If ever there was a time for the buzz in Cessna Stadium to reach an absolutely electric, pitch late Friday evening was it.
 
With the action on the opening day at the State Outdoor Track and Field Championships winding down, it in all reality was just heating up. No fewer than five athletes were going after their second state titles in their respective event were competing inside the stadium while the most competitive javelin competition of the weekend was going on just outside.
 
But for all the star power on display, taking center stage was Alan Hanna. And boy, the Maize senior deliver a show for the ages.
 
“I had to go out with a bang,” Hanna said.
 
That he did. Not only did Hanna not disappoint – himself or the crowd -- by clearing that mark, he took things to a height never before seen at the state meet.
 
Clearing 7-0 and his career-best 7-2 with ease, Hanna turned his final state meet into a historic one, taking down the Class 6A and overall state-meet record with a winning jump of 7 feet, 3.5 inches. The previous 6A and state-meet best had been a leap of 7-3.25 by Garden City’s Jason Archibald in 1995.
 
“It’s crazy, man,” Hanna said. “I had it in my head that I was going to go high. Now that it’s all over and I get to soak it all in, it’s amazing. Definitely nice.”
 

 
A year ago, Hanna was one of two jumpers in the state along with Ell-Saline’s Brogan Rowley that cleared seven feet during the regular season. But as soon as he got to that hallowed mark, Hanna wanted more.
 
“It felt amazing for about five seconds,” he said. “But then the sky’s the limit from there. I had to get higher than that.”
 
Hanna never took his mark a year ago higher than 7-0 and when he fell short of hitting it at the state meet, it put a somewhat bittersweet feel to his first state title, winning the 6A crown with a clearance of 6-10.
 
“Last year, I was pretty mad at myself,” he said. “I still won, but I wanted seven feet.”
 
Even with Hanna the lone jumper in the state this year with a clearance of 7 foot or higher, hitting that height at state this year almost seemed like a must with the competition in Class 6A at a high level.
 
Olathe South’s Jahmari Clifton went into state sitting just outside the hallowed seven-foot club with a season best of 6-11.25. Olathe North’s Cole Smither also was right on the cusp with a best of 6-11 and actually had the best regional mark with a 6-10 to Hanna’s 6-8.
 
Their presence meant an off day in the slightest could result in an unsuccessful title defense. But it was a challenge Hanna was looking forward to and readily met.
 
“We all have a group chat and are always talking to each other,” Hanna said of his Sunflower League counterparts. “(We) talk about getting better and that we had to have a boom come out for this state meet.”
 
Smither, Clifton and Olathe East’s Cade Adholm proved to be solid warm-up acts for Hanna’s headliner show. Adholm didn’t miss until dropping out at 6-8 while Clifton and Smither each got over that height with Clifton clearing on his first attempt after needing three attempts to get over at 6-6.
 
And when Hanna, who had passed until 6-6, missed his first attempt at 6-8, a bit of drama entered the competition.
 
It didn’t last long. Hanna sailed over 6-10 on his first attempt while Clifton and Smither each bowed out at that height, finishing second and third, respectively.
 
With the stage to himself, Hanna became the main attraction at Cessna Stadium. 
 
Opting not to take the bar immediately to a meet-record height, Hanna instead chose to go right to the height that proved to be his sticking point last year. Last year’s shortcomings were a distant memory as Hanna made it look like an opening height with the ease in which he cleared the bar on his first attempt.
 
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Hanna followed it up by making 7-2 look just as easy with another first-attempt clearance.
 
“Ever since I started coming to state, I’ve tried to get everything on my first jump,” Hanna said. “All the misses count against you. But getting 7 and 7-2 on the first attempt, it was crazy.”
 

The madness was just beginning as Hanna then took the bar to 7-3.5 to try and break Archibald’s 30-year-old record.
 
As has become tradition at the state meet, when a high jumper or pole vaulter takes the bar to a record-setting level, longtime meet announced Don Steffens encourages the crowd “help them along” with a collective slow clap that increases in tempo as the jumper makes their approach.
 
But Hanna was having none of that, motioning to the crowd to essentially sit on their hands and let him go it alone.
 
With all due respect to the fans, the only rhythm he desired as he went after his historic marks was his own.
 
“I go by rhythm whenever I do my run-up,” he said. “So the claps kind of mess that up a little bit. (The crowd) doesn’t have that same rhythm so my timing can get off, I get stuttery and I start thinking about when I need to go and it messes me up. So I like it quiet.”
 
With only a handful of events still being contested during Hanna’s leap into history, Cessna Stadium became a rather tranquil environment with the crowd on hand heeding Hanna’s request and creating a silent setting.
 
Which made the boisterous roars from the crowd even more explosive and resonating as Hanna cleared height after height.
 
“It got loud,” Hanna said.
 

 
He missed on his first attempt at 7-3.5, but came right back and once again got over the bar with relative ease to post the highest jump ever at the state meet. Only one Kansas jumper had ever gone higher at any point in their career – Wichita East’s Brad Speer, who cleared 7-4.5 in 1984.
 
With that mark in mind, Hanna took the bar to 7-5. In near-dead silence, Hanna hit his rhythmic run-up, soared and arched his back over the bar. But he narrowly clipped the bar – as minimal as it could seemingly get – and it dropped to the mat.
 
“It was there, but my back just barely hit it,” Hanna said.
 
His second attempt at 7-5 wasn’t nearly as close. Instead of staying at 7-5 for his third attempt, Hanna moved the bar up to 7-5.5 to try and take over the national lead from Nickiah Wilkinson of Bayside (Fla.), who cleared 7-5.25 on March 1 this spring.
 
He didn’t get that clearance either. But it hardly spoiled the show, which Hanna punctuated with a back flip on the mat to the cheers of his family, who had stationed themselves just outside the track south of the high jump area.
 
“I thought it was there,” Hanna said of 7-5. “Getting close to 7-5, that’s collegiate winning level.”

Headed to Kansas State for his collegiate career, that's the sequel Hanna is ready to star in.
 

LAKIN’S OLDHAM TOPS LOADED 3A SHOT PUT FIELD WITH MEET RECORD FOR SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE
 
The field. The crowd. The results.
 
If the Class 3A shot put competition had a strong sense of deja-vu for those battling for the title inside Cessna Stadium, well there was good reason. The upper echelon of the field was delivering somewhat of an encore performance after an electric regional competition the week before in Scott City. 
 
“Oh my, it felt like another state meet,” Lakin senior Colter Oldham said of a regional in which the top six finishers in the event wound up with state berths with the top five regional finishers all claiming the top five places at the state meet. “When you look at the top five that placed out here (at state), they were all from our regional. It was definitely competitive.”
 
And just as he did at regionals, Oldham – the overall state leader and defending Class 3A state champion – found a way to stay just a notch above the deepest field in the state. After topping Beloit senior Eli Johnson by more than a foot at regionals, Oldham got a much bigger scare at state, winning by a mere one inch with a throw of 60-9.50.
 
“I was definitely looking forward to it,” Oldham said of the state re-run. “I knew that regionals didn’t mean anything. As good as everyone at that regional was, you could have taken third or fourth at regionals and still come out and won today. It all came down to who could rise to the occasion at state.”
 

 
In capturing the Class 3A state title a year ago, Oldham hardly had to break a sweat. The top thrower in the state at just under 60 feet, Oldham threw 59-3.75 at the state meet and won by five feet over Sabetha’s Josh Grimm. Beloit’s Johnson had been right on his heels all season with a best just one inch shy of Oldham’s state-leading mark of 59-9.5, but the Trojan struggled at state and didn’t place in the top eight.
 
Even with only two other state placers from a year ago returning this year – Beloit’s Brodie Boudreaux (fifth) and Santa Fe Trail’s Julion Daniels (seventh) – Oldham knew a title defense was going to be considerably tougher.
 
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all,” he said. “I knew I had to train as hard as I could this year with all the competition we had. Obviously with this being my last year, I just wanted to work as hard as I can and leave it all out there. I knew that’s what everyone else was doing as well. I just tried to give everything I could all year.”
 

 
By the end of April, Oldham’s assessment of his competition was dead-on. Going into May, Johnson held the Class 3A lead at 60-9 and Oldham was one of seven other 3A throwers who had gone over 54 feet. 
 
By mid-May, Oldham had taken over the 3A lead with a career-best 62-2 at the Broncs home meet. But the rest of the 3A field had also seen big improvements with six over 55 feet and five with throws over 57 feet.
 
With all but two of the top seven throwers in Class 3A slated for the Scott City regional, Oldham and Co. got a mini-state preview and put on a show in front of a state-sized crowd that had gather around the ring with five throwers going over 55 feet and Oldham out-dueling Johnson for the title, throwing 61-0 to Johnson’s 60-7.75.
 
“I looked forward to it, but it also made me a little nervous,” Oldham said. “It’s one of those deals where on any day, it could be someone’s day. We were all good enough. It definitely pushes me each day to get better, knowing how good the competition is out there.
 
At their only previous meeting this season, Johnson had gotten the better of his rivalry with Oldham at the Kansas Relays in not only the shot put but also the discus, throwing two feet farther in the shot and just under a foot farther in the discus.
 
And in their rubber match at state, it looked like Johnson might once again gain the upper hand.
 
The Trojan standout launched a throw of 58-9.5 on his first attempt while Oldham managed just a meager 46-8. On his second attempt, Johnson was even better, hitting a mark of 60-8.5 that broke the previous 3A state-meet record of 60-7.75 set by his former Beloit teammate, Grady Seyfert, in 2023.
 

 
“It fired me up,” Oldham said of Johnson’s record-setting throw. “He’s definitely a great thrower and a great competitor and he definitely has pushed me all year.”
 
Oldham didn’t have an immediate answer to Johnson’s mark, throwing just 57-4.25 on his second attempt. But on his final preliminary throw, Oldham came through in championship style, popping a throw of 60-9.5 to take the event lead and state-meet record away from Johnson.
 
“I just tried to fall back on my training,” Oldham said. “I’ve been throwing for probably 10-plus years. Once he threw that, the pressure was definitely on and I just tried to fall back to know what I can do and what I’ve done this year.”
 
An anticipated showdown of “Top this” action from the two in the finals never materialized, but didn’t come without some drama. On his second attempt of finals, Johnson unleashed a monstrous throw that approached 65 feet, but couldn’t stay in the ring during the follow through, negating the throw with a foul.
 
“It just sucks really bad,” an emotional Johnson said after settling for the second-place finish, fouling all three finals throws. “Scratching that big one the second-to-last throw was really hard for me.”
 
Johnson led a 2-3-4 Beloit finish behind Oldham with Boudreaux taking third at 57-0.25 and Griffin Johnson finishing fourth at 56-9. Norton’s Logan Willour rounded out the top five regional-to-state contingent at 54-2.5.
 
“It was super crazy,” said Oldham, who won his second straight state title after taking third as a sophomore in 2023. “Nothing but respect for all those Beloit guys with all the numbers they have and all the guys out there. It was the most stacked it’s ever been.”
 

 
As tough as defending his state title in the shot put, his title defense in the discus from a year ago appeared to be one that Oldham might fall short in accomplishing in Friday’s opening event of the state meet.
 
He went into state ranked No. 2 in 3A behind Johnson after their early showdown at KU where Johnson threw 187-0 and Oldham went 186-4.25. But in the five meets between KU and state, Oldham only went over 180 once.
 
At regionals, he topped out a 162-5 – his worst showing of the season – and took third behind Johnson and Norton’s Willour.
 
That’s the exact same position he found himself in after his three preliminary throws at state where his best of 171-3 put him behind Wichita Collegiate’s Logan Clay, who took the event lead with a 176-3 second throw, and Johnson, who had a 171-7 just before Oldham threw 171-3.
 
Clay extended his lead to a 178-3 on his first finals throw, applying the pressure on Oldham. But just as he wound up doing in shot put. On his fifth throw, Oldham delivered a 180-9 that held up as Clay couldn’t get over 172-2 on his final two throws and Johnson never got into the 170s in finals.
 
“I haven’t been throwing it great lately, hadn’t thrown 180 for a while,” said Oldham, who threw 180-5 to win the title last year by nearly 21 feet over Johnson. “I’ve just been struggling. When that 180 came out of my hand, it just felt great because I hadn’t done it in forever. It felt good to have a mark like that.
 
“Winning both last year, I had a target on my back and the competition got a lot better. It definitely means more this year than last year.”
 

CUNNINGHAM’S WEGERER TAKES RUN AT RECORD, DEFENDS TITLE WITH PR
 
As Cunningham’s Will Wegerer prepared to make his first attempt to surpass a 39-year-old Class 1A state meet record Saturday afternoon, the man who set the mark stationed himself a few feet away from one of the pole vault standards.
 
Darrin Bryant, like many of those with their eyes on Cessna Stadium’s south pole vault area, wanted the Wildcat senior to make his own history.
 
“It was awesome,” said Wegerer, who settled for a personal-best clearance of 16 feet, 1 inches and his second consecutive 1A title in the event. “He was so supportive. He wanted me to break it. I talked to him before I jumped and he was rooting for me.”
 
For the most part, Kansas’ boys state meet pole vault records have aged like fine wine. Of the six classifications, four meet records were set from 1978-86. That includes the 1A mark of 16-7 set by Bryant, a four-time state champion, during his junior season at Burrton in 1986.
 

The Class 5A meet record went down last year when Andover Central’s Bryce Barkdull cleared 17-2 – 7 inches shy of his all-time, state-record vault at last year’s Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail II meet. Wegerer, who cleared 16 feet for the first time in mid-April at the South Barber Invitational, looked to add to the record-setting trend Saturday.
 
“We had so many Cunningham fans come out and support us,” said Wegerer, who led a 1-2 finish for the Wildcats along with junior Skyler Thimesch, who cleared a personal-best 14-6. “It’s amazing to do it for your community and be able to represent them because they’re always there for us.”
 
Wegerer, a Fort Hays State signee, entered the competition at 14-6. He cleared it on his first attempt, while Thimesch joined him on his third try to top his previous best of 14-0 at three regular-season meets. After securing victory at 15 feet and another successful vault at 15-6, Wegerer locked in on new heights.

Wegerer notched his PR on his second attempt at 16-1, the No. 2 all-time vault by a 1A athlete behind only Bryant’s 16-7. Bryant, who has worked as a state meet official in the pole vault areas, was among the nearby onlookers as Wegerer had the bar raised to 16-7.25.
 
Wegerer’s first attempt at the mark was his best, as he had ample height but was unable to avoid contact with the bar on the way down. After Wegerer’s final miss, Bryant came over to congratulate him.
 
The victory capped a successful, three-sport high school career for Wegerer, an All-Six Player first-team quarterback and All-Class 1A Division II guard who led Cunningham to state football and basketball titles, and multiple championship game appearances in both sports.
 
Working with Cunningham track assistant Nicole Kerschen and Wichita Vault Academy’s Tyler and Jessie Knight throughout his career, Wegerer set and re-set the Wildcats’ school record in the vault six times in the last two seasons.
 
“With track, you’re doing it for your team but you also get to represent yourself,” Wegerer said. “So to be able to do that and show people all the work that I’ve put in and all other people to see that is nice.” 
 

SEDGWICK’S LITTLE SHEDS “ONE-TRICK PONY” STIGMA, SWEEPS 2A JUMPS TITLES
 
Even though Noah Little has made quite a name for himself in the triple jump over the last two seasons, he’s also well aware that his dominance in that event had also attached a bit of a stigma.
 
“Yeah, I guess I could’ve been considered a guy that could only triple jump,” Little said. “I wanted to show I’m more than that.”
 
Adding an event he hadn’t competed in since middle school, the Sedgwick junior proved that any “one-trick pony” moniker no longer applies. In addition to capturing his second straight Class 2A triple jump crown on Friday at the State Outdoors Track and Field Championships, Little also capped off an undefeated season in the long jump as well.
 
Competing in both events within a four-hour span to start Friday, Little broke free from his stigma by starting his day with a title in the long jump, going 22 feet to win by two and a half inches over Hutchinson Trinity’s Isaac Hammersmith. Two hours later, he easily dominated the 2A triple jump competition with his winning mark of 47-2 nearly three feet further than runner-up Kaizer Kanitz of Moundridge.
 
“Being able to win both means a lot,” Little said. “Last year, winning (triple jump) as a sophomore, it’s not unheard of, but not a lot heard of. This year, adding the pressure of winning it, there was a monkey on my back with a lot of people looking at me. Adding the long jump, it just shows I can do more than triple jump.”
 
Little burst onto the scene as one of the state’s top triple jumpers a year ago. After finishing eighth at state as a freshman in 2023, Little soared to the top of the 2A standings as a sophomore with a best of 46-4.5. In winning his first state title, Little out-dueled Lyndon standout Tanner Heckel, who set the 2A long jump state-meet record.
 
Heckel was up for the battle, posting a season-best jump of 45-0.75 in the finals. But Little came up with a 45-11.5 to win his first state title, finishing the season as the No. 5 jumper in the state overall and capping an undefeated season.
 
“He really pushed me,” Little said. “I kept seeing what he was jumping and then would tell myself, “I’ve got to do better.’”
 
Even as he was thriving in the triple jump, Little dabbled in other events during the regular season. Mainly it was in the hurdles where this season he won the 300 hurdles title in four different meets, equaling his success from his sophomore season where he won four as well. Little tried to qualify for state in the 110 hurdles last year as well, but didn’t advance beyond regionals.
 
The long jump wasn’t in his repertoire, even though he had a background in the event from middle school. He considered returning to it a year ago, to give Sedgwick a strong presence in the event with Dallas Lagree.
 
Instead …
 
“I thought about doing it,” Little said, “But (Lagree) was there and Coach didn’t want us arguing all the time.”
 
This season, however, Little was determined to make the long jump his own as well. Little quickly established himself as one of the best in 2A, hitting 22 feet in his second meet of the season and spending the bulk of the year over that mark, dipping under 22 feet just once.
 
Little posted a season-best jump of 22-8, but that didn’t give him much separation from fellow 2A jumpers Landon Simpson of Ellinwood (22.6.75), Tanner Horinek of Phillipsburg (22-6.5) and Isaac Hammersmith of Hutchinson Trinity (22-4.75).
 
Seeing Hammersmith on a regular basis as Heart of America League rivals, Little was always able to stay just a step or two ahead of his Celtic counterpart, including a handful of occasions where Hammersmith put a potential winning mark out there only to see Little top it with his final jump.
 
It played out that way at regionals with Little coming up with 22-6.5 to win by 6.5 inches and sure enough happened again at state. Little’s 21-6 opening jump of the competition had held up through five rounds with Medicine Lodge’s Durham Nittler coming the closest with a 21-5.75 on his last preliminary jump.
 
But one Hammersmith jump away from having the title wrapped up, Little saw his rival soar 21-9.5 on his last jump of finals to snatch away the lead.
 
“It happened all season so I was kind of accustomed to it,” Little said. “The first time we faced off against each other at the Conrad Nightengale meet (in Halstead) he went like 22-4 (actually 22-2.5) and that was about my PR at the time. Then the next jump I was like, ‘OK I’ve got to go get it now and I went (22-7.5). At regionals, the same thing. He went 22-something and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go now.’
 
“The nerves weren’t as I because I was pretty confident about it because I’ve done pretty good this year. I couldn’t stress too much about it, just had to go give it my best effort and see how things play out.”
 
It played out in Little’s favor as he delivered in the clutch with a jump of 22-0 to win by two and a half inches.
 
There was no such drama in the triple jump as Little put out an opening mark of 46-5.5 that would have won by more than two feet and punctuated the title on his fifth jump with a 47-2. It was short of his season beset of 57-8.25, which ranked second in the state overall only to Great Bend sophomore Cooper Ohnmacht, who had a season-best of 48-3 and won his second straight Class 5A state title this weekend.
 
“I made really good progression in the long jump this year,” Little said. “I was really pleased with my triple jump. For the longest time this year I was No. 1 in the state but then (Ohnmacht) went 48. Being the best in 2A is good, but being best in the state is better.”