As she sat under a canopy in the holding area for state track and field medalists one last time, Hesston’s Ashley Lehman tried to single out the biggest highlight of her final high school meet.
 
For once, the Swather senior tackled a challenge she couldn’t conquer.
 
“I’ve actually got to go with two,” Lehman said. “With that pole vault, I finally beat my aunt’s school record. And in that 200, I just left it all out there. It was my last race as a Swather. That was a huge PR for me and I’m just super happy.”
 
Lehman’s frequent trips to Wichita State’s Crossland Stadium (formerly Cessna Stadium) served up a seemingly endless buffet of great memories the last four years. And Lehman, one of the state’s most decorated track and field athletes in recent history, churned out another assortment in the State Track and Field Championships on May 29-30 in Wichita.
 

Lehman lowered her Class 3A meet record in the 400 meters during the opening-day preliminaries, then put together a sensational Saturday with repeat victories in the 100 and 400, a meet record in the pole vault and a lowering of her own meet mark in the 200. The four golds raised her career total to 12 and helped Hesston capture its first girls team title in program history.
 
“It’s just been a super successful weekend,” Lehman said. “And then we won the team title, which was our goal all season. I’m just super excited for all of our girls.”
 
Lehman scored 40 of the Swathers’ 79 points, helping them knock off defending champion Beloit by nine points. And Lehman did her part to ensure the margin wouldn’t be any less.
 
She opened her final state meet by running the 400 in 54.02, the fifth fastest time by a Kansas girl and a .63 improvement on her record-setting victory in last year’s 3A race. That set the pace for 3A finals qualifiers by more than 3 seconds. Lehman ran her previous personal best of 54.09 a week earlier in winning the Cheney regional.
 
Facing a full schedule for the meet’s final day, Lehman delivered.
 
The 3A meet record holder in the 100, Lehman ran 11.87 in the prelims – a .12 improvement over her winning time a year ago – but wind conditions prevented it from being allowed as a new meet mark. She went on to win the finals in 12.01 – just off her 2025 time of 11.99, but .27 ahead of runner-up Ellie Strain of Wellsville for her third career state title in the event.
 

Lehman then went after her second straight state title in the pole vault, and came away with another meet record. She won the competition with a clearance of 11 feet, the last athlete remaining after Beloit’s Bently Pruitt went out after setting a PR of 10-6.
 
Lehman raised the bar to 12 feet, clearing that on her second attempt. She then had the bar raised to a record 12-8.25, which she also cleared on her second try to surpass former Smoky Valley standouts Belle and Breanne Peters, who went 12-8 in separate 3A meet victories. Breanne’s share of the record came in 2024, when Lehman finished second.
 
The Peters sisters were on hand watching their younger sibling, Bridget, and Lehman compete in the 3A pole vault.
 
“They came up and congratulated me after the pole vault,” Lehman said. “It was so fun running sprints and competing in vault against Breanne. Such a great competitor and person.”
 
Lehman’s winning vault also separated her from her aunt, Christi, who cleared 12-7 to win the 3A pole vault for Hesston in 2021 before going on to become an All-American at Nebraska, where Ashley will compete beginning this fall. Lehman matched her aunt earlier this season with her winning vault at the Emporia State Relays.
 

Back on the track, Lehman followed her record-re-setting 400 prelim run from the previous day with her fourth state title in the event, pulling away in 54.94 to win by nearly 3 seconds over Scott City’s Kinleigh Wren, who finished second in a personal-best 57.76.
 
That left the 200, which was delayed by nearly two hours by the first of two lightning interruptions. Lehman used the added recovery time to her advantage, lowering her meet record set last year to a personal-best 24.10. Strain finished second in 25.07.
 
Lehman, who helped Hesston win its second straight 3A cross country title last fall, scattered her name throughout Hesston’s record book prior to state. She ran the 800 in 2:10.97 in a season-opening meet at McPherson – just off her PR set at the AAU Junior Olympics two years ago, but still a school record. She also extended her school record in the long jump to 18-3.75 at that meet.
 
Lehman was part of a school record-setting 3,200 relay team at the inaugural K-State Relays, then entered the 300-meter hurdles at a home meet in late April and ran 43.08 – the sixth fastest girls time in state history.
 
“It’s been more than I ever imagined,” Lehman said. “It’s been so much fun. I’ve met a lot of my best friends through this and I loved going to practice every day. I’m really going to miss it a lot.”

 

ST. JAMES’ WURTENBERGER GETS 5A SPRINT TRIPLE CROWN, WINS FOUR GOLDS OVERALL
 
It wasn’t like Ellie Wurtenberger was struggling in the long jump, per se.
 
Coming off a sixth-place finish in Class 5A at last year’s state meet when she leapt 16-8.5, Wurtenberger opened the 2026 season with a jump of 17-4.75 that was less than three inches off her career best of 17-7 set last year at regionals.
 
But after not going further than 16-5 at St. James Academy’s next three meets, Wurtenberger decided it was time to shift gears.
 
“It wasn’t going bad, but it wasn’t going great,” she said.
 
During those early meets, Wurtenberger had begun dabbling in the 100. The reigning Class 5A state champion in the 400 and a fourth-place finisher in the 200, the 100 had been missing from her event repertoire, running it sparingly her freshman and junior seasons and not at all as a sophomore.
 
As the anchor on St. James’ state championship 1,600 relay, if she wanted to compete in four events at state, she had to choose between the 100 and long jump. And when she saw herself plateauing in the long jump and making big strides in the 100, well, the decision to go for the triple crown in the sprints won out.
 
“I was starting to excel in the 100 so I asked to be put in more 100s just to see,” she said. “It turned out I was better in the 100 than the long jump, so it was a pretty easy switch there.”
 
Safe to say, the decision worked out perhaps even better than Wurtenberger anticipated. The Thunder senior established herself as the top sprinter in Class 5A this season, sweeping the 100, 200 and 400 titles at the state meet.
 
She easily defended her state crown in the 400, running a 56.72 to win by just under a second over Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Taylor Barringer, who was second in 57.54. Wurtenberger sandwich that title defense with first-time state crowns in the 100 and 200.
 
Wurtenberger edged Arkansas City’s Harper Webb by .03 seconds for the 100 title to start her golden day on Saturday, winning in a career-best time of 12.09 seconds. After taking the 400 title, she came back and won the 200 in 25.19, again beating Webb, who was second in 25.46.
 
“I think coming in I did think it was a possibility,” Wurtenberger said of the triple-crown performance. “Just because of where I’ve been at all season. I’ve just really felt myself getting stronger and I just have to thank my coaches so much for the way they trained me and always believed in me and for my teammates for pushing me. I did have a feeling it could happen, but I knew it would be a fight.”
 

 
The groundwork for her transformation into the top sprinter in 5A began last fall during cross country season. Even in getting in her distance training, her coaches in that sport emphasized work on increasing her speed factor.
 
“I did a lot of strength training, especially this winter,” Wurtenberger said. “During cross country my coaches were intent on me getting strong. So growing in my strength and my confidence really helped me in those races.”
 
It turns out, the 100 might actually be Wurtenberger’s favorite race.
 
“It’s just so fun,” she said. “Compared to my other races, it’s so quick, so easy. The 200 is a grind and so is the 400. The 100, you just start and you stop.”
 

 
With her individual golds secured, Wurtenberger had one more mission – to help St. James capture its fourth straight state championship in the 1,600 relay. A year ago, Wurtenberger ran the leadoff leg on the Thunders’ 5A meet-record setting relay with teammate Beatrice Wiley holding down the anchor spot.
 
With Wiley having graduated, Wurtenberger took over the anchor spot this year while the only other returning member of last year’s relay, Vivian Overlease, moved into the leadoff spot. Despite Overlease turning in a 56.90 opening lap, the Thunder sat just third.
 
Allison Meyer moved the Thunder up to second and Isabella Ryan kept them there, turning it over to Wurtenberger, who had a near three-second gap to close on Basehor-Linwood. The senior wasn’t about to be denied and she blazed her way to a 55.43 anchor lap that saw her overtake Basehor anchor Katelyn Shockey on the homestretch and pull away to win by nearly a second in 3:56.86.
 
“I just kept telling myself, ‘This is your last race as a student at St. James. This is your last time to represent my team and run with them one last time,’” Wurtenberger said. “Losing was not an option. We’ve fought for this and worked so hard for this, I wasn’t going to stop.”
 
And with that, Wurtenberger made history, becoming the first track athlete in St. James history to win four golds at one state meet.
 
“I’m just so honored,” she said. “All my competitors, I just love them. I talked to them on the line and they’re all amazing people and athletes so it was an honor to be out here and run with them. I love this sport and put so much work into it and it’s so rewarding to see it all pay off.”
 

LEADER OF THE PACK: KAPAUN’S CLAASSEN SETS 5A MEET RECORDS IN DISTANCE DOUBLE, ADDS THIRD IN RELAY
 
Ava Claassen’s emergence as one of the state’s top girls distance runners over the last few months was somewhat breathtaking.
 
But Salina Central junior Kaylie Shultz saw it coming.
 
“I knew from cross country she was right there,” Shultz said of the Kapaun Mt. Carmel sophomore, who finished second to Shultz in the Class 5A cross country meet last November at Lawrence’s Rim Rock Farm. “And she’s really set the bar, and now everyone is going to chase it. That’s so awesome, even for just 5A.
 
“If nothing’s getting chased, then nothing cool is going to happen.”
 
Claassen punctuated a crazy cool spring at the State Track and Field Championships, setting 5A meet records while winning the 3,200 and 1,600. She grabbed a third meet record in the 3,200 relay, teaming with seniors Courtney Nye and Taylor Barringer, and junior Abigail Bird to win that race by more than 15 seconds.
 
Claassen set the first of 39 meet records for all boys and girls classes in the 3,200, running 10:04.27 to outpace Shultz, the runner-up, by more than 30 seconds. The following day, Claassen won the 5A 1,600 in a personal-best 4:45.15, claiming the fifth fastest time by a girl in Kansas track history.
 
“I was pretty surprised with what I was able to do,” Claassen said. “I ran how my body felt. I just felt really good during my meets.
 
“I had not idea that’s what I was capable of. With the help of my coach (assistant Gretchen Bina), it was just really surprising to see what your body can do once you really push yourself.”
 

Claassen provided one of the signature moments of the 2026 high school track season, setting Kansas’ all-time girls record in the 3,200 at the Shawnee Mission North Relays. Her time of 10:01.55 shattered the previous record of 10:07.96, a converted 2-mile time set by Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Molly Born 10 years ago.
 
Claassen’s rapid rise to that mark came three races after she opened the season with a 10:46.14 at the Wichita Southeast Invitational.
 
Claassen ran 10:25.14 to win the Greater Wichita Athletic League title and 10:35.25 in a victory at the Topeka West regional. She was dialed in for something much more at state.
 
“I wanted to PR and run faster than I have, but the race went exactly as I planned,” Claassen said. “I felt good during it. I finished with a smile. That was my main goal, and I thought I ran it pretty strong.”
 
Prior to the 2025-26 sports season, Seaman’s Ryin Miller had taken the baton as 5A’s top runner, sweeping the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 titles at last year’s state track meet and dethroning Shultz’s former Central teammate, Katelyn Rupe, in the latter.
 
But an IT band injury she sustained last July tossed a wrench into Miller’s senior campaign, restricting the Arkansas signee to limited meet appearances in cross country and track.
 
Meanwhile, Claassen, who finished 10^th in the 5A 3,200 as a freshman, was healthy and humming.
 
“What Ava is doing is awesome,” said Shultz, who also finished second to Claassen in the 1,600. “She’s raised the bar so much. What she’s doing is … I can’t find the words.”
 
Prior to Claassen’s victory in the 1,600, she joined Nye, Bird and Barringer to win the 3,200 relay in 9:18.71, peeling nearly a second off the previous 5A meet mark set by St. James Academy in 2018. Their finish helped Kapaun take third behind Bishop Carroll and St. James in the 5A team race.
 
With Rupe now running at North Carolina and Miller soon off to college, Claassen will enter her junior season with lofty expectations. But Shultz, who has committed to Florida State, also joined the state’s all-time top 10 in the 3,200 this spring (10:21.45) and set school records in the 800 (2:15.64) and 1,600 (4:50.63).
 
“It’s a true honor running with such amazing girls and girls who really push me,” Claassen said.