CLASS 3A BOYS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES TO WATCH IN 2026
 

TYLER BACKMAN, NORTON 

Backman is a two-time Mid-Continent League champion in both the 100 and 200. He placed sixth at state in both events last season. His personal bests are 10.80 in the 100 and 22.18 in the 200. Backman has opened his senior season strong, winning the 100 in each of his first three meets and adding two victories in the 200.
  

LOGAN CLAY, WICHITA COLLEGIATE
 
With a couple of his top fellow competitors graduated, Clay enters his junior season with high expectations in the discus. He finished second in Class 3A last season to Lakin’s Colter Oldham, throwing 178-3 to finish 2.5 feet out of the top spot. Clay won the Fredonia regional title with his season-best 179-3, which ranked sixth among throwers in all classes last spring. He threw 191-1.75 shortly after the high school season ended, then won the Andale Invitational earlier this month with a throw of 191-0, best in the state through the first three weeks of competition. Clay finished third at state as a freshman.
 

COOPER CRANSTON, HOLCOMB

Cranston is primed for a big sophomore season following a strong freshman campaign. He finished second at state in the 110 hurdles behind Goodland star Linkon Cure, running 14.63 to Cure’s 14.36. Cranston also qualified for state in the 300 hurdles but did not reach the finals. He clocked a personal-best 14.39 in the 110 hurdles at the regional meet. Cranston is also a standout football player for the Longhorns.
 

DAVONTAE DAVIS, BISHOP WARD

Davis returns as one of Class 3A’s top sprinters after a four-medal performance at last year’s state meet. Davis proved himself among the state’s best in the individual sprints, earning a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.10 seconds and placing fourth in the 100-meter dash at 10.95. His impact didn’t stop there. Davis played a key role in Bishop Ward’s 400-meter relay state championship, helping the Cyclones set a school record with a 42.48 finish. He also contributed to the 1,600 relay team that earned a fifth-place medal. 
 

BRODY DENISTON, HOLCOMB

After capping his cross country career with his first individual state title last fall, Deniston will look to add more hardware to his decorated track and field career. He was the leader on a Holcomb team that captured its second straight state track and field title last year. Deniston won the 800 in 1:56.23, with teammate Landen Leonard finishing right behind him at 1:56.97. He was also state runner-up in the 1,600 (4:16.05) and 3,200 (9:13.50) and anchored Holcomb’s 3,200 relay, which ran 7:47.42 to set a 3A meet record.
 

GRIFFIN JOHNSON, BELOIT

Beloit has a long and storied tradition of great throwers and Johnson is poised to add his name to that list. He already began to leave his mark even before arriving in high school when he threw 58-5 as an eighth grader. Last year as a freshman, Johnson teamed with older brother Eli and Brodie Boudreaux to give Beloit three of the top throwers in Class 3A. He finished top four at every meet in the shot put a year ago, opening his high school career with a win at the Clay Center Invitational. He came within a half inch of his junior high mark in taking second to Eli at the North Central Activities Association meet and after a third-place finish at regionals. At state, Johnson threw 56-9 to finish fourth with Eli taking second and Boudreaux placing third – Eli setting a 3A state meet record before seeing defending champion Colter Oldham best it by an inch to repeat. Griffin also finished seventh at state in the discus.
 

JORDAN JONES, COLBY

Competing against reigning champion and Great West Activities Conference rival Linkon Cure of Goodland, Jones didn’t earn his first win of the season in the 300-meter hurdles until the regional meet, where he ran a personal-best 38.27. He bested Cure again for the state title, running 38.52 to edge him by 0.02 seconds at the line. Jones, also a standout basketball player, has opened this spring with three wins in the 300 hurdles and a pair of first-place finishes in the 110 hurdles.
 

AYSTON KATS, NORTON 

Kats is the reigning Mid-Continent League champion in the 800 and 1,600. He placed 10th in the 800 at state. Kats won four meets last season in the 1,600 and had three victories in the 800. He is also a four-time state qualifier in cross country.
 

KASEN PARSONS, OSAGE CITY

A football standout who has signed with Emporia State, Parsons could just as easily compete in track and field for the Hornets as one of the top javelin throwers in the nation a year ago. His season-best of 203-3 a year ago ranked No. 2 in the state overall, topped by Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Jackson Daniel, who threw 207-1 to win the 5A state title. That mark ranked Parsons 25th nationally. Parsons captured his first Class 3A state title, throwing 197-9 at the state meet to win by just under a foot over Beloit’s Brooks Jones. Parsons is coming off a knee injury suffered midway through the football seasons, but should be able to go after a second straight title this spring.
 

TIMMY RITCHIE, WICHITA COLLEGIATE
 
Only five Kansas boys have run the 400 meters faster than Ritchie’s Class 3A meet-record 47.00 on last season’s final day. Ritchie, now a junior, shattered the 16-year-old 3A mark by 1.32 seconds with the state’s fastest clocking in 2025. Ritchie added personal bests in the 100 (10.50) and 200 (21.46) last year at state, only to finish second in both to Burlington’s Brody Anderson, who snagged the 3A meet records in both. Ritchie earned a third silver in the 400 relay. He has since surpassed last year’s PR in the 100, running 10.43 in his season opener at Maize South. 
 

QUENTEN STARK, OSAGE CITY

There might have been a little disappointment for Stark to finish his sophomore season when he went into the state meet as a regional runner-up and had cleared 6-2 earlier in the year and 6-0 at regionals, but could only manage a 5-10 at state and took ninth. The motivation showed as he went undefeated a year ago, taking titles in all six meets he competed in, clearing a career-best 6-4 at the state meet to win the title by two inches over seven other jumpers who went 6-2. Stark was a state placer in the 400 as a sophomore, taking fourth, but didn’t qualify for finals in the event last year, placing 14th. Last year, he also anchored Osage City's 1,600 relay to a fourth-place finish and was on the seventh-place 3,200 relay.
 

BRAYDEN WALKER, SOUTHEAST OF SALINE

Walker has been one of the top distance runners in Class 3A throughout his career both on the track and in cross country but is still missing the biggest piece for his resume, a state title. He has 15 event wins in his career in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in track and another 17 in cross country. As a sophomore in 2024, Walker placed fifth at state in the 3,200 and 11th in the 1,600. Last year, he ran a career-best time of 9:23.95 in the 3,200 at state that earned him a fourth-place finish behind Trinity Academy’s Caleb Tofteland, Holcomb’s Brody Deniston and Lakin’s Austin Ritesma. Only Deniston returns from that group this year so Walker will find himself squarely in the mix for the title this spring. He also will battle Deniston for the title in the 1,600 after they finished 2-3 last year with Walker taking third with a career-best 4:20.96.