10 CLASS 1A GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES TO WATCH IN 2024
 

ADDY GOECKEL, WASHINGTON COUNTY

What a sophomore season it was for Goeckel as she swept the Class 1A state hurdles titles and helped lead Washington County to the Class 1A team title as well as the Tigers finished with 55 points to edge South Gray by four points. The difference in the team race ultimately came down to Goeckel’s win in the 100 hurdles as she edged top seed Kylie Stapleton of South Gray by .02 seconds with a 15.42 for the state title. Goeckel then beat Twin Valley League rival Claire Cole of Doniphan West by a second and a half for the 300 hurdles crown, finishing in 46.20. She’s the school record holder in both events, which she swept at league as well, and also was on Washington’s school-record 1,600 relay that finished third at state.
 

ANNA JUENEMAN, HANOVER

One of the top small-school girl athletes in the state, Jueneman has left her mark in three sports already as a junior, helping the volleyball team to back-to-back state runner-up finishes the past two years and the basketball team to back-to-back Class 1A Division II state championships. On the track, she’s a state champion as well, capturing the state title in 400 last year with a time of 58.88. She owns the school record in the 400 and 200, where she finished as state runner-up last year to Oxford’s Makhila Maupin by .38 seconds in 26.80. Jueneman also took fourth in the 100, just .24 seconds out of first in a race where .45 seconds separated the top six.
 

ABBY MICEK, RAWLINS COUNTY 

Micek captured a Class 2A state championship in shot put last year. Rawlins County moved down to Class 1A this year.  Her winning throw last year was 39-11.50. Arma Northeast’s Kenzie Jackson was runner-up with a 37-2. Micek was also the regional and Northwest Kansas League champion last year. She owns the school record in shot put at 42-1 and will look to break it again this year as a senior. She also qualified for state in the discus last year. Her personal best in discus is 114-2.
 

HAVANA OLANDER, LITTLE RIVER

It certainly didn’t take Olander long to announce her presence on the state track scene. Last year as a freshman she went into the state meet with the top Class 1A mark in the triple jump at 37 feet, 3.5 inches. She came out of the state meet not only with a state championship, but the top triple jump mark overall in the state. Olander soared 38-7.25 at state to win by just over a foot over Marmaton Valley’s Janae Granere. That broke the Redskins’ school record set by former state champion Nicky Ramage. Olander also qualified for state in the high jump and 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, taking 10^th in the high jump, 11^th in the 300 hurdles and 13^th in the 100 hurdles, and was a top-three finisher at the Wheat State League meet in all four of those events. 
 

LANEY REIFF, ELYRIA CHRISTIAN

Reiff had a dazzling debut for the Eagles last year, setting school records in four events last year as a freshman. Reiff captured the state title in the 1,600, edging Kinsley’s MacKenzie Herrmann by just .06 seconds in a thrilling finish for the distance race, winning in a school-record 5:25.35. She also was on Elyria’s winning 3,200 relay that set a school record with a time of 10:14.52. Reiff finished runner-up by 10 seconds to Golden Plains’ Emma Weiner in the 3,200 but set a school record with her 12:02.71 and also broke the school record with her third-place finish in the 800 in 2:26.22. She set two Wheat State League records last year as well in the 1,600 and on the 3,200 relay while adding a win at league in the 3,200 as well.
 

LILLEE RICHARD, WASHINGTON COUNTY

Richard did her part in helping Washington County capture the Class 1A team state championship, winning the only event she competed in at state. The pole vault specialist spent the entire season breaking the school record over and over and cleared a career-best 10-6 at the state meet to win the title on misses after Quinter freshman Mia Briggs also went 10-6. Richard improved on a fourth-place state finish as a sophomore and also was the Twin Valley League champion in the event. Teaming with fellow returners Addy Goeckel (hurdles state champion) and Jesse Hoover (fourth in the javelin), Richard and the Tigers will look to defend their state crown this season.

 

MAYCE RUSSELL, MACKSVILLE

The reigning 1A javelin champion, Russell is eyeing a big senior campaign after missing parts of the volleyball and basketball seasons with a broken ankle. She suffered the injury in volleyball and came back for basketball mid-season to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. She’s already established herself as Macksville’s top javelin thrower in program history, owning the school record and seven of the top-10 throws at Macksville. Her personal record was set at state last year when she unleashed a throw of 144 feet, 3 inches. Russell is planning on competing in the elite division of the Shocker Pre-State Challenge and Kansas Relays in hopes of building momentum for big throws in May.  

JA'ASIA STAFFORD, WALLACE COUNTY

Stafford is the two-time defending shot put champion. She enters her senior season with a personal record of 40 feet, 5 inches, which is also a school record. Her winning throw traveled 39-2 at the state meet last year after winning with a mark of 38-11.25 her sophomore year. Hodgeman County’s Blake Dansel was runner-up to Stafford last year with a throw of 37-9.25. Stafford was a state runner-up in shot put as a freshman. She won five meets in shot put last season, including regionals.

 

KYLIE STAPLETON, SOUTH GRAY

Stapleton has already etched her name all over the South Gray record book. The junior owns school records in the 100 hurdles (15.44), 800-meter run (2:17.64), long jump (17 feet, 6 inches) and also anchored South Gray’s school record-holding 1,600-relay (4:13.27). Stapleton is the reigning state champion in the 800-meter run with a 2:20.26. She narrowly missed out on another title in the 100 hurdles, setting her personal best but taking second by 0.2 seconds to Washington County’s Addy Goeckel. Stapleton took fourth in the long jump at state and also ran a leg on South Gray’s 1,600 relay team that took seventh. She was the anchor on a 3,200-relay team from Kansas that took first place in the 15-16 year-old division at the USATF National Junior Olympics last July in Eugene, Ore.  

EMMA WEINER, GOLDEN PLAINS

Weiner has left Wichita with a first-place medal in each of the last three state meets. She captured her second straight 3,200-meter title last year and was the 1,600 champion as a freshman. Weiner also took fourth-place in the 1,600 last year and ran a leg on the Golden Plains’ third-place 3,200 relay. Other finishes for Weiner at the state meet include a second-place showing in the 1,600 in 2022, as well a second-place effort in the 3,200 in 2021. Weiner is also a two-time state champion in cross country, winning those titles as a sophomore and junior.