Several area high school athletes punched their tickets Friday to the upcoming state track.
Iola day at the Class 4A Regional Meet was highlighted by performances from Eli Adams, Brett Willis, Jesse Taylor, Karingten Hall and Sage Barney.
Adams prevailed in a thrilling four-way race to the front of the 800-meter run, outsprinting his nearest competitors to win a regional title in 2 minutes, 4.96 seconds.
Willis, meanwhile, brought home second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and third in the long jump, qualifying for state in all three events.
The top four finishers in each event qualifies for the state meet, which runs next Friday and Saturday at Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium.
Taylor’s second-place finish in the 3200 meters will take him to Wichita, as will Hall’s fourth-place finish in the 200. Barney cleared 7 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, good for fourth place as well.
HUMBOLDT’S Drew Wilhite is the Class 3A 400-meter champion, winning his race in a blistering 52 seconds. He also qualified in the high jump, clearing 6 feet to take third.
Levi McGowen’s silver medal in the triple jump punched his state ticket. Maddox Johnson, meanwhile, earned state bids by finishing third in the javelin and fourth in the shot put.
On the girls’ side, Anna Goforth and Kirstyn Murrow will both compete in the javelin throw at state. Goforth took second and Murrow fourth at regionals.
MARMATON VALLEY’S Janae Granere will be busy in Wichita, having qualified by winning the triple jump and taking second in both the 400 meters and long jump in the Class 1A regionals. Piper Barney, meanwhile, took second in the 300-meter hurdles and third in the triple jump, thus qualifying in both events. Kaitlyn Drake will compete in the high jump at Wichita after taking third at regionals.
Jaedon Granere qualified in the 200 with a second-place regional finish.
CREST’S Ethan Godderz will do some jumping at Cessna Stadium. He qualified in Class 1A with his second-place triple jump and third-place long jump.
Mia Coleman took second in the 100-meter hurdles to qualify. Brenton Edgerton nabbed fourth place in the 100 to qualify for Wichita as well.
JOSIE WEERS of Southern Coffey County is the only Titan athlete to qualify for regional. He will compete in the Class 1A javelin, after placing third in the regionals.
