Area athletes will run, jump and throw their way to state track and field with hopes of immortality as they prepare to compete in Friday and Saturday’s state tournament in Wichita.
Kansas State High School Activities Association officials recently released the schedule of events with some athletes competing soon after the commencement of the KSHSAA State Track and Field opening ceremony.
Crest High School junior Peyton Schmidt will open the contest for area athletes at 7:45 a.m. in the 3200-meter run after qualifying with a third-place finish at last Thursday’s 1A regional in Iola.
At 8 a.m. fourth-place Yates Center shot put thrower Jayda Rice will compete for a 2A title. She qualified at the Eureka regional with a 35’ 2” throw for third place.
Another Crest athlete will go for gold at 9 a.m. as Hannah Schmidt competes in the first of two events. She opens the state tournament with a the 100-meter hurdles at 9 a.m. and 45 minutes later will turn her attention to her only field event while competing in the long jump.
Schmidt qualified after taking the regional title in the 100 with a time of 15.88 seconds. She took third at regionals in the long jump with a 16’ 6.25” leap.
Staying in field events, at 9:45 a.m. Marmaton Valley senior Brayden Lawson will compete in the javelin. Lawson took third at regionals with a 156-foot throw.
At 11 a.m., first-year state qualifier Mahailie Genoble of Iola will compete for her first state medal in the 300-meter hurdles. She finished third at the Pomona regional last Thursday despite losing a few seconds on her time after clipping her foot on the final hurdle. If she advances from the prelims, then she runs again 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the final.
Back to field events, at 11:30 a.m. two crest athletes will compete for a state medal in long jump as sophomore Xander Fuller and senior Gentry McGhee go head-to-head. Last week in Iola, Fuller and McGhee finished second and third respectively with leaps of 19’ 4.5” and 18’ 7”.
Less than an hour later, Humboldt senior Tre Franklin will compete in the first of two events as the jumps in the starting blocks for the 200-meter dash at 12:25 p.m., which concludes the first day of events for area athletes. If Franklin advances, then he will run in the 200-meter dash finals 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
Schmidt and Humboldt High School senior Karingten Hall will open the second day of festivities Saturday; both are competing in the 100-meter dash prelims in the 1A and 3A competitions respectively. Hall finished fourth last Thursday, but her time surpassed her nearest fourth-place competitors by more than a second. If they advance, they’ll compete in the 100-meter finals at 12:45 p.m.
Franklin and Marmaton Valley sophomore Cooper Scharff will compete in the 3A and 1A 100-meter dash prelims. Franklin qualified after taking second in the Pomona regional with a time of 11.13 seconds while Scharff took third in Eureka in 11.74 seconds. If they advance, then they run in the 100-meter dash finals at 1:05 p.m.
At 11:40 a.m., the area team event will kick off as Crest senior Gunner Ellington, senior Elijah Taylor, freshman Kole Walter and sophomore Lane Yocham compete in the 4×800 relay. The quartet took second at the Iola regional with a time of 9:07.12. Less than two hours later, Ellington will compete in another distance event in the 1600-meter run after taking third last week in Iola — clearing a mile in 4:53.89.
For the latest results, don’t forget to check back with the Iola Register online at iolaregister.com or on our Facebook page.
