Garrett Gleason had never considered himself much of a sprinter.
 
And by that, he means not even remotely.
 
High jump, long jump. Those were the events he considered his forte. And he wasn’t about to deviate from them.
 
So despite repeated attempts from Buhler track coach Willie Adkins to convince him to try his hand at sprinting, Gleason responded in the same way.
 
“My coach just saw something I didn’t see and he was trying to force me to do the 200 meet after meet,” Gleason said. “And I just declined, declined, declined.”
 
Adkins was relentless, however, and Gleason finally gave in – perhaps to see what Adkins’ fuss was about and perhaps to end his coach’s overtures. He finally ran the first 200 of this season at the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail III League meet.
 
Turns out, Adkins knew exactly what he was talking about. Not only did Gleason do well, he won the league title with a time of 22.46.
 
That was enough to convince Gleason that maybe something untapped was there and when Adkins decided to add the 100 as well for the Crusaders’ Class 4A regional meet, there was no pushback from Gleason at all.
 
Just like that, Gleason was on the fast track to becoming one of the state’s top sprinters – and amazing stories -- this spring. The astonishingly lightning-quick transformation culminated with Gleason not only capturing Class 4A state titles in both the 100 and 200 at the State Track and Field Championships, but breaking meet records in both events.
 
“It’s crazy,” Gleason said. “I have really great coaches and a really great work ethic. I try to do everything I do to the best of my ability. I’m always trying to excel in football, track, whatever it is. That’s my goal.”
 

 
There was something to Gleason’s reluctance in competing in the sprints. He actually ran the 200 at three meets early in his freshman season in 2025, but without much success. His best time was a 23.91 that only placed him fourth at the Concordia Invitational.
 
Meanwhile, he was flourishing in both the high jump and long jump. He won league titles in both and then followed that up with Class 4A regional titles as well.
 
Gleason only finished 12th at state in the long jump and 14th in the high jump, but he was still convinced that’s where his future success at the state meet would come. There was something to that as he won five long jump titles this season, including his second straight regional crown, and also four high jump crowns, again winning a second straight regional with a career-best 6-4 clearance.
 
But once he met with success in the 200 and then the 100, Gleason was determined to run with those events as well.
 
“When I ran the 200 at league, I fell in love with sprinting,” Gleason said. “I just loved the nerves, how intense it gets and just the energy surrounding it. It’s not like anything else.”
 
He ran a 22.03 in the 200 at regionals and also turned in times of 10.83 and 10.78 in his first-ever competitive 100s. While the times weren’t at the top of Class 4A, they certainly made him an outside contender.
 
In both events he was chasing Class 4A state leader Gaige McGaughey of Ulysses, who had run a 10.60 in the 100 and a state-overall best 21.23 in the 200. In addition, Eudora’s Cameren Tice was right there in both events as well with a 10.73 in the 100 and 21.84 in the 200. Rock Creek’s Logan Rankin and Pratt’s Cade Liggett had also gone sub-22 in the 200 with a 21.94 and 21.97, respectively.
 
Even in chasing that lead pack on paper, Gleason said the gap didn’t seem insurmountable to overcome, especially with a week to further hone his technique.
 
“I really expected to win,” Gleason said. “I’m a big person on winning and I love to win anything I possibly can. I know I wasn’t ranked first, but I was going to do my best and not worry about anything else. Just do my race.”
 

 
Sure enough, Gleason immediately served notice that he was far from a dark horse. He qualified first out of prelims in both events, running a 10.67 in the 100 that was just .02 seconds off the 4A meet record of 10.65 set by former Buhler standout Jordan Hawkins in 2019 and matched last year by Jamaal Jackson of Labette County, and was .20 faster than McGaughey.
 
In the 200, he ran a qualifying time of 21.53 that broke the 4A meet record of 21.76 set by Smoky Valley’s Timothy Lambert in 2018 and was .08 faster than McGaughey and .10 faster than Tice, each of whom also broke the meet record.
 
The finals in both were everything to be expected. Gleason, McGaughey and Tice were side by side in the 100 the entire way before Gleason pulled away late to win in a meet-record time of 10.63 while McGaughey and Tice each finished in 10.79.
 
In the 200, Gleason couldn’t quite get down to his record time in prelims, but still ran a 21.71 that edged Tice by .10 seconds and McGaughey by .46 seconds.
 

 
“It’s a big, crazy transformation not just from last year, but even three meets ago when I hadn’t run them at all,” Gleason said of not just winning, but getting records in both events. “I’m a completely different athlete and I guess I’m a sprinter now.”
 
With such a jaw-dropping, unfathomable debut, where does Gleason go from here?
 
“I’ll keep trying to perfect everything I possibly can and just get better,” he said.
 
As for his previous specialties, Gleason also posted a runner-up finish in the high jump, going 6-2 to take second to Bishop Miege’s Liam Tesmer, who went 6-6. He failed to make finals in the long jump, placing 11th.
 

Gleason had company atop the podium as teammate Zac Friesen got the first gold medal of Saturday for the Crusaders in winning the Class 4A 110 hurdles title. The 4A leader going into the state meet, Friesen was the lone runner to break 15 seconds in the finals, running a 14.72 to win by .35 seconds over Parsons' Brelin Summers.

Friesen also finished fourth in the 300 hurdles.
 

 
SEDGWICK’S LITTLE COMES THROUGH AT END, WINS THIRD STRAIGHT 2A TRIPLE JUMP TITLE
 
Noah Little’s words didn’t seem at all fitting.
 
“I’m finally starting to get the hang of it,” Little said of the State Track and Field Championships. “It took me a little bit, but I finally got it.”
 
Such a comment might seem fitting for a senior who finally had captured his first state championship. But that’s hardly the case for Little.
 
No, the Sedgwick senior certainly had long ago shown he could handle all the pressures, excitement, nerves and ups and downs the state meet offers. After all, the state title he captured in the Class 2A triple jump on Saturday morning was his third straight.
 
Yeah, it seems like Little got the hang of things at state quite some time ago.
 
“I guess it’s just from the pressure I felt each season,” Little said. “Coming out here and performing in front of thousands of people is an amazing feeling, but there are also expectations there to deal with.”
 
After a eighth-place finish in the triple jump his freshman year, Little raised the bar on expectations for himself at state when he went out as a sophomore and out-dueled Lyndon star Tanner Heckel for his first state title, finishing that season as the No. 5 overall triple jumper in the state in any classification.
 
Carrying the title of defending champion a year ago, Little went out and backed it up in dominating fashion, winning the triple jump by nearly three feet over Heart of America League rival Kaizer Kanitz of Moundridge. For good measure, he also added the 2A long jump title with a narrow two-and-a-half-inch win over HOA rival Isaac Hammersmith of Hutchinson Trinity. He was undefeated in both events.
 
While that may have added to the pressure this season, particularly with both Hammersmith and Kanitz returning as well, it was another factor that weighed more on his mind. Coming into the season with some lingering nagging injuries in his hamstrings, Little got a serious scare at the Conrad Nightingale Invitational at Halstead on April 24.
 
He had just soared a season-best 22 feet in the long jump to win the title, but on his first run-through for his triple jump warmups, he felt a pop.
 
“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the rest of my season,” he said. “The first week, I was kind of just jogging, keeping blood moving and icing a lot and stretching. A lot of stretching. As the weeks progressed I started feeling better, getting back to some sprinting and finally I got back.”
 
The injury flared up again at the league meet where he only did triple jump and finished runner-up to Kanitz by an inch and a half. He competed in both jumps at regionals, winning the triple jump and taking third in the long jump. In both, he limited his jump attempts in order not to fully stress the hamstring again.
 
“My coach said, ‘I know you hate me because you want to go jump right now, but it’s for the best,’” Little said. “I said, ‘I know.’ But it was hard.”
 
Whether fully healthy or less than 100%, Little knew he had a battle on his hands from his league rivals. And sure enough, he did only a bit reversed from how last year’s state meet played out.
 
Instead of being his top challenger in the triple jump, Kanitz proved to be a road block to a repeat title for Little in the long jump. Enjoying a career day, Kanitz set a personal best with a jump of 21-11.25 on his final prelim jump to take a slight lead over Little into the finals after Little had gone 21-9.5.
 
On his last jump of finals, however, Little pulled out a 21-11.5 to take the event lead by a mere .25 inches with only Kanitz left to jump. But with the repeat right there, Kanitz swiped it away, soaring a career-best 22-2.75 on the final jump of the competition to dethrone Little.
 
“We’ve gone head to head for the past three years, and I’ve been battling him since then,” Little said. “I knew he would be tough to beat, but man, that was a tough way to lose.”
 
Heartbreak was on the horizon again in the triple jump as Little trailed Hammersmith by four inches going into finals and still was down going into his last jump. But just as he had done a day earlier, Little came up with a go-ahead jump on his last attempt, going 44-6.5 to top Hammersmith’s event-leading mark by .25 inches.
 
Once again, he had to sweat out one final jump, but was able to breath a sigh of relief when Hammersmith put together a big jump, but came up short, going just 44-0.
 
“Having that pressure and winning on my last jump, and by a quarter inch, man that was crazy,” Little said. “Yesterday I did the clap and that got me going and so I did it today. … I was shaking like a leaf on a tree.
 
“It’s never been easy, but this year was definitely the hardest. But seeing the fruits of my labor pay off made it feel so much better.”
 

 
STERLING’S FARNEY RELISHES SENIOR YEAR FILLED WITH CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
Zane Farney didn’t hesitate when asked what the highlight of his senior year was, even though the options were seemingly endless.
 
For starters, he turned in an All-State Top 11 season during football in leading Sterling to an undefeated Class 1A state title – the first for the Black Bear program since 1982. Over the winter, Farney helped Sterling’s basketball team also finish undefeated as the Black Bears claimed their second straight Class 2A state crown.
 
As if that hardware wasn’t enough, Farney capped a championship senior season with two golds at the State Track and Field Championship, sweeping the Class 2A state titles in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
 
So …
 
“Football without a doubt,” Farney said. “I was way more excited for that. This (two state track golds) is great, but I love football. That’s my main sport.”
 
Moonlighting as a track standout wasn’t too shabby, either.
 
Farney had given an indication of what might be his senior season last spring when he finished runner-up in the 300 hurdles to Phillipsburg’s Tanner Horinek by a half second. He also had qualified third for the 110 hurdles finals but had a false start in the finals and did not place.
 
With Phillipsburg and Horinek moving up to Class 3A this season, Farney suddenly became the favorite for both golds, particularly after posting the top 2A times in each during the season. 
 
But the margin for error was minimal. Heart of America League rival Heath Churchill had been just a tick behind Farney in both races all season while last year’s 110 runner-up Caleb Friesen also was back and Smith Center sophomore Carson McKelvey had come on late in the season.
 
In fact, McKelvey was the top qualifier for the 300 hurdles, edging Farney by .01 seconds for that spot. Farney had qualified first for the 110s, just ahead of Churchill.
 
“I knew it was going to be hard because we’ve got some really good competition down here,” Farney said. “I knew I was going to have to work hard for it, especially in the 300s. But I was the most confident I’d ever felt before that race, so calm and chill. It was just a great race.”
 

 
That confidence and calm might have generated from the battle with Churchill he pulled out in the 110 finals. The league rivals were stride for stride coming off the third-to-last hurdle and at that point it was very much up in the air who would win.
 
But Farney’s closing speed helped him gain a slight bit of separation over the final two hurdles and he finished with a career-best time of 14.66 to edge Churchill by .16 seconds.
 
“I had a little chip on my shoulder after getting DQed last year and it’s my favorite race,” Farney said. “I was so nervous and when I took my run out, I was light-headed. But once I got back in the blocks, I was fine. Me and Heath were neck and neck and it was just a great race.”
 

 
Churchill proved to be his top competition in the 300s as well as McKelvey was slightly off his prelim time of 39.63 with a 39.98 in the finals, which wound up good enough for just fourth. Farney, meanwhile, clipped nearly a full second off his prelim mark and ran a career-best 38.68 to beat Churchill by almost a second while Stanton County’s Landry Walton PRed to jump up to third.
 
“The last 100 is my best part of the race,” Farney said. “I was kicking hard there and just had a great race.”
 

 
WICHITA COLLEGIATE’S CLAY FALLS SHORT OF DESIRED MARK … BARELY
 
As the only discus thrower in the state this year to go over the hallowed 200-foot mark, Logan Clay desperately wanted to repeat that performance at the state meet.
 
Especially because he knew if he did, the Class 3A state meet record would be his. And also because that’s what the Wichita Collegiate standout wanted to give the fans who were hoping to see such a throw that is often a rarity at the state meet.
 
And he thought he’d done it.
 
On his last attempt of the competition and with his first 3A state title already in hand, Clay went for it. And the discus went and went and went, flying out to the 200-foot mark.
 
And then he heard it.
 
“Foul.”
 
“I thought that was it, but my foot barely touched the top of the ring,” he said. “Sadly, it ended up being a scratch. … That was the one.”
 
The throw wasn’t measured, but likely would have topped the 3A meet record of 200-4 set by Santa Fe Trail’s Brett Schwartz in 2022. Instead, Clay settled for his state title.
 
“I had multiple people say it was about 30 feet beyond the 180 mark,” Clay said. “I wish it had counted.
 
“Luckily I got a pretty good throw on my safety throw that I could win it. After that, I was just going for it because I could not let those people down.”
 

In just getting one out there on his “safety throw,” Clay went a modest 177-1 – well below his No. 7 all-time mark of 205-8 that he had thrown just two weeks earlier at the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail IV meet and the 193-8 mark he won regionals with. But it was more than enough to hold up for the title as even PRs from the next four placers in the event couldn’t seriously threaten the mark with Beloit’s Kross Kemmerer the closest with a runner-up toss of 170-7 – a career best by almost 17 feet.
 
Not needing to get another solid mark out there, Clay indeed went for it. He wound up fouling on his final five throws of the competition as he tried to give the fans and himself what he wanted and get back over 200 feet.
 
“It’s pretty hard (to throw 200), because the more people that are there to watch you, the harder you want to strive to do it,” he said. “Which means the more you mess up. It’s the worst possible thing.”
 
The best possible thing? Clay has one more year to get the record that eluded him this year.
 
That Clay enjoyed a breakout junior season at all was somewhat remarkable. A lineman for Collegiate’s football team, he broke a bone in his foot in the Spartans’ Week 4 loss to Andale and was sidelined for 14 weeks, just getting back in time for track season.
 
“Before coming into this season, I thought I could get to about 210,” Clay said. “But breaking my foot earlier in the season, I’m actually happy with where I was at. I was so confident I would be back. I had the best trainers working with me in the offseason helping me get back to full recovery.”
 
The injury never lingered and after finishing as the state runner-up to Lakin’s Colter Oldham in 2025 with a season-best throw of 179-3, Clay took things to another level this season. He was undefeated in high school events with with his only loss this spring coming at the Oklahoma Throws Series in late March where he took second to former Division I collegiate thrower Andrew White.
 
He didn’t post a winning mark of less than 182 feet and hit 199-6 at the Emporia State Relays before blowing past the 200-foot mark at the league meet.
 
“I just never became satisfied,” Clay said. “I improved my technique and now it’s just time to get stronger and see how far I can go next year.”
 
The goal?
 
“220,” he said of a distance that would easily be an all-time state best with Madison’s Casey Helm the current all-time leader at 214-1. “That’s where I want to be and I think I can get there.”

Wichita Collegiate got another state champion as Jai Johnson took the crown in the 3A long jump in somewhat of a mild upset. Johnson went into the state meet with just the fifth-best regional mark and his season best of 21-4.5 was a foot and a half behind 3A season leader Malachi Hopkins of Southeast of Saline (22-10.25) and a foot behind Chaparral's Daniel Schmidt (22-5) and Baxter Springs' Cole Parrish (22-4.75).

But the Spartan freshman wasn't fazed by his first state meet and on his final jump of the competition, he came up with a career-best leap of 22-4.25 to win the state title, beating Parrish by 1.75 inches. Hopkins was third at 21-7.5.
 

 
FAMILY AFFAIR: BEREAN ACADEMY COUSINS SHARE GOLD EXPERIENCE
 
There isn’t much the Busenitz boys from Berean Academy don’t do together.
 
“We’re pretty close,” Ryley Busenitz said of he and cousins Brendan, Caden and Colton. “We’re best friends. Hang out, in school all our classes are together. Do all the work together. Farm together.”
 
Go ahead and add win state track and field titles together to that as well.
 
Not all four of the cousins brought home gold from this year’s state meet, but Ryley and Brendan got to share the experience with each other as each captured 2A state crowns.
 
Brendan got his first, winning the Class 2A pole vault title on Friday. Ryley then followed that lead by taking the 2A high jump title early Saturday morning.
 
“It’s pretty awesome,” Ryley said. “There’s a lot of pride there. It’s a cool moment.”
 
Brendan’s title was one that might have been expected. The top vaulter in 2A this year at 15 feet, he didn’t even enter the competition until the bar went to 13-6 and by that time he was one of only seven vaulters remaining.
 
His top challenge was expected to come from Southeast-Cherokee’s Trey Sol Galindo, who had finished runner-up a year ago – two spots ahead of Busenitz – and had gone 14-1 this year. Sure enough, Galindo was right there, as were Bluestem’s Ayson Shepherd and Brendan’s cousin Caden.
 
That foursome all got over 13-6 with Brendan and Shepherd doing it on their second attempts and the other two on their final attempts. Brendan then cleared 14-0 on his first try and while Galindo also cleared the height, Shepherd and Caden Busenitz bowed out.
 
Neither Busenitz nor Galindo could clear 14-6 but the clean sheet at 14-0 gave Brendan the title and resigned Galindo to his second straight runner-up finish on misses after he lost out on the title last year in similar fashion to Chase County’s Luke Budke.
 
Ryley Busenitz’ title in the high jump, however, seemed a bit more of a long shot, at least in his mind. 
 
“Not at all,” he said. “I was hoping to go 6-4, 6-6. But with Churchill there I didn’t think that would be enough.”
 
Churchill would be Moundridge’s Heath Churchill, the 2025 state runner-up in the high jump and the overall state leader this year after he cleared 6-10 at the Moundridge Invitational. Churchill hadn’t lost a high jump competition this year and had beaten Busenitz head-to-head three times.
 
But Busenitz had gone 6-8 at the Conrad Nightingale Invitational at Halstead, matching Churchill’s winning height but losing out on misses. So the possibility certainly existed, though both also had to deal with fellow Heart of America League standout Isaac Hammersmith of Hutchinson Trinity, who also had cleared 6-8 this season.
 
All three made it to 6-8, each having a miss along the way. Busenitz’s miss had come at 6-2, but he righted the ship and got over 6-4 and 6-6 on his first attempt. Hammersmith’s miss came at 6-4 but he cleared 6-6 on his first try.
 
Churchill, meanwhile, had his miss at 6-6 and it proved to be the difference. Hammersmith went out a 6-8 while Busenitz and Churchill each cleared that height on their second try. When both missed all three attempts at 6-10, the title was Busenitz’s.
 
“6-6 has been pretty tough this year and I’ve been struggling with a calf injury,” Busenitz said. “I didn’t think I had a 6-8 today, but I stayed warm and was able to get it done.”
 

 
GOESSEL’S GAEDDERT BOOKENDS BIG JUNIOR YEAR WITH CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
In the fall, Eli Gaeddert made history in becoming the first cross country runner in Goessel history to win a state championship, running away from the field to win the Class 1A state title by 24 seconds.
 
This spring, his historic season continued. During the regular season, Gaeddert took down school records in the 800 and 1,600 that had stood for 52 seasons and then broke the Wheat State League meet records in the 800 and 1,600 as well, already owning the 3,200 league meet mark from a year ago.
 
So why not cap the breakthrough junior season in style?
 
Gaeddert followed up his cross country state championship with a pair of state track gold medals, becoming the first Bluebird state track champion since 2009. Gaeddert fought past South Barber’s Joshua MacKinney to win the Class 1A 3,200 on Friday and then came back Saturday to win the 1,600 in a more comfortable style.
 
“It’s awesome,” Gaeddert said. “I hadn’t had any first-place finishes in track and it was good to do what I put my mind to and finally get that gold.”
 
Gaeddert had placed fourth in the Class 1A 3,200 last year and fifth in the 1,600. But buoyed by his big offseason and success in cross country this year, he had emerged as one of the favorites for both titles this spring.
 
He had posted the fastest 1,600 in 1A during the season, a 4:23.85 that broke Goessel’s school record of 4:28.2 set by Dwight Flaming in 1974. He’d only run three 3,200s leading into the state meet, and though he didn’t have the top overall time in 1A – that belonged to Meade’s Ryker Vieux at 9:59.33 – he did have to best regional time with a 10:21.50, just a shade off his season best of 10:17.70.
 
That race was a wild one at state as there wasn’t much separation in the lead pack through the first half of the race. Gaeddert found himself in 10th after the first 800, moved up to first by the 1,600 mark and then slid back to third with one lap to go.
 
But he was just .47 seconds behind the leader at that point, Kiowa County’s Evan Martinez and was just a step behind MacKinney and a step ahead of Quinter’s Kendrik Selensky. 
 
“Going in, I really didn’t have a race plan,” Gaeddert said. “I just wanted to see what I could do in the middle of the race. They got ahead of me a little bit there, but I was able to get it back in the last 150.”
 
Strengthening his kick is something Gaeddert tirelessly has worked on over the past year and it proved to be the difference. When that lead pack of four began to jostle for position over the final 400, Gaeddert was able to find a gear the others didn’t end up having. He took over the lead on the final turn and held off MacKinney down the stretch to win in 9:50.42, a mere .55 seconds ahead of MacKinney.
 
The time was a personal best by four seconds and was just shy of getting him the Goessel school record of 9:47.1 set by Warren Flaming in 1971. But the gold medal was more than enough consolation.
 
“My kick was obviously great and if I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t have gotten first,” he said.
 
Coming back in the 1,600, Gaeddert made his move much earlier. Sitting sixth after the first lap and fourth at the halfway point of the race, he posted faster 400s on each of his last two laps and pulled away to win in 4:26.62. Blue Valley-Randolph’s Titus Cobb was a distant second in 4:31.94.
 
“I executed my race pretty well,” Gaeddert said. “So I was really happy with that one as well.”
 
Gaeddert couldn’t quite pull off the distance triple crown, however, as he finished fourth in the 800 with a 2:02.63, finishing nearly five seconds behind state champion Dylan Wark of Golden Plains, who won in 1:57.77.
 

WORTH THE WAITS: CUNNINGHAM’S THIMESCH GOES OUT AS POLE VAULT, 200 CHAMP
 
Being a senior and looking for your first state track and field title requires a certain amount of patience.
 
For Cunningham’s Skyler Thimesch, Mother Nature demanded even more.
 
Thimesch, a Class 1A runner-up in the pole vault to former teammate Will Wegerer last year, was in line to follow the school record holder as a champion on the first day of the State Track and Field Championships. But with lightning in the area on a Friday evening, officials delayed the conclusion of the event until Saturday morning.
 
“It was a lot of reset,” Thimesch said. “I was still in the zone. I was like, ‘I’ve still got this,’ not trying to psych myself out.”
 
Thimesch returned the following morning and cleared 14 feet. Freshman teammate John Paul Kerschen went a season-best 13-6 to give Cunningham a 1-2 finish in the event for the second consecutive year.
 
After adding his first state medal on the track with a third-place finish in the 1A 100 meters, Thimesch endured another weather delay on Saturday before running in the 200 finals. He made that wait count as well, winning in 22.18.
 
Thimesch admitted the pole vault interruption was awkward, but he made the best of it. When he cleared the winning height, a large cheer erupted from Crossland Stadium’s east grandstand.
 
“Coming in for a 30-minute warmup and jumping straight to 14, it was a real big challenge,” Thimesch said of the Saturday finish. “But I got it on my second attempt, so it wasn’t too bad.”
 
Thimesch sought a personal best after his victory, raising the bar to 14-7, one inch higher than his second-place clearance a year ago. He wasn’t able to convert, but still completed the season unbeaten in the event.
 

On the track, Thimesch had yet to reach a state final prior to this season. He qualified in the 400 as a sophomore and the 200 last year, but didn’t get through preliminaries.
 
This year, Thimesch knocked off two returning state medalists in the 200, as Weskan’s Karsyn Wright took second in 22.51 and Chase’s Malik Carson was third in 22.57.
 
Thimesch got a fourth medal in the 1,600 relay, teaming with Stephen Kerschen, Jack Harden and Newt Heatherman to finish fifth.
 
With Wegerer off to Fort Hays State, Thimesch inherited the lead role this season for Cunningham’s vaulters. In addition to Kerschen getting his PR, Wildcat sophomore Weston Rogers cleared a personal-best 12-6 to finish 10^th.
 
“It’s definitely been tough to fill Will’s shoes,” Thimesch said. “He just left a crazy record (16-1). I’ve tried to be a leader to all the underclassmen. He definitely left an impact and I’ve done the best I can to carry that on.”


OTHER SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS BOYS TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONS
 

 

• Andale won its fifth consecutive 4A boys team title and 12^th overall, collecting three individual event championships. Senior Brody Kelp went under 40 seconds for the first time in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing in 38.80 for a narrow victory over Clearwater’s Landon Schill. Kelp, who won his preliminary heat in 40.97, led a group of seven medalists who posted PRs in the final.

The Indians’ other two titles came in field events. Senior Colt Lane, the top returning 4A pole vaulter this season, cleared a personal-best 16 feet to win his first title and third career state medal. Lane was perfect on a series of six vaults. Buhler’s Max Harmony and Andale’s Hudson Tankersley were next at 14-6, with Harmony taking second on misses.
 

A week after throwing a personal-best 195 feet, 9 inches, sophomore Brayden Spexarth threw 181-6 to win the javelin title for Andale. Spexarth’s winning throw came on his first attempt in the finals, outdistancing runner-up Jacob Miller of Buhler, who finished second with a closing throw of 178-8. Spexarth was eighth at state as a freshman.
 

 

• Andover senior Shal Ruud matched his winning height of 6-6 at last year’s state meet to defend his Class 5A high jump title. Ruud and Bonner Springs sophomore Jaiden Jones each cleared 6-6, but Jones had a miss at 6-2 that left Ruud on top. It was the third career state medal for Ruud, who took fifth as a sophomore.

 

 

• Wichita Trinity junior Jesse Eklund completed a meteoric rise in his first season as a high jumper, clearing 6-6 on his first attempt to win the Class 3A title. Eklund, a basketball standout for the Knights, set and re-set the school record during the spring, topping out at 6-8 at the Buhler Invitational and Central Plains League meet after opening the season with a 5-6 clearance in his first meet. At state, he entered the competition at 5-10 and had no misses until 6-8, topping four competitors who cleared 6-4.

 

 

• Inman senior Tyler Martisko improved his personal best in the 1,600 by almost 6 seconds, using it as a springboard to a Class 2A double-gold performance. Martisko, the top 800 runner in 2A this season, also cut time in that event, running 1:58.93 to win by more than 2.5 seconds over Republic County’s Aden Morris. After winning the Inman regional 1,600 in 4:31.46, Martisko ran 4:25.48 at state, using a strong closing lap to pull away from Hutchinson Trinity’s Jacob Lindstrom, the reigning 2A cross country champion and 2A leader in the 1,600 entering state. Martisko also helped Inman’s 3,200 relay place second and the Teutons’ 1,600 relay take seventh.

 

 

• Using a strong closing lap, Augusta senior Jase Thomas overtook Wamego’s Peyton Parker to win the Class 4A 1,600 title. Thomas finished in a personal-best 4:16.84 that included a gun lap of 1:00.86. Parker, the 800 and 3,200 champion, finished in 4:18.56. Thomas took second in the 800, running 1:56.75, more than 3 seconds behind Parker.

 

 

• Eureka senior Peyton Hare lowered his school record in the 400 meters to 49.00, good enough to win the Class 2A title by nearly a second over Smith Center sophomore Cole McKelvey. Hare paired his gold with a second-place finish in the 200, running a personal-best 21.68 to finish .11 behind Jackson Heights’ Kyson Proffitt, and also finished sixth in the 100 (11.21).

 
 

 

• McPherson’s three-time cross country champion Caleb Muehler ran a 1:55.85 anchor leg to lead the Bullpups to the Class 4A 3,200-meter relay title. Muehler followed Kayden Friesen, Daniel Bowen and Tripp Pelzel, helping McPherson post a winning time of 7:56.20, almost 3 seconds ahead of runner-up Chanute, which ran 7:59.16.
• Pratt’s quartet of Arley Morrell, Gavin Rupe, Cade Liggett and Carlito Lara gave the Greenbacks the Class 4A 1,600-meter relay title for the third straight year, edging runner-up Bishop Miege by .19 in 3:22.93. Morrell and Lara have been part of all three championship teams, while Liggett got his second title in the event after joining last year.
• Little River earned the Class 1A 400-meter relay title, finishing in 43.65 to outpace runner-up Axtell by .89. The Redskins’ quartet of Logan Schubert, Jhet Ewertt, Kal-El Robinson and Tristan Barstow set a meet record of 43.16 in the preliminaries.
• Hutchinson Trinity closed the state meet with a pair of relay victories. The quartet of Ambrose Pennycuff, John Lindstrom, Jacob Lindstrom and Cameron Kiser won the 2A 3,200-meter relay in 8:04.31, more than 7 seconds ahead of runner-up Inman. Pennycuff and Kiser teamed with Roberto Guerrero and Alex Guajardo to win the 1,600 relay in 3:28.07, more than 2 seconds in front of Smith Center’s 3:30.59.