WICHITA – Andover Central’s Bryce Barkdull hopes his time as the gold standard for Kansas high school boys pole vaulting is short.
 
Until then, Barkdull has established lofty benchmarks for others to pursue.
 
Barkdull, the state record-holder in the event since last season, tried to go above his personal best in the State Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 24 at Cessna Stadium. He ended up adding one inch to his state-meet record while winning his second consecutive Class 5A title at 17 feet, 2 inches in his final high school competition.
 
One of four Kansas prep pole vaulters to clear 17 feet since 1978, Barkdull secured the state title with his first of three successful attempts. His final clearance surpassed the state meet mark of 17-1 he set last year. The University of Kansas signee then had the bar raised to 17-10, but missed on three chances to top the overall state record of 17-9 he ascended to May 9 at the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division II meet in Salina.
 

 “I was really wanting 17-2 to get another record under my belt and then I was going for 17-10, trying to get the Kansas record and state meet record in the same bar, a 2 for 1,” Barkdull said after the competition. “I just couldn’t make it happen today, but I made a good attempt at it.”
 
Barkdull, the son of former Wichita State All-America pole vaulter Ryan Barkdull, developed into a must-see attraction at meets during his time with the Jaguars. With his dad as coach, he and his older brother, Ashton, swept the top two spots at the 5A meet two years ago, with Ashton setting a 5A record on his winning vault of 16-7.25.
 
Bryce Barkdull, the runner-up that year at 15 feet, took the pole and soared with it.
 
He cleared 16 feet for the first time in his junior season opener at the Texas Relays. Three meets later, he rose to 17-3.25 at the Andover Invitational before surpassing a 43-year-old state record owned by Kansas City Wyandotte’s Steve Stubblefield when he cleared 17-6.25 at the Shawnee Mission North Relays.
 
After claiming his brother’s 5A meet record and the overall state meet mark last May, Barkdull spent most of his senior season above 17 feet.
 
One of Barkdull’s finest competitive moments this spring came after his worst. He set a KU Relays record and raised his PR to 17-7 one week after failing to make his opening height of 16-0 at the Shocker Pre-State Challenge.
 
Back on the same runway of that mid-April disappointment, Barkdull entered the 5A competition at 16-0, where only Blue Valley Southwest senior Carson Ratzlaff remained. Barkdull got over it this time and had his title when Ratzlaff, a Wichita State commit, went out.
 
“That was a big relief,” Barkdull said. “Opening bar is always the hardest. You’ve just got to be prepared.
 
“I’ve been dealing with some knee problems, so I don’t warm up with the other guys. I just kind of jump in when I’m ready to go and it’s scary. It’s risky sometimes. I made it work today.”
 

 Barkdull elicited loud cheers when he went over his first attempt at 17-2, re-establishing the state meet record for all classes. He made one solid try at 17-10 and had another disrupted by a tailwind that calmed during his run-up, but still received a warm ovation from the crowd.
 
“We just wanted to make sure he won a state title first off and then I wanted him to jump some higher bars,” Ryan Barkdull said. “We really had goals set for higher today, but it’s OK.
 
“It’s kind of a sad thing when you get spoiled. He breaks the state record and we’re disappointed with that performance.”
 
Barkdull seemed to roll with it afterward, focusing on the camaraderie he developed with fellow pole vaulters during his senior season. Often while he waited he join the competition, he offered tips and encouragement to fellow competitors.
 
“I’ve just been taught that pole vaulting is not a selfish community,” Barkdull said. “We don’t make enemies, we don’t spike each other’s poles. We’re all good friends and try to lift each other up, try to give each other a clap and we try to encourage each other.
 
“We try to keep it positive. I want all the other guys to succeed.”
 
Ratzlaff’s second-place finish at 15-6 marked the first of three consecutive Blue Valley Southwest vaulters to finish behind Barkdull. Sophomore Dylan Cross finished third at 15-0 and junior Gabe Heck was fourth at 14-6.
 
Barkdull alluded to the Timberwolves when asked how long he thought his state meet mark might stand.
 
“Maybe a year,” he said. “I hope that the sophomore, Dylan, maybe he gets it. I really hope that he can put up some bars and take a jab at my record next year. He’s a really good vaulter, only a sophomore and already jumping 16-2, 16-3.
 
“He’s an athlete and he’s going to be a really good vaulter someday, a really great vaulter someday. He’s got a lot of potential.”
 

A NICE RING TO IT: AQUINAS THROWERS ADAPT TO TOUGH TRAINING CONDITIONS, SWEEP 5A TITLES

To be a track athlete for St. Thomas Aquinas is somewhat akin to being a bit of a vagabond.
 
The high school currently doesn’t have a track – one is in the process of being constructed – which means there are no facilities at the school for the Saints to practice at. So when it comes to honing their skills, that means getting a little creative, especially for the Aquinas throwers.
 
Javelin throwers get their work in on the front lawn of the school, obviously without the benefit of having a polymeric rubber runway. Shot put and discus throwers, meanwhile, have to travel to area middle schools and use their rings.
 
“It’s hard because we have to share these with the middle schools so our practice schedule kind of revolves around theirs,” Aquinas thrower Joey Goodenow said. “Also, the rings and their condition are a toss-up because maintenance is not always the best there.”
 
But he added a caveat.
 
“It does make us better because the throwers know that they can compete in any conditions and any ring.”
 
Goodenow and fellow Saint throwers K’lyn Curtis and Joe Loughman have proven that hard work in tough conditions has done nothing but make them better. The trio spent the bulk of this season ranked at or near the top of their respective events and capped this season with a sweep of the Class 5A state titles in the throws.
 
Goodenow brought home state championships in both the shot put and discus while Loughman won his second straight state title in the javelin. In all, the trio accounted for 38 of Aquinas’ 65 team points.
 
“We practice really hard and we do take pride in that, it’s a big thing for us,” Goodenow said. “Being a throws program and not having a track, practicing is pretty hard. So when we show up and do good things at meets like this, it feels pretty good.”
 
Goodenow showed up in a big way, earning the first state championships of his career. Last year as a sophomore, he barely made the podium in the shot put, placing seventh, and didn’t place at all in the discus, finishing 10^th.
 
But he made a monstrous improvement in his marks this spring and went into the state meet as the top discus thrower in 5A with a season-best of 188-0 (No. 2 overall in the state) and fourth in 5A in the shot put with a best of 55-6.
 
“Just working hard in season and out of season,” Goodenow said of his significant improvement. “It’s lifting weights, it’s coaching – we’ve got a great coach (Dillen) Jackle – he works hard with us at all times of the year. It’s being consistent and working through some of those technical difficulties. That really helped a lot.”
 

 
Motivated by not making the finals in the discus a year ago, Goodenow didn’t leave much to chance this year. He threw a 171-3 on his second throw of preliminaries and then improved to 177-10 on his second throw of finals. That held up as the winning mark with only Newton’s Jarrett Schmidt coming close to threatening him when he popped a 170-8 on his final attempt to move into the runner-up spot.
 
Goodenow had expected teammate Curtis to be one of his top challengers in the event after he had finished runner-up at state last year to overall state leader Jamale Williams of Lansing. But while Goodenow was having a strong day, Curtis had his worst ever in the discus ring.
 
Ranked eighth in 5A this season, Curtis not only didn’t place, he didn’t even get a mark. He fouled on all three preliminary throws to come up empty in his bid to push Goodenow for the title.
 
Just as last year’s shortcoming was motivation for Goodenow this year, Curtis found strength in his rough day on Friday when he hit the shot put ring on Saturday, an event he came in ranked No. 2 in 5A with a season-best of 55-10.5.
 
“Honestly, you have to put the past in the past and get ready for the next day,” Curtis said. “New mind, new body. Just ready to go.”
 
After the prelims, the battle was tight. Goodenow threw 55-7.5 on his final attempt of prelims to hold a slim lead over Curtis and St. James Academy’s Spencer Dohm, each with throws of 55-6.25. Lurking back in the pack was Goddard’s Matrix Eames, who had only thrown 50-7.75 in prelims but had a 5A-leading season best of 57-1.
 

 
“Nobody works hard than K’lyn does, I’ll tell you that,” Goodenow said. “When we were going into finals really close like that, I just told him, ‘Whoever wins, wins -- as long as it’s one of us. That’s all we wanted.”
 
Goodenow did his part to assure a Saints victory, throwing 56-6.75 on his second throw of finals. Dohm never improved his mark, but on Curtis’ final attempt, he launched one that both he and Goodenow thought might be the winner.
 
“I thought it was close,” Goodenow said. ‘He’s got it in there. He had one in warm-ups that was 58, so it was in there.”
 
“I thought I might have it,” Curtis said.
 
Instead, it came up just short, but the throw of 55-10.75 moved him into second place.
 
“I’m just excited that we went 1-2 on the podium,” Curtis said. “The discus didn’t go well yesterday, so I came over here today and did exceptional.”
 

 
In between Goodenow’s sweep of the discus and shot put titles, Loughman was getting pushed for the second straight year in trying to defend his 5A javelin title.
 
“I think last year was a little tougher because I didn’t know I had it in me,” said Loughman, who threw a career-best by nearly 14 feet at the state meet with his winning throw of 195-0 to edge Hays’ Wyatt Waddell by just three feet with the Indian also hitting his season best at state. “This year, I knew I could do it for sure. I had so much confidence coming back. I was kind of the top dog.”
 
He might have been the top dog, but this year’s title didn’t come any easier. Despite coming in as one of three throwers in the state over 200 feet this season – throwing 203-4 at the season-opening Olathe North Preseason Spectacular – Loughman once again saw a Hays thrower enjoy a career day to push him.
 
Fourth at state a year ago, Hays’ Dalton Meyers hadn’t had a throw better than a 184-1 this season, that a six-foot PR coming at regionals. But on his third prelim throw, Meyers hit another big PR, this time a 191-1 that gave him the event lead with Loughman sitting at 187-11 through his first two throws.
 
But champions respond and that’s what Loughman did. He immediately answered Meyers’ big throw with one of his own, popping a 195-3 that held up throughout the finals to give Loughman his second straight title.
 
“There’s always pressure when you won last year,” Loughman said. “But I mean, I’m throwing the same stick every week so I don’t feel it that much. I’m just going out having fun.
 
“I got 200 earlier this season and I know I can throw it. It’s just putting it together in a meet. I didn’t get it, but when you win a state championship, you can’t be mad.”
 

LAKIN’S OLDHAM PROVES SIZE DOESN’T MATTER, SWEEPS 3A SHOT, DISCUS TITLES WITH TOP MARKS OF MEET
 
At 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Colter Oldham could hardly be considered undersized.
 
But when he took a look around the shot put ring for the finals of the Class 3A competition, he didn’t exactly feel like a looming presence.
 
“Compared to these guys, I’m a bit undersized,” Oldham said, referring to the likes of fellow finalists Holden Bass (6-4, 290) of Nemaha Central, Joshua Grimm (6-5, 320) of Sabetha and Caiden Hoffman (6-3, 317) of Hoisington, among others. “I’m just trying to show up and beat them despite my size.”
 
Taking a page from the adage, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” Oldham used his refined technique and explosiveness and towered above his burly competition to win both the 3A shot put and discus titles.
 
The state’s overall leader in the shot put with a season best of 59-9.5 and 3A leader in the discus with a top mark of 180-9, Oldham knew he didn’t have much of a cushion with several challengers well within range of his state and class-leading marks. Beloit’s Eli Johnson ranked second in the state in the shot put, just an inch behind Oldham with his season best of 59-8.5 and the Trojan also was just 10 feet back in the discus with a 170-7.
 
“All those guys out there are great athletes and so explosive,” Oldham said. “They can all launch a throw at any time. There’s always pressure on me to show up and compete because I know they’re trying to catch me.”
 
And being the favorite for the first time in his career also presented its own set of pressure, particularly when he hit a mid-season lull where he was throwing in the 54, 55-foot range. Last year, he PRed by two feet at state with a 57-0.75 and then opened this season with marks of 57-3.5 and 58-8.5 in his first two meets before the down stretch. 
 
“I was super-nervous coming in here,” Oldham said. “A big throw last year, I wanted to improve on it. It kind of played with me mentally a bit. I had a few meets where I was throwing just 54 and I was throwing farther than that last year.”
 
Oldham righted the ship with his state-leading mark at the Lakin Invitational and then added another throw of 59-6 at regionals to build momentum for state. Even though Oldham didn’t quite hit his season-best marks, coming up just inches short in each, nobody came close to catching him as he completely dominated each competition for his first state titles in both.
 
In Friday’s discus competition, all six of his marks were over 170 feet and good enough to win the title by more than 11 feet. Oldham punctuated that title with his final throw, a 180-5 that was nearly 21 feet longer than runner-up Johnson, whose best was a 159-10.
 
“Basically I just trusted in my practice and tried to stay consistent,” Oldham said. “I know if I stay consistent, the one throw will come and that happened both days.”
 

 
In Saturday’s shot put, each of his five counting throws were over 57 feet and long enough to take the title by nearly three feet. And once again, he came up big in the finals, popping a 59-3.75 that gave him a five-foot win over Bass, whose best was 54-3.25. Johnson struggled to put it together, fouling on four of six throws and finishing ninth with a 51-7.
 
His only disappointment was falling short of hitting the 60-foot barrier. Both of his winning marks, however, were the best of the state meet in any class.
 
“I just showed up today,” Oldham said. “I didn’t even know if I could feel anything; it was all adrenaline. My practice throughout the year just took over and that’s all it was. I was hoping for over 60 in the shot and a 185 in discus. I didn’t quite get there, but those are marks I can’t complain about.”
 
Not only did this year’s competition serve as fuel for Oldham, but so too was the throwers he saw in his previous trips to state.
 
As a freshman, he watched Santa Fe Trail’s Brett Schwartz set the Class 3A state meet record in the discus while Oldham finished third. Last year, he finished third in the shot put as Beloit’s Grady Seyfert set the 3A meet mark in that event on his way to a sweep of the shot and discus.
 
“I’ve had a ton of competition, both years having a state record holder with freshman year Schwartz and last year Seyfert,” Oldham said. “I’ve had a lot of good throwers to look up to and it fueled me 100%. Seeing Grady throw last year pushed me. I watched him and I wanted to be that guy this year. I worked as hard as I could in the offseason to get where he was at and now that I’m there, it’s pretty cool.”
 

 
MILL VALLEY’S WOODS TURNS BASEBALL SETBACK INTO GOLDEN TRACK CAREER
 
As one of the state’s top football recruits – a five-star defensive end with offers from nearly every major Division I program – there’s a chance Jayden Woods might have eventually pursued track and field to help fuel his gridiron greatness.
 
But as a baseball player since the fourth grade, he was pretty committed to playing that sport instead.
 
His freshman year at Mill Valley, that changed. Woods suffered a fractured tibia during that season and decided it was in his best interest to give up baseball. To fill the spring void, he opted to give track a try.
 
“Sophomore year, I just decided to do track for fun,” Woods said. “I got really into it and took it serious.”
 
It turned out to be a golden decision. Last spring as a sophomore, Woods captured the Class 6A state championship in the discus in his first year, upsetting defending champion Jordan Allen of Olathe South for the crown.
 
This spring, he doubled the fun, sweeping the shot put and discus titles in Class 6A.
 
“I knew it was going to be tough and I knew the practices leading up were going to be really important,” Woods said. “Taking it seriously, taking my warm-ups seriously and getting after it.”
 
Woods certainly wasn’t the favorite going into either of his events, even as the defending champion in the discus. His best discus throw of the regular season was a 173-5 that while ranking ninth overall in the state was more than 20 feet behind 6A and state leader Taveon Bell-Robinson of Olathe East.
 
In the shot put, Woods’ best mark of 53-3.5 was just the fourth-best in 6A this season.
 
But being the underdog in each hardly bothered him.
 
“That really gets me going, trying to rise to the occasion,” Woods said. “It’s just relying on your practice and technique and stuff like that.”
 
Plugged into his motivation – “loud music – AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath” – Woods rocked the fields in both.
 
His first attempt of Friday’s shot put competition was a career-best 55-6 that easily held up by more than a foot over 6A leader Josiah Blomker of Shawnee Mission North, who’d thrown 57-8.75 this year but managed a best of only 54-0.75 at state. Woods improved to 56-3.5 on his second attempt and despite fouling on all three finals throws, easily captured his first state title in the shot.
 
“That was just all adrenaline,” Woods said. “I was just super-hyped up going in and just tried my best. I had a really good warm-up and then listening to my loud music got me going.”
 

 
Coming back in the discus on Saturday, Woods followed a similar path to the title. He put the pressure on the competition right away, opening with a career-best throw of 175-3 on his first attempt. He topped that with a 176-5 on his final prelim throw, and then saw Bell-Robinson nearly match him with a 176-1.
 
While Bell-Robinson couldn’t improve in the finals, Woods did, going 176-6 and then capping his high school career, and second straight title with a career-best 180-3.
 
“Having that competition, it always keeps you on the edge and keeps you in it,” Woods said. “Just being farther than him was the goal, that’s all that mattered. I didn’t have a specific mark in mind.”
 
Now a three-time state champion in just his second year throwing, Woods potentially could join the state’s all-time elite with another year of training. Instead, this year’s state meet was his swansong.
 
Woods intends on graduating at mid-year next winner to get a head start on his collegiate football career. He’s narrowed down his list of schools to five – Wisconsin, Penn State, Florida, Purdue and Tennessee – and after visiting them all in the next month-plus, he hopes to make his decision some time in July.
 
“It’s really bittersweet,” he said. “It was really good to end this year and I’m just taking it all in and enjoying it.”
 

 
MADDEN 2024: OLATHE NORTH FINDS NEW COVER BOY AS STATE TRACK STAR
 
For the past two springs, there was no question who the headline performers were for Olathe North at the State Outdoors.
 
The Parrish brothers – Jacob, Josh and Jason – combined for 10 gold medals and three runner-up finishes over the past two seasons to lead the Eagles to back-to-back Class 6A team titles.
 
Jacob won the 100 and 200 in 2022 while Josh won the 110 hurdles and long jump and Jason added the 300 hurdles. With Jacob graduating, Josh and Jason carried the load last year as seniors with Josh defending his titles in the long jump and 110 hurdles and adding a triple jump title as well and Jason defending his 300 hurdles title and running on the winning 1,600 relay.
 
“They set the bar so high,” North’s Elijah Madden said of the Parrishes. “They were just great teammates and athletes.”
 
Following in those footsteps was no easy task, but one Madden accepted as one of the Eagles’ few returning placers from the 2023 state meet.
 
And though he couldn’t quite lead North to a three-peat in the team race – the Eagles took second to crosstown rival Olathe West by 26.5 points (81-54.5) – Madden certainly did his part to keep some of those Parrish titles in house.
 
Madden opened the meet with a victory in the Class 6A long jump, edging Shawnee Mission West’s Brandon Wilson by an inch for the title. He then came back on Saturday and added the triple jump title as well, winning by more than a foot over Olathe West’s Elijah Hakim.
 
“I don’t know if there was any pressure (to win it),” Madden said. “I was just trying to do my best to carry on what Josh and those guys did in the jumps.”
 
Transitioning from more of a middle distance runner at the start of his career at North, Madden finished sixth at state in the triple jump a year ago and didn’t even qualify for state in the long jump. But this spring, he wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the top triple jumpers in the state, opening the season with a leap of 44-3.5 – more than a foot farther than where he ended last year.
 
He steadily built upon that and popped a leap of 45-9 at the Shawnee Mission North Relays that gave him the second-best mark in Class 6A going into the state meet. But the ground between him and Hakim was great with Hakim ranking No. 2 overall in the state with a best of 47-0.
 
But at state Hakim fell well short of his season best, going only 45-2.5. Madden, meanwhile, was at his best.
 
After going 44-7.75 on his first attempt, Madden posted four straight jumps that were good enough to win the competition – all 45-7.5 or better – before putting the finishing touches on the victory with a final jump of 46-3.75.
 
The big day was fueled by his win on Friday in the long jump.
 
Once again, Madden entered the state meet as a bit of an underdog. He’d only long jumped starting in late April, but won Sunflower League and Class 6A regional titles to bring some momentum into state, sitting third on the 6A honor roll with a best of 23-2 and trailing Wilson (23-3.75) and Wichita East’s Triston Cross, the state co-leader with a best of 23-9.
 
But again, when others faltered, Madden rose. Cross went 21-11.75 on his first attempt but failed to improve that mark. Wilson topped that with a leap of 22-2 on his fifth attempt.
 
But that was a half-inch short of Madden’s opening jump of 22-2.5 and right after Wilson hit his mark, Madden answered with a 22-3 that clinched the title.
 
“It was great competition for me and having great competition around me makes me compete better,” Madden said. “I loved the environment I was in with all those great jumpers, couldn’t have had a better way to win it. My coach just told me to go for it, so I did. I thought I would have to go 24 to win it, so it’s great that I got it.”
 
And now he’s set the bar for the next wave of Eagle jumpers.
 
“It’s an honor to win,” Madden said. “I don’t think I quite reached (the Parrishes) bar, but I did the best I could and I know they’ll be proud of that.”