Syracuse junior Bronwyn Lewis had every reason to feel confident entering the Class 2A pole vault competition.

After all, Lewis was the defending state champion in the event and was undefeated on the season.

As for her prospects in high jump?

“Not quite THAT confident,” Lewis said.

A first-time state qualifier in the high jump, Lewis peaked at the perfect time, coming up clutch with a personal-best clearance of 5-3 to win the title. 

“It was stressful for sure,” Lewis said, “but my training paid off and it all worked out in the end.”

Not long after claiming the high jump title, Lewis headed over to the pole vault, but Friday night's session was interrupted by weather and picked up Saturday morning.

The delay did nothing to slow Lewis' momentum.
 

Lewis put on a show, setting the Class 2A state meet record three different times. After already securing the title, she first broke the previous record of 11-5, set by Maranatha's Bethany Bailey in 2013, with an 11-6 clearance. Lewis then cleared 12-0 before going 12-6, matching the personal best she set earlier this season at the Hi-Plains League meet.

In the high jump, Lewis didn't start consistently clearing 5 feet until midway through the season. She first went 5-2 at the Sublette meet before clearing 5-0 in each of her final two meets leading into state, including a regional title.

“I think I've improved a lot,” she said. “I've been practicing a lot harder than I have before, and it's definitely worked out for me.”

Lewis had just one miss at state in the high jump competition. After clearing 5-3, she let out a celebration.

“I did feel good about it,” Lewis said. “I knew it would be a good jump. I was just really excited when I was getting ready.”
 

NESS CITY’S LIGGETT TWEAKS HER 100 RECORD, WINS 3 EVENTS
 
There was plenty to choose from, but Ness City senior Taegin Liggett’s favorite moment of her final state track meet had some familiarity.
 
“Defending my title in the 100 meters was pretty cool,” said Liggett, who won her second consecutive Class 1A title in the event. “I think that stands out to me.”
 
Liggett showed impeccable timing last year as a junior, winning her first individual state title in the 100 while breaking a 42-year-old meet record held by Grinnell’s Beverly (Heier) Birney, who was inducted into the KSHSAA Hall of Fame during the meet. This time, Liggett took a few hundredths of a second off that mark, running 12.22 in prelims before coming back with a wind-aided 12.11 in the finals to edge Clifton-Clyde senior Sevy Wurtz by .13 for the title.
 
Liggett, a Fort Hays State signee, showed the versatility she will take to the collegiate level, adding victories in the 400 meters and 300-meter hurdles, and a second-place finish in the long jump. The four medals brought her career state count to 16, including four individual golds and three relay golds.
 

In her final high school sprint down the straightaway in front of Crossland Stadium’s spectator-filled west grandstand, Liggett prevailed again against Wurtz, who took the title as a sophomore before Liggett’s two record runs. The duo was separated by just .01 in the prelims, but Liggett had a little more breathing room in the final, when Wurtz ran 12.24.
 
Both finished with four career state medals in the event.
 
“It’s honestly so crazy,” Liggett said of the spirted atmosphere for the 100 finals. “There’s so many people, but at the same time, I just kind of focus on the race ahead of m. I try to channel out those other factors.”
 
While the 100 was an old standby for Liggett, the 400 a state offered her something new. She ran a personal-best 56.87 in prelims before winning the final in 57.67, while Hanover junior Gracie Bruna finished second in 58.55.
 
Liggett ran the 400 at several meets as a freshman, winning the Central Prairie League title. But after shifting to the 300 hurdles as a sophomore, it had virtually disappeared from her itinerary until this spring.
 
“I raced it the very first meet this year and the only reason was to break the school record,” Liggett said. “Then my coach (Patrick Younger) put me in it one more time and I ran it so well it was like, ‘How do I not compete in it at state?’”
 
Liggett had plenty of motivation for the 300 hurdles. She finished second at state to Washington County’s Addy Goeckel each of the last two years, leading last year’s race until the final hurdle.
 
With Goeckel graduated, Liggett became the favorite and she delivered, running a personal-best 44.10 in the final to defeat runner-up Gentrie Riner of Osborne by nearly 2 seconds.
 
“Getting second by a split second last year really hurt,” Liggett said. “Going in there this time, I was just like, ‘I’m not letting up at any point.’”
 
The long jump marked Liggett’s first state appearance in a field event. She entered the meet with a 1A-best leap of 19 feet, 2.5 inches this season, and finished second to Wurtz with a jump of 17-7.75.
 
Liggett scored all 38 of Ness City’s points, helping the Eagles finish fifth. Last fall, she split her time between Ness City’s volleyball and cross country teams, helping the Eagles win the 1A cross country title with her 11^th-place state finish.
 
“I think that’s one of the main factors that helped this spring,” Liggett said. “I think the most beneficial thing was I was always active and doing something. I was used to not having those off days. That has made me a stronger runner.”
 

ELLINWOOD’S WIRTZ DEFENDS 2A 100, LONG JUMP TITLES
 
Ellinwood sophomore Reagan Wirtz created the possibility for some lofty career achievements by winning three Class 2A event titles during her State Track and Field Championships debut last year.
 
She also may have become a bigger target for fellow competitors.
 
Wirtz successfully defended two of her three state titles, winning the 100 meters and long jump. The other went to Sterling senior Julia Kilgore in the 200, who reclaimed the title she first won as a freshman as Wirtz finished second.
 
Even Wirtz’s second straight 100 title was hard-fought, as she won the final after qualifying second in prelims to Hoxie sophomore Camryn Gourley. Wirtz said the prelim provided a wake-up call for the final, which she won in 12.19.
 
“I knew I had really good competition and I knew I had to push myself,” said Wirtz, whose only loss in the 100 this season came to 1A champion Taegin Liggett of Ness City at the Hill City Invitational. “I knew I had to compete the best I could and that’s what I did.”
 
Wirtz’s 12.11 in the prelims was .08 behind Gourley, whose wind-aided time cost her official recognition of a 2A meet record. In the finals, Gourley slipped to third behind Wirtz and another sophomore, Conway Springs’ Jade Erker, who edged Gourley by .01 for second in 12.43.
 
That underclassmen-dominated race provided a glimpse of the challenge Wirtz will face as the tries to add to her five state gold medals in the next two seasons. In the 200, which Wirtz won with a meet-record time of 24.98 last year, the title defense was stopped by a motivated veteran in Kilgore, who ended her high school career with a wind-aided victory in 24.82.
 
“Racing Julia has helped me so much,” Wirtz said. “I’ve loved racing against her. She’s a sweet girl. I’m so proud of her.”
 

While the races gave Wirtz some tough competition, she stood alone in defending her long jump title. Wirtz, who jumped a personal-best 19 feet, 3.75 inches at the Abilene Invitational, went 18-7.5 on her third attempt at state. That was enough to win by nearly 2 feet over runner-up Kaiah Cravens of Wichita Classical.
 
A strong tailwind on Wirtz’s run-up cost her an official meet record.
 
“I’m still proud of that,” Wirtz said. “I feel like I executed pretty well.”
 
Wirtz teamed with Lexi Thomas, Ayla Ritchie and Eleanor Joiner for a fourth-place finish in the 2A 1,600-meter relay. The Eagles ran 4:13.31, moving up a spot from last year. That race, run after two lengthy weather delays, gave Wirtz eight state medals in her first two seasons.


ELLIS’ BOYDSTON SHAKES OFF 3,200 DISAPPOINTMENT, REPEATS IN 1A 1,600
 
Avery Boydston dropped a couple 3,200-meter races to rising South Gray distance standout Jenna Simmons prior to state, including the Greeley County regional.
 
Another one in the high school season finale definitely stung the Ellis senior most, however.
 
“I was pretty disappointed because I won that last year,” Boydston said. “But it happens. There’s always going to be someone to race. But today I was going to go after it.”
 
After sleeping on her second-place finish in the 3,200, Boydston returned to Crossland Stadium to try to defend her Class 1A title in the 1,600. Her strong surge in the final lap ensured that happened, as Boydston crossed the line in a personal-best 5:10.07 to win by more than 8 seconds.
 
Boydston and Simmons entered the final 400 just .33 apart before Boydston, who won the 1A cross country title in the fall, pulled away. Pretty Prairie’s Lauren Detter moved into second with a time of 5:18.32, while Simmons took third in 5:18.46.
 
After finishing second in the Class 2A 1,600 and 3,200 to Smith Center’s Madison Howland as a sophomore, Boydston swept that double last year as Ellis moved to 1A. The competition stiffened this year, as Simmons, who took seventh at state in cross country, came on strong in the 3,200.
 
Boydston’s only losses in the 1,600 came to her younger sister, Taryn, in their season opener at La Crosse, and to Howland at the Mid-Continent League meet. Boydston, who also took fifth in the 1A 800, was motivated to stay atop her 1,600 perch.
 
“I hate losing,” Boydston said. “But you learn from it and it makes you want the next one even more. I was just going to run my race and not worry about the competition. If there was going to be anybody else there at the end, then we’d see what happened.”
 

OTHER WESTERN KANSAS GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONS 

 

 

• Wallace County sophomore Lyla Pearce captured the 1A discus title. Pearce threw a personal-best 137-9 to become a first-time state champion after placing third last year. Clifton-Clyde’s Calyn Baker was second with a 132-7.

 

 

• Oakley sophomore Alexa Weiser successfully defended her Class 2A triple jump title. Weiser won with a mark of 35-8.75. Conway Springs’ Lairen Pauly was second with a 35-0.25. Weiser also placed third in the long jump.

 

 

• St. Francis senior Avery Jensen won the Class 1A 100 hurdles, posting a 15.47 to edge a 15.57 from Frankfort’s Tessa Parthemer. Jensen also took fifth in the triple jump and sixth in the 300 hurdles.

 

 

• Hoxie’s Camryn Gourley notched a 2A meet record in her 100 hurdles win with a 14.45, beating the 14.80 that Sarah Hines set for West Elk in 2015. Gourley also placed third in the 100, fourth in the 200 and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Gourley was the 300-meter hurdles champion last year. She led Hoxie to the Class 2A team championship. The Indians finished with 51 points.

 

 

• South Gray’s Jenna Simmons won the Class 1A 3,200 with an 11:16.81, beating defending champion Avery Boydston. Simmons also placed third in the 1,600.
• Rock Hills’ Bethany Simmelink, Savannah Coil, Alivia Lindberg and Meili Ost teamed to win the 3,200 relay in 9:50.82.
• Smith Center junior Madison Howland bounced back after finishing runner-up to Northern Heights’ Ellei McCrory in the 3,200, winning the Class 2A 1,600 for the third straight year. She posted a 5:09.73 in the 1,600 after clocking an 11:21.91 in her runner-up showing in the 3,200. Howland added a fourth-place finish in the 800. Her 1,600 title marked her sixth career state gold medal in track.

 

 

• Ellis’ Evelyn Merriman captured the Class 1A 200 title with a 25.54, edging a 25.68 from Hanover’s Gracie Bruna. Merriman also placed fourth in the 100.