There was a time early in his high school career when Judah Bowell wasn’t sure what the rest of his track career going to look like, or if it would even happen at all.
 
“My sophomore year, I had a horrible bout of anemia,” Bowell said. “I was incredibly anemic. My iron saturation levels were like, 4%. I was low, low, low.”
 
Not only was his iron low, so were his spirits. While Bowell was able to give things a go in his primary race, the 110 hurdles, the Abilene standout labored in the 300 hurdles. And not being able to compete 100% took it’s toll.
 
“It was really tempting to walk away from all of it,” Bowell said. “It was a struggle.”
 
Bowell persevered and when he races now, he wears a chain with a cross on it. For him, it’s a reminder of how he not only got through the hard times his sophomore season to not only finish his career, but do so as a double state champion.
 
After posting a pair of top-six finishes last year as a junior, Bowell doubled his gold medal pleasure as a senior last Saturday at the State Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Wichita. He successfully fought off Andale’s Harrison Potucek for both the 110 and 300 hurdles titles, putting a satisfying capper on a career that was very much in doubt two seasons ago.
 
“The chain is a symbolism of finding God,” Bowell said after his 300 hurdles win. “I had hope through him, I had faith in him. Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you). He knew the plans he had for me and I wanted to stay in this. Praise be to him and I got to keep going.”
 
After his struggle-filled sophomore year in which he won only one race all season, the 110s at the Beloit Relays, Bowell had a breakout season last year.
 
His only loss in the 110 hurdles came at the state meet where he finished third behind seniors Taegan Cobb of Rose Hill and Mason Dobbins of Louisburg. In the 300s, he won every meet title except the Shocker Pre-State Challenge and the state meet, where he took sixth.
 
“I really started to get on the map for some people,” Bowell said. “Last year, it was just stacked. Since my sophomore year, I knew I could do this, but there’s just been some stud seniors. This year. This year, I wanted to be that stud senior.”
 
Bowell was just .04 seconds ahead of Potucek in qualifying for the 110 hurdle finals and then had to fight off both Potucek and his Andale teammate, Bo Kaiser, in the finals. Bowell finished in 14.84, just .12 ahead of Potucek and .13 ahead of Kaiser.

 
“It wasn’t my cleanest race, but Potucek was coming on the outside and I got it done,” said Bowell, who went undefeated in the 110s this season. “He’s pushed me so much this year; he’s a dog. I have nothing but praise for the Andale guys.”
 
After qualifying first in the 300 hurdles, it appeared Bowell’s toughest challenge might come from Bishop Miege’s Brayden Lane, who was .14 behind him in his heat and Pratt’s Gavin Rupe, who was just .30 behind in winning his heat.
 
Instead, it was Potucek once again making the late push. But Bowell had enough to hold him off once again and win in 39.96 with Potucek taking second in 40.37.
 
“I battled through it and this year I got to bring it all to completion,” said Bowell, who has signed with Washburn to join last year’s 4A 300 hurdles champion, Jake Muller of Hayden. “I just love the competition. I love racing these guys.”
 

 
AXTELL CAPS DOMINANT SEASON WITH SECOND STRAIGHT 1A TEAM TITLE
 
Throughout the 2024 regular season, Axtell was about as dominant as a track and field team could be. The Eagles routinely racked up more than 200 points, getting scoring in just about every event and setting multiple school records.
 
Not a whole lot changed at the state meet. 
 
Even with a few hiccups along the way, Axtell proved it was the class of Class 1A. Posting five event wins and a number of other medal performances, the Eagles finished with 90 points, easily topping Kiowa County and Quinter, who finished tied for second with 59 points.
 
The Eagles’ total was the most scored by a 1A team at the state meet since South Gray racked up 93 in 2017.
 
“We dominated all year and we wanted to come down here and do the same thing at state,” Axtell junior Brandon Schmelzle said.
 
When Axtell won the state title a year ago, it took a bit of good fortune. The Eagles were locked in a title battle with Quinter and Kiowa County a year ago as well and a DQ of Quinter’s 1,600 relay to close the meet worked in Axtell’s favor as the Eagles won by nine points over Kiowa and 10 over Quinter.
 
This year, the Eagles didn’t leave anything to chance.
 
For the second straight year, Grady Buessing did the heavy lifting for the Eagles. Last year, Buessing out-dueled Wallace County’s Evan Pearce for the 1,600 title and then came back to run away with the 800 crown.
 
This year, Buessing was looking to pull off the distance triple, adding the 3,200 to his repertoire. It was somewhat of a late add as Buessing, a multi-time medalist in state cross country, had never run the race in a high school meet until this year’s Twin Valley League meet, instead serving as a member of Axtell’s 1,600 and 3,200 relays.
 
But with options available to fill a spot on the 1,600 relay, Buessing stuck with the 3,200 for regionals and state.
 
“I ran it (at league) and ran a good time so I had them take me out of the 4X4 and put me in it,” Buessing said. “I just wanted to see what I could do.”
 
The field in the 3,200 was daunting. Not only was Pearce back to defend the title he won a year ago, but Lebo’s Caleb Durst, the 1A cross champion this fall, was one of five other returning placers behind Pearce from a year ago in the event.
 
Buessing was seventh after the first lap, but moved up to third on the second lap and then tucked in behind Pearce as the two began to separated on the fourth lap. Pearce held a half-second lead going into the final lap and when Buessing turned on his kick, he shot to the lead and won going away, finishing in a career-best 9:49.71 to beat Pearce by two and a half seconds.
 
He also broke Axtell’s school record.
 
“That’s the race I felt the best in,” Buessing said. “It was one that was questionable coming in, so I was really happy with that race.”
 

 
With the 3,200 title in hand, Buessing went into Saturday looking to duplicate the three golds he won a year ago, also running on the Eagles’ winning 3,200 relay in addition to his sweep of the 800 and 1,600. Teaming with Daltyn Heinen, Gavin Shaughnessy and Wyatt Detweiler, the Eagles held off a late charge from Osborne to defend their relay title, winning in 8:23.43, a half-second ahead of the Bulldogs.
 
Buessing’s bid for a four-gold meet came to an end in the 1,600, however, as Durst used a strong kick on the final lap to pull away from Buessing and win by a second and a half in 4:27.34. Buessing crossed in 4:28.92.
 
Buessing didn’t let the setback affect his bid to defend his 800 title. He took control on the second lap and won in 2:01.40, nearly a second and a half faster than Hutchinson Central Christian’s Blake Yoder.
 
“I was a little bummed (not to win the 1,600), but it’s still a good accomplishment,” Buessing said. “Obviously I didn’t get the four golds I wanted, but I’m still pretty pleased overall.”
 
Like Buessing, Schmelzle and sophomore Landon Schmitz came away with a little mixed feelings as well.
 

 
Schmelzle got his first individual state title in taking the long jump crown. The 1A leader in the event the entire season, Schmelzle was a foot short of his season best of 22-10, but his top mark of 21-8 was still just good enough to edge Rock Hills’ Nate Meyers by two inches.
 
Schmelzle came up with his winning jump on the final attempt of prelims and then fouled on his three finals attempts, sweating out the field that also saw Rawlins County’s Aaron Sramek take third at 21-3.
 
“Finally, I got it,” said Schmelzle, who was fifth at state in the long jump last year and sixth as a freshman, also taking sixth in the triple jump both seasons. “The competition the past two years has been crazy.”
 
One of the title contenders in the triple jump as well with a season best of 43-2 at regionals, Schmelzle struggled to find his rhythm. He fouled on his first two attempts and his third attempt only produced a mark of 40-6 and he missed finals, taking 10^th.
 
Schmelzle was also bidding to get some points in the 100 and 200, but didn’t make finals in either.
 

Schmitz, meanwhile, began his day with a win in the 110 hurdles, pulling away from Quinter’s Bradley Bogert to win in 15.19, .35 ahead of Bogert. He was in position to pull off the upset of Bogert in the 300 hurdles, taking the lead into the final hurdle.
 
But Schmitz clipped that last hurdle, causing him to stumble and that opening was all Bogert needed as he edged past Schmitz to win in 39.96 with Schmitz slipping to third in 40.28 – Osborne’s Sam Kendig sneaking in for the runner-up spot in 40.16.
 
“We could have definitely done more,” Schmelzle said. “Landon could have won that 300; I didn’t go in the three events I was ranked pretty high in. We left some points out there.”
 
But the Eagles could hardly be disappointed, getting plenty of other contributions in their dominant title run.
 
In addition to helping the 3,200 relay to a title, Shaughnessy added a fifth in the 800, sixth in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600. Schmitz teamed with Eli Broxterman, Lucas Talbot and Rilyn Buessing to take third in the 1,600 relay and sixth in the 400 relay.
 
Sawyer Deters added points in the shot put and discus, taking third and sixth, respectively.
 
Of Axtell’s state contingent, only Grady Buessing and Deters will graduated.
 
“I’m excited to see what we can do next year, too,” Schmelzle said. “I think we’ve got some guys that will step up even more and we’ll be strong in the individual events and all of our relays are back.”
 

 
KANE IS ABLE TO SURPRISE AGAIN, TAKING 2A HIGH JUMP TITLE
 
The upset Isaac Kane pulled off a year ago in winning the Class 2A boys 400 state title was a bit of a shocker, but not something truly inconceivable.
 
After all, Kane went into the state meet with the second-fastest time coming out of regionals, trailing Moundridge’s Logan Churchill by just .41 seconds with a 50.63. But an off performance during prelims left Kane in the sixth qualifying position and put him in lane 7 for the finals.
 
No matter. Kane shook off his rough prelim race and blazed to a 50.20 in the finals to win by .04 seconds over WaKeeney’s Gunner Wilson.
 
“I like to show up when it matters,” Kane said.
 
The upset Kane pulled on Friday at this year’s State Outdoors? Well, it might have been one of the biggest shockers of this year’s state meet.
 
Kane has had a big season in the high jump, breaking Jefferson County North’s school record with a clearance of 6-foot-6 during the season. As good as that mark was, in no way did Kane expect it to be good enough to earn him a state title.
 
Not with Ell-Saline’s Brogan Rowley in the field. Not only was Rowley the defending 2A champion in the event, going 6-foot-10 at state last year to win the title, he also was one of just two jumper in the state this year to clear 7 feet along with Maize’s Alan Hanna.
 
“He’s a great jumper and I was expecting him to get 7, maybe 7-2,” Kane said of Rowley. “But it just depends on the day.”
 
And on this day, Kane once again showed up when it mattered.
 
With Rowley having an off day, Kane took advantage. He matched his season best with a 6-6 clearance and also matched the best jumps of both Rowley and Moundridge’s Heath Churchill. But while both Rowley and Churchill had misses at 6-4, Kane had a clean sheet all the way through and won the title because of it.
 
“When I saw them miss 6-4 once, I was like, ‘OK!’ because I knew I’d gotten it clean,” Kane said. “Then when I got 6-6 on the first try, I was like, ‘I might actually have a shot at winning. I don’t believe it, but I might.’”
 
Rowley also got over his first attempt at 6-6 clean while Churchill needed two attempts. The 5-foot-10 Kane missed on all three attempts at 6-8 and then had to play the waiting game to see if either Rowley or Churchill could clear their final attempt.
 
“I was saying, ‘Please, please, please’ – I really like the guy and he’s an amazing jumper,” Kane said of Rowley. “When he missed it the last time, I just jumped up and started celebrating a bit. I feel bad for him, but I know he’s going to kick butt next year.
 
“I knew I was good and I thought I could get second or third because (Churchill) is also really good. But when I saw they weren’t jumping their best, it fired my engine up and like I said, I like to show up when it matters.”
 
Kane said that having the event occur at the end of the day on Friday also helped his cause.
 
“I ran the 4X4 earlier and two years ago when I did that, I got second (at state in the high jump),” he said. “Last year, I didn’t have it and got fourth. I feel like it helps me get warmed up. I knew I had a good shot.”
 
Kane couldn’t defend his 400 title from a year ago, taking third in 50.40 to finish behind Moundridge’s Kaden Elmore (50.27) and Chase County’s Tucker Groh (50.39).
 

 
ME AND WE: HAYDEN’S SCHRICKEL GETS LONG JUMP CROWN BACK, STILL STRIKES RELAY GOLD
 
No one can ever accuse Jensen Schrickel of not being a “team-first” guy.
 
In 2022, Schrickel was a bit of a surprise state champion for Hayden. Just a freshman that season, Schrickel captured the Class 4A long jump title, nipping Tonganoxie’s Isaiah Holthaus by a half inch for the crown.
 
Despite being one of the top jumpers in 4A a year ago as a sophomore, winning five of his eight meets in the event, Schrickel opted not to go after a repeat title at state.
 
“It would have conflicted with my team events and I felt those were more important,” said Schrickel, who has anchored the Wildcats’ 400 and 1,600 relays each of the past two seasons. “I’d rather do those team events than worry about myself.”
 
The decision last year paid dividends as Schrickel helped Hayden sweep those relay titles, setting a 4A state meet record in the 1,600 relay.
 
While still keeping some of his primary focus on the relays again this year, the state event schedule also worked in favor of Schrickel being able to return to the long jump without conflicts – the start of the long jump occurring two hours before his first preliminary race.
 
And given a shot to go after his second state long jump title, this year in Class 3A with the Wildcats moving down a classification – Schrickel made the most of it. In a big way.
 
Ranked No. 3 in Class 3A throughout the season, Schrickel came up with a massive PR on his fifth jump of the competition to claim his second state title. The Wildcat junior soared 23-1 to knock off 3A leader Tyler Holmes, who finished with a best of 22-7.25.
 
“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do it again this year,” he said. “But once I found out I could, I was definitely motivated. It was a struggle the first couple of meets this year, but once I got back in the 22s, it felt pretty good.”
 
Schrickel did start this season slow, going just 19-11.5 at his first meet and only topping out at 21-6 in his first three meets. But he then went over 22 feet three straight meets, just missing his freshman and then-career best of 22-6 with a 22-5.5 at the Topeka City Meet, bolstering his confidence for state where he topped 22 feet on all five attempts.
 
A 22-6 opening jump had him in the lead after prelims, but Holmes took over the lead on his fifth attempt with a 22-7.25. Schrickel responded right away with his winning jump and then saw Holmes only go 21-11 on his final attempt.
 
His second long jump title spurred Schrickel to a big second day as well.
 
A third-place finisher at state in the 400 last year, Schrickel fought off Wichita Collegiate’s Timmy Ritchie to win the 3A title in the event on Saturday, finishing in 48.73 to nip Ritchie by .22 seconds.
 
“It felt awesome,” he said. “That’s probably the individual event I wanted to win the most. Just being able to do that was great. The competition was really good and it didn’t feel much different than 4A.”
 

 
As for the relays, Hayden couldn’t quite pull off the sweep it did a year ago, but was as close as it could be to getting it done.
 
With Schrickel teaming with Finn Dunshee – who swept the 100 and 200 titles – Liam Stegman and Jackson McGivern, the 400 relay was just edged out for the title by Collegiate, which won in a 3A-meet record 42.36 while Hayden was second in 42.52.
 
The Wildcats then closed the meet with a win in the 1,600 relay as Stegman, John Strickland, Dunshee and Schrickel trimmed more than three seconds off their prelim time to run a 3:26.01 to hold off top qualifier Holcomb by .33 seconds.
 
“I knew when we had it close, I could win it for us,” Schrickel said. “It was a great way to finish it off.”
 

 
SOUTHEAST OF SALINE’S NURNBERG MISSES ONE MARK, GETS ANOTHER IN DOUBLE-GOLD SHOWING
 
There’s no question what’s been on the mind of Tate Nurnberg for the bulk of this track season.
 
It’s Southeast of Saline’s high jump record – a 6-9 from Shane Roberts in 1983.
 
“It’s something I walk be every day,” Nurnberg said of the board showing the school track and field records.
 
So once he was the only jumper left in in the Class 3A state competition on Friday at Cessna Stadium, there was no questioning what height that bar was going to.
 
“I wanted to get 6-9.25,” Nurnberg said.
 
It wasn’t in the cards this year as Nurnberg missed all three attempts at the height. But he could walk away knowing that not only was he the state champion, but he’s got another year to get it done.
 
“I’m happy with first place,” Nurnberg said. “(The record) will be something I’m going for next year.”
 
Nurnberg did leave Wichita with a school record, however. After winning his high jump title on Friday, he came back Saturday and won the triple jump crown in dominating fashion. He posted a 44-10.75 on his first attempt that would have won the title by five inches, but then sailed 46-1 on his first attempt of finals to put things out of reach for the field.
 
It also topped his previous school record of 45-8.5 set earlier this season.
 
Last year, Nurnberg couldn’t compete in the triple jump at all. After finishing ninth at state in the event as a freshman, a back injury limited him to only one meet in the triple a year ago, though he still was able to high jump, eventually finishing fourth at state in that event.
 
“It was really hard on my back to triple,” he said. “I think I could have been top three. It was pretty sad. I was just focused on recovering and getting ready for this season.”
 
Healthy this season, Nurnberg opened the year at 44-4.5 before hitting his big jump in mid-April at the Abilene Invitational. He didn’t top 45 feet again until regionals and at state had to contend with 3A leader Ross Rider of Lakin, who had a season best of 45-9.
 
But Rider came up well short of that mark, finishing fourth at 43-9, and when Nurnberg hit his PR jump, the comeback was complete.
 
“It was a great feeling to come back from that injury,” he said. “I felt really good these last two days.”
 

 
SUSPENDED 1,600 RELAY WORTH THE WAIT FOR WASHBURN RURAL
 
With storms closing in on Wichita early Saturday evening, meet officials fast-tracked the meet schedule hoping to get the entire meet completed. But a lightning strike in the vicinity forced officials to suspend the meet with just one race left to finish, the Class 6A boys’ 1,600 relay.
 
With the bulk of the teams and fans leaving after team trophy presentations were made inside Koch Arena, seven of the eight finalists in the event waited out what turned out to be a three-hour delay. And for Washburn Rural, that turned out to be a golden decision.
 
Despite qualifying fourth during prelims, the Junior Blues foursome of Shane Jueneman, Liam Morrison, Draden Chooncharoen and Isaiah Terry put a cap on the 2024 state meet with an upset win in the relay. Rural finished in a season-best 3:19.56 to beat runner-up Olathe West by more than a second with the Owls finishing in 3:20.93.

"That group of guys have been focused all season long," Rural coach Keith Wetzel said. "When they broke a 39-year-old school record at the Kansas Relays, they have been even more determined. Leaving, once the break was called, was never an option for them. They relaxed inside Koch Arena for a while during the delay, but once the stadium opened for warmups they were more focused than i've ever seen them.

"Coach (Elizabeth) Sigvaldson had them ready mentally and physically to run how they did. The guys ran with purpose and determination in a highly competitive final race. Cessna Stadium was sort of eerie because people had left, so we're thankful KSHSAA allowed them to run that night."
 
Rural also got a title from Josh Sulzen-Watson in the 6A javelin. The 6A leader this spring, Sulzen-Watson saw Mill Valley’s Aiden Strobel immediately take the event lead with an opening throw of 187-7 and held it into the finals. But on his first throw of the finals, Sulzen-Watson came up with a toss of 188-7 to win his first state championship by a foot.
 
 
OTHER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BOYS CHAMPIONS
 

 

• Shawnee Heights’ Jackson Esquibel successfully defended his Class 5A 3,200 title. The T-Bird senior, who won the 5A cross country title in the fall, hung back in the pack for the first two laps before taking over the race lead on the third lap and never looking back, winning in 9:21.31, beating runner-up Vance Krudwig of De Soto by nearly five seconds. Esquibel also finished second in the 1,600, coming in a half second behind De Soto’s Palmer O’Connor for the title (4:18.77-4:19.11).

 

 

• Wamego’s Harrison Cutting had a hand in two gold medals for the Red Raiders. He teamed with Peyton Parker, Isaac Ibendahl and Tony Shea to win the Class 4A 3,200 relay title, anchoring the team to a winning time of 8:02.19. Cutting then came back to win the 4A 800 in 1:56.30, edging Baldwin’s Nick Johnson by just .66 seconds for the title.

 

 

• Chase County’s foursome of Brock Griffin, Wyatt Griffin, Luke Budke and Tucker Groh proved to be a golden combination, taking home a pair of Class 2A relay titles. The foursome turned in a 43.74 to win the 400 relay by nearly a half second over Bennington. They then closed the meet with a three-plus second win over Berean Academy in the 1,600, winning in 3:26.15. Groh also finished second in the 400, .12 seconds behind champion Kaden Elmore of Moundridge, with Brock Griffin adding a fifth in the event as well. Budke posted a runner-up finish in the pole vault as the Bulldogs finished third as a team with 49 points, six behind state champion Moundridge and one behind runner-up Lyndon.

 

 

• Central Heights broke the 2A state meet record in the boys’ 3,200 relay as Connor Burkdoll, Owen Miller, Christian McCord and Cody Hammond left the field far behind, winning the title by nearly 23 seconds. Their time of 8:00.20 also took nearly a full second off the previous 2A meet record of 8:01.18 set by Olpe in 2016.

 

 

• The Class 1A state cross country champion in the fall, Lebo’s Caleb Durst added a track title as well, taking the boys’ 1A 1,600 title. After finishing fourth in the 3,200 on Friday, Durst pulled away from defending champion Grady Buessing of Axtell on the final lap to win the 1,600 on Saturday in 4:27.34, a second and a half ahead of Buessing. Durst also took seventh in the 800.

 

 

• Pleasant Ridge’s Canon Duncan pulled off the upset in the boys 2A javelin, taking advantage of an off day by 2A leader Tanner Heckel of Lyndon. Heckel had posted a season best of 195-3 but mustered just a best of 179-6 at state to finish third. Duncan opened with a 172-9 but saw Jefferson County North’s Zach O’Toole throw 179-11 on his second attempt to take the event lead. Duncan immediately responded with a 182-9 on his second throw to re-take the lead and that throw held up as O’Toole never bettered his mark.

 

 

• After qualifying just .01 seconds ahead of Bucklin, .19 ahead of Wallace County and .20 ahead of Rawlins County in the Class 1A 400 relay with a prelim time of 44.33, Frankfort turned it up a notch in the finals and won rather convincingly. The foursome of Carter Olson, Brock Armstrong, Fred Hyde and Lane Loiseau broke the 40-second barrier with a 43.61 to win by .58 seconds over Rawlins County. The Wildcats were just .31 off the meet record of 43.30 set by Hanover in 2015.