There will be more than 2,000 athletes competing in 216
events at this week's Kansas Track and Field championships, but perhaps most of
the sports' junkies are focused on just one 12-second period of time.
The finals of the class 5A girls 100 meter dash.
It's a gigantic showdown between the state's top three
sprinters in Newton's Kalli Anderson and Savannah Simmons, against
Leavenworth's Aarika Lister.
Week-by-week, they have thrown down fast times, sometimes
waiting only a few days before exchanging the top time in the state.
The record shows that Anderson has the state's top time, a
wind-aided 11.58 at the Pre-State Challenge in Wichita nearly a month ago.
Lister is second at 11.78 and Simmons third at 11.97.
Forget the times: it's speed on speed when these three meet.
It's the best Kansas has to offer in girls' sprinting, and it's sure to be a
crowd-pleaser.
Lister was the class 5A state champion in 2016 be...