other vaulter left in the field, Attica’s Wyatt Peterson. 
 
“I knew I was jumping high enough I could clear 16 potentially so I like to start about two feet under my PR,” Neeley said. “I’ve been able to get 13-6 and 14 really easy, so it wasn’t going to be a struggle to start there. The sooner I can get to bigger heights, the better.”
 
Neeley easily cleared 14 feet on his first attempt while Peterson bowed out at the height, leaving the Hornet standout left to simply chase his personal best and perhaps a state record. Neeley cleared 14-6 and 15-0 on his first attempts and then in his bid to make a run at 16 feet, he switched to a pole he’d never used, a longer one to allow him a better opportunity at the higher heights.
 
Whether it was the new pole or just the test of getting over at 15-6, an inch below his best, Neeley couldn’t quite capitalize. He missed on all three attempts, settling for the win at 15-0.
 
“It was a pole I’d never been on so I was a little nervous,” he said. “The first one or two jumps I had to feel it out. The last jump, I was really used to it, planted really good but hit on the way up.
 
“I really wanted 16 today but it didn’t work out. It was possible but it didn’t time up right. But I still had a great time so it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
  

CAREER DAY: MACKSVILLE’S RUSSELL SETS 1A JAVELIN MEET RECORD
 
Macksville junior Mayce Russell had built a solid javelin portfolio the last two seasons, placing at state as a sophomore and becoming the school’s record holder this spring.
 
But during Friday’s Class 1A competition outside Cessna Stadium, Russell entered entirely new territory.
 
No longer facing the challenges of little to no runways she encounters at some meets, Russell shattered her personal best by more than 15 feet on her second throw. With a high placing ensured, Russell turned it loose on the finale, launching the javelin 144 feet, 3 inches to win the title and set a 1A meet record by one inch.
 
“I felt more relaxed on that throw,” said Russell, who had not thrown 130 feet in competition but surpassed 140 twice on Friday. “I was like, ‘I’ve placed pretty high,’ so I just relaxed like my coach told me to.”
 
Russell, who finished eighth at state in 2022 with a throw of 118-7, led a trio of medal winners who set PRs. Osborne junior Gracie Riner finished second at 138-8, improving on a fourth-place finish a year ago. Hodgeman County sophomore Kalyn Washburn threw 134-5 to take third, a three-spot climb from last season.
 
Russell, a basketball standout for the Mustangs, set the school mark at a meet in St. John in late April, then improved on it with a winning throw of 126-7 at the Central Prairie League meet.
 
She would have won the title with her early throw of 141-10. But her final effort allowed her to surpass former Centralia state champion Madison Lueger’s previous meet record set in 2018.
 
Russell also unseated 2022 champion Brooklyn Jones of Lebo, who finished sixth.
 
“I don’t even know how I did it,” Russell said. “After last year, I didn’t come in as nervous, so that really helped me. When I’m really nervous, I tend not to throw very well at all.”

 

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER FOR WALLACE COUNTY’S STAFFORD
 
The beauty of Wallace County junior Ja’Asia Stafford’s specialty, the shot put, is that it’s now how often or how soon, but how far.
 
After a frustrating series of attempts left her in third place, Stafford entered the Cessna Stadium shot put ring for her final throw Friday morning in the Class 1A competition. Stafford summoned an effort of 39 feet, 2 inches to move past Hodgeman County sophomore Blake Dansel and Hanover senior Aliyah Sinn and win her second consecutive state title.
 
“I was upset and I didn’t know if I was going to do it,” said Stafford, who topped runner-up Dansel’s best effort 37-9.25 on her penultimate throw to claim the victory. “But I had to stay focused and be determined that I could do that.”
 
Stafford sensed a downward trend to her throws after opening at 36-5.25. But inconsistency played a greater role in the throws that bridged the gap to her winning effort, including a foul on her first attempt of the finals.
 
Stafford, who finished second to Solomon’s Emma Seidl as a freshman before winning last year’s 1A title with a throw of 38-11.25, cracked the state’s top 10 for all classes this season with her throw of 40-3.75 at the Greeley County regional. She set a personal best of 40-5 in the season opener of her sophomore year.
 
While she couldn’t replicate those, Stafford had enough left for a big finish.
 
“It was a little nerve-wracking, but I knew I had to do it again,” Stafford said. “My last throw, I chucked one out there and that’s what got me to the top of the podium.”
 

ELKHART’S O’HAIR REPEATS IN 2A POLE VAULT
 
Elkhart senior Nakaela O’Hair may have wanted to swap her final state meet performance with her regional effort the previous week at Stanton County.
 
But either way, O’Hair finished her career as a two-time Class 2A pole vault champion.
 
Like the regional and at last year’s state meet, O’Hair finished atop the podium and one place ahead of Hi-Plains League counterpart Suzanne Farnham of Stanton County. O’Hair’s winning height of 10 feet, 6 inches matched her peak clearance a year ago at Cessna Stadium.
 
Moments after she came up empty at 11 feet, O’Hair anguished over what could have been.
 
“I’m not really happy with myself because at regionals I got 11 (feet) on my first attempt and then today I couldn’t get it,” O’Hair said. “I just couldn’t get into the pole.”
 
O’Hair led a trio of seniors in the top three of the competition. Farnham exited after clearing 9-6 to finish as a three-time state runner-up. Berean Academy’s Tayana Nord, a fourth-place finisher a year ago, cleared 9 feet and finished third.
 
The lack of total satisfaction for O’Hair may have come in recent performances. Prior to her 11-foot effort at regionals, O’Hair topped her own school record and set a personal best of 11-3 at the Hi-Plains meet.
 
“It didn’t feel much like regionals,” said O’Hair, whose competition concluded in the heat of the day on Friday. “I was really nervous today and I’m not normally.
 
“It’s still exciting,” she added of defending her title. “I’m definitely happy about that, but I’m still not proud of myself. I know I could do better.”
 

 
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER FOR MEADE’S KEITH
 
Even though Logan Keith stepped onto the track at Cessna Stadium as a returning state champion in both the 800 and 3,200, he knew he had plenty to prove.
 
Both of those titles came a year ago when Meade was a 1A school. This spring, the Buffaloes were in Class 2A.
 
Hence, the chip.
 
“People say 1A is typically the weakest class,” Keith said. “So I wanted to show I could do it in 2A as well.”
 
Keith proved that size – school size – doesn’t matter to him as he went out and captured second straight state titles in both the 3,200 and 800. Keith topped the Kansas City Christian duo of Andrew Schumacher and Spencer Mumford to win the 3,200 early Friday morning and then beat Central Heights’ Cody Hammond for the 800 title Saturday evening to complete his second straight double-gold state meet.
 
“I knew it was going to be really hard but if I gutted everything out I could do it,” Keith said. “Going up to 2A and winning it is amazing.”
 
Perceived or real, there is a difference in what it takes to win titles in the different classes. When Keith won the 3,200 last year, he ran a 10:07.54 to win by three-plus seconds. That time would have only landed him fifth in this year’s 2A race.
 
Even though he had gone slightly faster this season prior to state, his best of 9:54.78 left Keith ranked third among 2A runners in the 3,200. But the Buffalo junior rose to the occasion and deliver a personal-best by 18 seconds with his winning time of 9:36.74, which was two and a half second ahead of Schumacher.
 
The victory in the 3,200 gave Keith all the confidence he needed to win the 800 and he clocked a career best of 1:55.23 to win just more than second over Hammond.
 
“I was a little nervous because my legs were tired from the 3,200,” Keith said. “And there was a guy (Hammond) that a 1:56 at regionals, but I knew if I gutted it out, I could win.”
 

INGALLS’ AST, SMITH CENTER’S WANNER DOUBLE HURDLES PLEASURE
 
Will Ast had to go to the board.
 
Neck and neck with Quinter’s Bradley Bogert and Caldwell’s Keiondre Smith coming over the final hurdle in the Class 1A 110 hurdles, the Ingalls senior leaned. The race was exactly what he thought it would be after a mere .02 seconds had separated Ast and Bogert in the prelims.
 
Bogert went faster in the finals, but so did Ast. And once again, it was a .02-second separation with Ast coming out on top in season-best 15.14 seconds
 
“It was extremely close yesterday in the prelims and then today when I saw my name pop up first, I knew how close it was,” said Ast, who moved up from a fifth-place finish in the event a year ago. “It was just a great feeling.”
 
That feeling only got better later in the day as Ast followed up his win in the 110s with a sweep of the hurdles, adding the 300 crown as well. It was another tight race as Ast knocked off defending champion Smith by .14 seconds, winning in a season-best 40.02.
 
“It definitely fueled me,” Ast said of his 110s win. “To be a two-time champ in the same day is pretty cool and I wanted to experience that. I think it propelled me.
 
“Coming in I knew I had a really good chance. I trusted my work I’ve put in the past six years to get to this point. Last year, I was still getting used to it and I saw my potential. I knew I could build off that and I was able to do that.”
 

 
One class up in 2A, Smith Center’s Garrett Wanner was following Ast’s lead. After taking fifth in the 110s ad sixth in the 300s last year as a junior, Wanner made the commitment in the offseason to reach the top of the podium this year.
 
“You’re a senior, it’s your last time,” he said. “You have to train hard, you have to prepare hard and can’t leave anything out there. I wanted more my senior year”
 
Wanner only qualified third-fastest in the 110 hurdles behind Inman’s Eli Brunk and Sterling’s Cedric Wilson. But the lanky senior found another gear in the finals, cutting nearly a full second off his prelim time to finish in 15.41 and beat Brunk by .24 seconds.
 
In the 300s, Wanner once again had to deal with Brunk, this time being chased by the Teuton after qualifying first. But fueled by his win in the 110s, Wanner came up with a career-best time of 40.02 to hold off Brunk, who finished second in 40.19.
 
“I was really looking forward to making it happen,” Wanner said of the sweep. “I knew I’d have to PR, run hard and do everything to the best of my ability. (Winning the 110s) built a lot of confidence and I knew I had to do it for the 300s too.”
 

 
PLAINVILLE’S BITTEL ANSWERS CHALLENGE WITH DISCUS TITLE DEFENSE
 
The defending Class 2A state champion in the discus, Braylon Bittel could have become a bit rattled early this spring when he saw a big-time mark go up from a potential 2A challenger to his throne.
 
Namely, it was a throw of 174 feet by Lyndon’s Kaedin Massey in early April that opened the eyes of the rest of 2A.
 
But the Plainville junior wasn’t shaken. Instead, he was stirred.
 
“Honestly, I was happy for him and it just put a bigger mark out there for me to get,” Bittel said. “Obviously, I wanted to beat it. But at the same time, I had to stay in control and didn’t need to do too much to mess myself up.
 
“It took a lot for me not to think about it, but I knew it was just another track meet.”
 
With some of the pressure off Bittel as he began his title defense on Friday, the Cardinal standout threw free and easy and let the burden of living up to the mark fall squarely on Massey’s shoulders. Bittel opened with a throw of 160-5 to put a mark out there for Massey and the rest of the 2A field to chase and not could ever get there.
 
Bittel improved to a 160-6 later in the meet and wound up winning his second straight state title by more than five feet over Massey, who never found his groove and took second with a best of 155-3.
 
“I don’t want to be the chaser so I had to set the tempo,” Bittel said.
 
Bittel now is in position to win the 2A crown for three straight years. But Massey will be back as will third-place finisher Wyatt Ranfield of Berean Academy.
 
“I think it was a bigger thrill last year just because I was a sophomore and I definitely wasn’t prepared to win it,” he said. “This year, I knew what I needed to do and prepared myself, stayed under control, didn’t overthink anything and got it done.”
 

 
BREWSTER’S WOOLF ASCENDS TO TOP OF 1A
 
Winning a state title was not only a long shot last year for Brewster’s Brock Woolf. It was nearly impossible with the state’s top thrower – Madison’s Casey Helm – residing in Class 1A.
 
With Helm gone, the throne was empty. And Woolf was ready to take it.
 
The Kansas State football signee improved by nearly 20 feet in the discus and by 10 feet in the shot put over his state performance of a year ago, sweeping the 1A state titles in the shot put and discus.
 
Woolf threw 54-0.75 to win the shot put title by just more than four feet over Quinter’s Dashiell Brown, who finished at 49-11.75. In winning the discus with a throw of 167-7, Woolf topped Palco’s Ethan Gaschler by nine feet.
 
OTHER WESTERN KANSAS STATE CHAMPIONS
 

 
CLASS 5A

• Great Bend’s Valerie Luna outlasted teammate Mersadie Spray and Western Athletic Conference rival Katie Linenberger to win the girls’ high jump title. Luna got a clearance on her second attempt at 5-6 to take the crown with both Spray and Linenberger bowing out at that height after each got over at 5-4 for the first time in their careers. Up to 5-6, neither Luna nor Linenberger had missed, but Luna got her winning jump to get the title. 
• Hays’ team of Deondre Broom, Keamonie Archie, Malik Bah and Chason VanDerWege held on to beat Maize for the boys 400 relay title, winning by .14 seconds in 42.11.

 

 
CLASS 3A

• With older sister Lindsey getting a state title with her win in the 3A javelin, Goodland’s Linkon Cure got one of his own to join her as a champion. After narrowly missing the state title in the 110 hurdles, coming in .07 seconds behind champion Kael Gorski of Perry-Lecompton, Cure delivered in the 300 hurdles. He finished in 40.67 seconds to beat Cheney’s Drew Tolar by .26 seconds.
• Scott City captured the boys’ 1,600 relay title to close the meet with the foursome of Camden Vulgamore, Collin McDaniel, Freddy Saenz and Jace Thomas winning by nearly a second in 3:23.94.
• With defending champion Kolt Ungeheuer of Columbus skipping the 3A high jump to play in the state baseball semifinals, the title was there for the taking with Russell’s Jace Peerman the favorite after going 6-9 in the regular season. Instead, it was his teammate, Brayden Strobel, who came away with the title. Strobel, Peerman and Marysville’s Rook Williams all cleared 6-4 and missed at 6-6, but Strobel won via not having any misses before 6-6. Williams took second after having a miss at 6-2 while Peerman took third with a miss on his first attempt at 6-4.
• Lakin’s girls 400 relay team of Amari Esquibel, Alyssa Edgington, Grace Ostberg and Erin Urie took the title by .16 seconds over Larned, winning in 49.73 seconds.
• Phillipsburg picked up the win in the girls’ 1,600 relay with the combo of Kayla Jacobs, Trinitti Gross, Taryn Sides and Heather Schemper going 4:03.50 to win by three seconds over Mid-Continent League rival Norton.
• Norton did get the victory in the girls’ 3,200 relay as Mackenzie Clydesdale, Savana Ruback, Payton Bailey and Jaelyn Rumback finished in 9:51.89 to run away with the title by nearly 20 seconds over Southwestern Heights.

 

 
CLASS 2A

• After coming within .03 seconds of winning the 2A boys’ 100 title, Ellinwood’s Koy Behnke wasn’t going to be denied in the 200. He avenged the loss to Moundridge’s Kaden Elmore in the 100 by edging Elmore by .18 seconds for the title in the 200, winning in 22.82 seconds.
• Hoxie’s foursome of Drew Bretz, Jonathan Mader, Kane Epp and Ryan Shaw won the boys 1,600 relay, clocking a 3:25.27 to win by more than two seconds over Chase County.
• Ellis’ Rex Johnson upheld his distinction as the top javelin thrower in 2A, throwing 181-5 to beat WaKeeney-Trego’s Owen Day by almost a foot with Day throwing 180-7.
• Ellis also got two wins from its girls’ team. The 3,200 relay team of Makenna Kohl, Sienna Schmidt, Madi Russell and Avery Boydston finished in 10:07.86 to beat Sacred Heart by just more than a half a second. Railer sophomore Natalee North added a win in the discus, throwing 125-11 to win by five and a half feet over Rawlins County freshman Cayte Shively.
• Sublette’s Clarysa Webber won the closest race of the state meet, pulling out a .01-second win over Inman’s Madilyn Heflin for the win in the girls’ 100 hurdles.
• Rawlins County’s Abby Micek took the title in the 2A girls shot put, throwing 39-11.5 to beat Northeast-Arma’s Kenzie Jackson by nearly three feet.

 

CLASS 1A

• A heartbreaking and controversial finish put a damper on an otherwise stellar day for Quinter, which saw its bid for a team title end when its winning 1,600 relay was disqualified for interference. The loss of the 10 points cost the Bulldogs a share of the 1A title with Axtell and instead put them third in the team standings. Up to that point, Quinter had done some serious work. Bradley Bogert won the 400 with the lone sub-50 time, clocking a 49.98. He also added a runner-up finish in the 110 hurdles and a fourth in the 200. Lakin Getz gave the Bulldogs another champion with a win in the javelin, throwing 167-1 to win by nearly six feet.
• Wallace County’s Evan Pearce raced to the win in the boys’ 3,200, winning in 9:58.07 and by three seconds over Kiowa County’s Samuel Martinez. Pearce narrowly missed a second win in the 1,600, losing by .36 seconds to Axtell’s Grady Buessing, and added a third in the 800.
• Kiowa County’s boys finished second to Axtell in the boys’ team standings, fueled by a win in the 1,600 relay from Kaden Weseloh, Brady Deterding, Hunter Thompson and Brock Deterding after Quinter’s relay was disqualified for interference with the Mavericks on the final lap.
• After winning the 1A boys’ triple jump last year, Pawnee Heights’ Alec Carlson came up 4.25 inches shy of winning it again this year. However, he did take the title in the long jump, going 22-6.75 on his final attempt to beat Madison’s Bryson Turner – who took his triple jump title – by 4.75 inches.
• South Gray’s Kylie Stapleton cruised to a four-plus second win in the girls’ 800, finishing in 2:20.26. She also finished runner-up in the 100 hurdles, just .02 seconds behind champion Addy Goeckel of Washington County.
• Golden Plains’ Emma Weiner successfully defended her title in the girls’ 3,200, winning by 10 seconds in 11:52.02.
• Ness City won the girls’ 400 relay as the team of Monica Jordan, Mackenzy Tillitson, Sienna Brenner and Taegin Liggett won in 50.44, .51 seconds ahead of Little River.