As the runner-up in Class 2A in the 100 and 200 at last year’s state meet, Kyson Proffitt knew he had what it took to become a state champion.
 
Last year’s champion in both events, Pleasanton’s Ashton Gratton, had graduated and Proffitt had come back this season stronger than ever.
 
But if there were any doubts in his mind, the Jackson Heights senior erased them midway through the season at the Seaman Relays. Going up against sprinters from Class 6A, 5A and 4A programs, Proffitt not only held his own, he came away with a win in the 200 and a runner-up finish in the 100.
 
“I don’t mean to say it inflated my ego, because obviously I try to stay humble,” Proffitt said of his performance, which at the time saw him run the second-fastest 200 in the state in any class. “But it gave me a lot more confidence that No. 1, I could win state and also do good with the abilities and gifts I’ve been given.”
 
Even after coming away with a sweep of the Class 2A 100 and 200 titles at the State Track and Field Championships, however, there was still some measure of disbelief from Proffitt in what he had just accomplished.
 
“God be praised that I’m standing here now because I didn’t think I would,” Proffitt said. “I’ve been working for this for three years.”
 
Proffitt was on the doorstep of a breakthrough state performance a year ago in dueling with Pleasanton’s Gratton. Despite running a solid 10.92 in last year’s 100 state finals, he saw Gratton best him by .14 seconds and set the 2A state meet record with a 10.78.
 
In the 200, the margin of victory was strikingly similar with Gratton winning by .17 seconds with a 21.68.
 
“He was a great guy and I love racing him,” Proffitt said.
 
This year, however, Proffitt used the fuel of those near-misses to break some barriers that he’d ran into. He finally got down under a 10.9 in the 100 with a 10.68 in the finals at Seaman. At that same meet, he broke past 22 seconds in the 200 with a 21.61.
 
Both those marks would have won him a state title last year.
 

 
After those races, Proffitt felt he still had more in the tank.
 
“I think I can go a lot faster still,” he said. “There are a lot of things I can do way better, block starts, general things – any thing that can help those little things I can get much faster. If I can work on that top end and maintaining it, I can get a lot faster.”
 
He never ran a faster time in the 100, but will more than gladly take the mark he posted to win the state title this season. After running a 10.79 in the prelims to just miss Gratton’s year-old state record, Proffitt blazed to a 10.75 in the finals to take down the record and win by .17 seconds over TMP-Marian’s Jackson Gillespie.
 
“That was amazing,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. I knew I felt fresh-legged and felt good and it was possible. I wanted it.”
 
Coming back in the 200, Proffitt got a big-time challenge from Eureka’s Peyton Hare, who had captured the 2A title in the 400 earlier in the meet. The two were almost dead even coming out of the turn but Proffitt was able to kick it home to win by .11 seconds with a career-best time of 21.57. Hare also went a career best with a 21.68.
 
As satisfying as those titles were, it was a third gold Proffitt won that carried just as much weight in his mind. In between his wins in the 100 and 200, Proffitt anchored Jackson Heights’ 400 relay to a state title as well.
 
Teaming with Drake Mellies, Austin Zeller and Tatum Eisenbarth to win in 43.23 seconds, .49 seconds ahead of Oxford and .55 ahead of Marion.
 
“Three golds my senior year,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”
 

 
SCHMITZ, SANDMANN LEAD AXTELL TO CLASS 1A FOUR-PEAT
 
Repeat titles have been hard to come by for Axtell in 2025-26.
 
The Eagles football team saw their four-year reign in Eight-Man Division II come to an end, falling to Twin Valley League rival Hanover in the state semifinals. The basketball team saw its bid for a second straight Class 1A Division II state championship end in the state title game, with Hanover again playing the role of terminator.
 
But while those shortcomings stung, Axtell made sure it ended the school year on a high note. Winners of three straight Class 1A state track titles, the Eagles kept their streak going in a commanding way.
 
Winning three events at the meet and racking up several other top-eight finishes, Axtell extended its title streak to four straight. The Eagles scored 67 points and finished 21 ahead of Cunningham.
 
Axtell has graduated standout performers such a Grady Buessing and Brandon Schmelzle from its past state championship teams, but had more than enough firepower to stay on top this spring.
 
“It’s mostly our community,” said Axtell senior Landon Schmitz, who has been a key contributor on each of the four title teams. “They just keep us going and we want to do it for them. It means a lot. Coaches always tell us, ‘Don’t take it for granted. Enjoy it. And keep working our butts off.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”
 
For the second time in three years, Schmitz’ title celebration was laced with a hint of bittersweetness.
 
Two years ago, Schmitz won his first individual state gold when he took the title in the 110 hurdles. He was poised to add a second gold in the 300 hurdles but saw a stumble over the final hurdles prove costly as he lost the lead he held and ultimately finished third.
 
Last year, there were no such mis-steps as Schmitz handily swept the titles in both hurdles races.
 
Going into this year’s state meet, Schmitz was the overwhelming favorite to duplicate that sweep. He was far and away the 1A leader in the 110s with a season-best of 14.50 and ranked among the overall state leaders in the 300s with a 38.52.
 
His only losses in either race had come at the RunningLane Kansas City Relays where he finished behind Creighton Prep (Neb.)’s Ethan Laux, who swept the titles, Holcomb’s Cooper Cranston in the 110s – Cranston setting the 3A meet record at state this year – and Kearney (Mo.)’s Samuel Way in the 300s. He also wiped out in the 110 hurdle race at the Beloit Relays.
 
But during the state prelims on Friday, Schmitz saw his bid for another hurdles sweep taken away. He qualified first in the 300s in 39.35, nearly a second ahead of Osborne’s Donovan Holloway, but was disqualified when it was ruled that his trail leg had gone around one of the hurdles instead of over it.
 
“That’s the rule and what they ruled and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Schmitz said. “I just had to let it go and have my mind right for my next events.”
 
Safe to say, however, it served as plenty of fuel for his run at a third straight 110 hurdles title. And Schmitz left no doubt, just missing his career best with a time of 14.51 in the finals that was just off the meet record of 14.40 set by Downs’ Dale Dolezal in 1985.
 
“It just feels so great and shows all the work I put in,” Schmitz said.
 
Teammate Wyatt Detweiler finished third in the 110s to give the Eagles big points in the event and also added a fourth in the 300 hurdles. Schmitz picked up a fifth in the 200.
 
The Eagles racked up big points in the relays as well.
 
Detweiler teamed with Abram Kostal, Lucas Talbot and Colin Shaughnessy to finish runner-up in the 3,200 relay while Schmitz and Talbot teamed with Clayton Heinen and Joe Lybarger to take second in the 400 relay behind Little River.
 
The Eagles closed the meet and punctuated the fourth team championship with a win in 1,600 relay as Heinen, Bill Lybarger, Detweiler and Talbot finished in 3:29.28 to beat White City by just over a second.
 
Axtell’s other event win came from a somewhat expected source as well.
 

 
A year ago, Logan Sandmann was in a battle for the Class 1A high jump until the very end, dueling with Hutchinson Central Christian’s Jayden Linscheid. After having gone 6-7 during the season and coming into the state meet with four straight meets where he’d cleared 6-6, Sandmann couldn’t clear that height at state.
 
It would have gotten him the win. Instead, he finished second on misses to Linscheid.
 
Needless to say, that served as motivation for this year’s state meet.
 
“I really just wanted to go out and perform because I felt like I haven’t done my best at state in the past,” Sandmann said.
 
As 6-6 had pretty much become the standard of expectation for Sandmann a year ago, 6-8 had been that mark this season. The junior had cleared it at three meets this season, even going an inch higher for a 6-9 jump at the RunningLane KC Relays.
 
Determined to hit that standard at state as well, Sandmann did not disappoint.
 
He was flawless through 6-4 and then clinched the state title when he got over 6-6 on his third attempt while his top challengers – Victoria’s Nick Sander, Pleasanton’s Aiden Patrick and Sylvan-Lucas’ Vance Dohl – all bowed out at that height.
 
He used the momentum to get over 6-8 on his second attempt and then made three tries at 6-10, but came up short in hitting a new personal high.
 
“I think I had it in me,” Sandmann said of 6-10. “It didn’t work out and I’ve got one more year to do it. It was a good feel, I wasn’t nervous. Just ready to go and perform.”
 

 
AT LONG LAST! WAMEGO’S PARKER BREAKS THROUGH IN BIG WAY FOR FIRST STATE TITLES
 
Peyton Parker wasn’t immediately sure just how to celebrate the first state championship of his career.
 
In part because he was dealing with another emotion just as much as the excitement he felt in winning the Class 4A 3,200 race.
 
“There was definitely relief,” he said. “It’s been a roller coaster throughout my career. I’ve been hard on myself to get to that No. 1 spot. And I finally did it today.”
 
Indeed, Parker’s career has been one filled with promise but not quite fulfilled.
 
He burst onto the scene as a freshman during the 2022 cross country season when he was a scoring runner for Wamego’s Class 4A state championship team, placing 11th individually. Over the next three falls, Parker was consistently a top-10 performer at nearly every meet and finally had a breakthrough his senior year with three meet wins, including a regional title.
 
But with a state championship within reach at this year’s state meet, Parker couldn’t quite out-duel rival Caleb Muehler of McPherson, who put on a late kick to win his second straight 4A state title, beating Parker by less than a second.
 
“That definitely drove me,” Parker said. “Caleb had the edge on me the past couple years and I really have to give props to him because he made me a better runner.”
 
Muehler’s edge had also carried over to track where he held off Parker for the 4A 3,200 title a year ago, winning in just under three seconds. Parker also took second in the 1,600 at last year’s state meet – beating Muehler by two seconds but losing to North Central Kansas League rival Drew Elliott of Chapman by four and a half seconds.
 
It appeared Muehler might once again hold the upper hand in this year’s 3,200 state race. After Parker had set the pace for the first six laps of the race, Muehler took the lead with one lap to go, bringing Buhler’s Gavin Lindahl with him and dropping Parker to third.
 
Those positions held coming around the final turn and from there it became a mad dash to the finish. Parker was able to dig deep, however, and find the kick to surge past his rivals and get the win in 9;26.23, just 1.67 seconds ahead of Muehler while Lindahl slipped back to a somewhat distant third in 9:32.22.
 
“Coach (Rick) Patton has really helped me with my kick mechanics and working on that the past couple of months really helped a lot,” Parker said. “I know Caleb has that really good kick he showed at state cross country and I was a little concerned. But I knew I couldn’t let him pass and just gave it everything.”
 
That burst of speed Parker showed late in the 3,200 race was on display early in the 800 on Saturday, which had a delayed start by more than two hours after inclement weather set in. After finishing runner-up in the 1,600 to surprise winner Jase Thomas of Augusta, who PRed by more than nine seconds from his career best in 2025, Parker quickly bolted to the lead in the 800.
 
He turned in a 56.23 opening lap and then pretty much maintained that pace on the second lap. Thomas and Chanute’s Tyler Rowden had hung with him for the first lap, trailing by a half second, but neither could keep up over the final 400 and Parker won going away in 1:53.55, more than three seconds ahead of Thomas’ runner-up 1:56.75.
 
“I wanted to go out fast and see what I could get,” Parker said of his time, which was a PR by over a half second from a 1:54.15 he ran at the Wamego Invitational in early May. “It helped a lot getting that weather break. I was fresh.”
 
Parker also anchored Wamego’s third-place 3,200 relay.
 
“It was definitely a relief winning my first one,” Parker said. “I’ve had a lot of teammates through the years that have pushed my. Harrison Cutting really helped me in the 800 and 400. All these past alumni. I’ve patterned my running off of them a lot.
 
“I knew I was going to win one some day. And I finally did.”
 

 
SEAMAN’S ANDERSON, SOUTHEAST OF SALINE’S BIRCHER MAKE 800 HISTORY
 
Though Brady Anderson has somewhat made a name for himself as the top distance runner in Seaman history, he’s got a bit of a confession.
 
“I never wanted to do the 1,600 and 3,200,” he said. “I kind of got conned into it.”
 
It was a con game Anderson worked to his advantage. He broke school records in both events this season as he established himself as one of the top overall distance runners in the state.
 
His time of 4:10.66 in the 1,600 was the state’s best going into the state meet, just ahead of 5A rival Daniel Enriquez of Kapaun Mt. Carmel, who set the 5A state meet record in the event last spring. Anderson’s 9:11.63 trailed only Enriquez, who also won the state title in that event last year as well.
 
But when it boils right down to it, Anderson knows where he’s best. And that’s the 800.
 
“The 800 was always my event in middle school,” he said. “It means the world to me. It’s my favorite race.”
 
Which made his achievement on Saturday feel “surreal to me,” Anderson said.
 
After taking second to Enriquez in both the 1,600 and 3,200 earlier in the meet, Anderson made sure there was no such runner-up finish in the 800. The Viking senior showed off a championship kick in storming from back in the pack to not only the state title, but a 5A meet record as well.
 
Anderson finished in 1:52.09 which took nearly a second and a half off the old 5A record of 1:53.50 set by Bishop Miege’s Kevin Waters in 1985.
 
“It’s just amazing and I’m so, so grateful,” Anderson said. “I don’t even know what to feel, it’s so surreal to me. I did know what the meet record was and knew the winning time would most likely break it with everyone in it. But I never even thought about breaking it. I just wanted to put myself in position to win.”
 
The start of the race was more than two hours after originally scheduled after inclement weather forced a delay of more than two hours of the meet. Anderson said he spent that time just pacing around, trying to work off his nervous energy. He also began to strategize.
 
“I knew I had to change something from my previous races,” he said. “I was like, ‘What if I try to sit back?’ That’s not something I normally do.”
 
Halfway through the race, it appeared Anderson had chosen the wrong strategy. He got swallowed up by the pack on the first lap and sat in fifth place, though just over a second off the lead set by Kapaun’s Jude Porter.
 
But just after crossing the 400 mark, Anderson found the opening he needed. He shot through the gap and it was like being shot out of a cannon.
 
“I swung into it and it was all gas, Go!” Anderson said. “I knew everyone would be coming on the back end. I couldn’t believe it when it opened up. There was no way.”
 
Anderson turned in a 54.21 final 400 and held off fellow charger Nathan Webb of Valley Center, who had followed his lead and was right on his tail, also turning in a time that would have broken the old meet record with a runner-up finish in 1:52.79. Enriquez had started even further back in ninth going into the final lap and also was closing, but finished third in 1:53.00, also a record time.
 
“I knew they were coming,” said Anderson, who thrust up his arms in celebration as he crossed the finish. “I was so grateful for everyone who’s supported me. It’s such a gutsy race and you have to grind if you want to win it, no matter the competition. It’s a sprint/distance mixed together and just just have to gut it out.”
 
Enriquez won the battle in the 3,200 and 1,600, beating Anderson by four and a half seconds in the 1,600 (4:07.92-4:12.48). Enriquez set the 5A state meet record in the 3,200 on Friday with an 8:59.18 trumping Anderson’s career-best time of 9:05.70.
 
Anderson’s record-setting 800 came on the heels of another meet record in the event, one that was the top performance of the meet and season.
 

 
Southeast of Saline’s Jacob Bircher had finished a distant fifth in the Class 3A 800 at last year’s state meet while Holcomb’s Brody Deniston held off teammate Landen Leonard by a half second for the title.
 
But going into state this year, Deniston and Bircher had become the duo headed for a showdown. And Deniston already had a dose of momentum after winning the 3,200 and 1,600 titles earlier in the meet, setting a 3A meet record in the 1,600. And getting extra time to rest with the weather delay, his legs were fresh to make a run at a third individual title of the meet.
 
But Bircher had other plans.
 
“The past couple of years have been a little disappointing for me,” said Bircher, whose fifth-place finish at state in the 800 last year came after a regular season where he hadn’t placed lower than second in the race and on the heels of a sophomore season where he was top three at every meet until taking ninth at regionals. “I just really worked my tail off this entire offseason and during the season.
 
“I just hadn’t performed to the standard I knew I was capable of. I was going to give it all I got and whatever happens happens.”
 
Each had run 800s in the 1:53s during this season with Deniston holding the 3A lead with a 1:53.02 and Bircher having a best of 1:53.75. But in Saturday’s state race, both found themselves trailing Caney Valley’s Simeon Sanchez, who went out in 54.73 to lead Bircher by almost a half second and Deniston by two seconds.
 
Sanchez couldn’t maintain that pace, however, and added nine seconds to his second 400, slipping out of the picture and leaving it a two-man battle for the title. But Bircher quickly made it his race to lose, powering past the fading Sanchez and to a lead he maintained to the finish.
 
There was little question both he and Deniston would break the 3A meet record of 1:54.20 set by Hesston’s Justin Rempel in 2000. The only question was, by how much.
 
Deniston finished in 1:53.09, but that was more than a second behind Bircher, who won in a blistering 1:52.02 – the fastest time by any 800 runner in the state this year.
 
“Confidence is such a big thing when you get into meets like this,” Bircher said. “When you have the confidence and you put your mind to it, you can do anything. I knew what the record was and but it wasn’t really on my mind.”
 
Bircher, who took fifth in the 1,600, also got a second gold in anchoring Southeast of Saline’s 3,200 relay to a state title. He teamed with Brayden Walker – who finished second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600 – Edgar Calzada and Caleb Knopf to finish in 8:02.77 and win by more than three seconds over Scott City, which was second in 8:05.84.
 
 
WORTH THE WAIT: ROSSVILLE’S LEWIS FINALLY(!) GETS 2A JAVELIN TITLE
 
In the context of his career, Landen Lewis hasn’t exactly had to wait a long time to become a state champion in the javelin. 
 
After all, he’s just a sophomore.
 
But in the context of this year’s state meet, well, nobody had to wait longer to get their state title than Lewis did.
 
Scheduled to throw the javelin in the final session of field events on Friday night, Lewis and his fellow 2A competitors saw the start of their event delayed after an earlier classification had run long. That delay became two-fold when inclement weather moved in and forced officials to postpone that event as well as two others until Saturday with the 2A javelin and 2A girls’ triple jump added to the end of the Saturday field event schedule and the 2A girls pole vault concluding in between the first and second time slots for those competitions.
 
“I was just ready to go,” the Rossville sophomore said. “I was pumped for (Friday) and then ready for (Saturday).”
 
Saturday became a waiting game as well. Just before the 2A competitors were finally going to get started, inclement weather moved in again, delaying the entire state meet for more than two hours. After a brief return that saw the first flight complete all three preliminary throws, another weather delay set in for more than an hour after only a handful in the second flight – not Lewis – got in their first prelim throws.
 
Finally, after 10 p.m. on Saturday night, the competition was able to resume and Lewis got a chance to show off the form that had made him the only 2A thrower this season to go over 200 feet. 
 
When competition wrapped up after 11 p.m., Lewis had his state title. He couldn’t approach his season-best mark of 202-9, but his 181-9 was good enough to win by two and a half feet over Wichita County’s Beau Porter, who threw 179-5.
 
“Conditions weren’t the greatest obviously,” Lewis said. “Wet, late at night. But it was fun and I’ll never forget it.”
 
It was almost forgettable as Lewis struggled once he began prelims, managing just a 163-1 that had him in seventh place out of the nine throwers that qualified for finals. He only got off one good throw in finals, but it was the 181-9 that won him the competition.
 
“It was scary,” he said. “I probably warmed up seven or eight times and my arm wasn’t feeling the greatest. I knew I probably wasn’t going to throw a PR, but I still wanted to come away with a victory. Luckily I got it done.”
 

 
OTHER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BOYS STATE CHAMPIONS

• Washburn Rural’s Christian Hartman-Babb upheld his distinction as the top sprinter in the state this season, winning his first-ever 100 title in Class 6A. The state leader at 10.36 going into the state meet, Hartman-Babb edged Centennial League rival Tylen Smith of Junction City by .11 seconds for the title, winning in 10.59. Hartman-Babb, who had run a 10.36 earlier this season, narrowly missed adding the 200 title as well, coming up less than .01 seconds shy. He and Olathe East’s Nicolas Cabral each finished in 21.40 but Cabral’s official time of 21.397 was just .003 ahead of Hartman-Babb’s 21.400.

 

 

• Manhattan’s Wilson Wesch pulled off a bit of a surprise in winning the Class 6A 1,600 title. Wesch hadn’t gone faster than 4:25.65 in the three 1,600s he’d run leading up to state while several others in the 6A field had gone 4:22 or better. But Wesch made a stirring kick on the final lap, moving from seventh and into the lead, holding off Centennial League rival Brooks Kehoe to win the title by just over a half second. Wesch’s time of 4:21.40 chopped more than four seconds off his previous best while Kehoe was second in 4:22.04 and three others – Garden City’s Trevor Fry (4:22.20), Gardner Edgerton’s Cade Halton (4:22.20) and Shawnee Mission East’s Miles Bruner (4:22.36) also were within a second in third through fifth.

 

 

• Holton’s Pierson Cyphers won a thrilling battle for the Class 3A pole vault title. Cyphers was one of four vaulters who finish at 14-0 along with Royal Valley’s Xander Harding, Hoisington’s Taylen Morales and Beloit’s Henry Tice. But thanks to a clean sheet through 14 feet, Cyphers came away with the title as Harding had missed his first attempt at the heights to take second and Morales and Tice each missed their first two attempts.
• The Class 3A leader in the triple jump during the season, Royal Valley’s Bowen Bryan was able to fight off a stiff challenge from Big East League rival Mason Schultejans of Nemaha Central to claim the state title. Bryan went 44-2 on his second jump of prelims, moments after Schultejans had gone 44-0.5 on his second prelim attempt. Neither improved their marks in finals and those held up barely as Colby’s Nathan Cates landed a 43-10 on his final jump in finals to throw a bit of a scare into them.
• Wamego’s Josh Flanigan Jr. picked a perfect day to have a career day in the Class 4A discus. Having not thrown farther than 151-9 this season, Flanigan Jr. blew past that on his first attempt of prelims with a 166-5. He didn’t stop there, going a career-best 171-7 in the finals to pull the upset for the title, winning by nearly five feet over Eudora’s Brady Von Holten (166-9). Class 4A leader Hunter Grimes took third at 165-4.