Top Performances of Week 6!

Performances of the Week - April 21-27

Throws

        You've heard all about Andale's Katelyn Fairchild, but have you heard of her older brother, Mason? The senior thrower doesn't get much recognition but can hold his own against good competition. At El Dorado last Friday, he had his best day of the season. The shot put was never in question, his throws of around 56 feet were more than enough to bury the competition. Any of his 5 attempts could have been a PR, but his final throw of 56' 6" was the cherry on top. In the javelin, teammate Devin Marx jumped out in front with a first throw of 154' 7", and bettered that with a 157' 1" in his final preliminary throw. Fairchild wasn't close behind, with all three preliminary throws in the 153-foot range. In the finals, Fairchild would start with a 147'3", and followed it up with a foul. In the critical last attempt, Mason Fairchild surpassed the leader with a season best of 159' 10", a mark which he has only topped once before.

Jumps

        Smoky Valley's Belle Peters does a lot of different events, but they all involve jumping of some kind. In Hillsboro last week, she 100-meter hurdled, long jumped, and pole vaulted. An interesting combination that wraps up early and gives her plenty of time to snack during the running events, much to the envy of her teammates. Those snacks are well-earned, though. To start off, she claimed a bronze medal down at the sand pits with a long jump of just over 16 feet. Nearby on the pole-vault runway, she cleared 12 ½ feet, a state best this season. Neither were personal records, so she trudged up the hill into Joel Wiens Stadium and won the 100 hurdles, breaking 15 seconds for the first time at 14.99.

Hurdles

        One of the best feelings is finally breaking through. For Bennington's Chloe Stanley, that breakthrough came on Friday at the Beloit Relays. In the 100 meter hurdles, she led the prelims with a time of 16.57, right around what she's been running this season. The finals heat is where she broke through, running a 16.04 and getting 2^nd. A 0.4 second PR may not seem like much, but in a race that short it really is. While this may be her first year in the 100 hurdles, she's an experienced 300 hurdler. Breakthroughs don't always come in pairs, but this one did as Stanley unloaded a 46.33, a sizable PR and her best this season by more than two seconds.

Stanley winning her heat of prelims of the 100m Hurdles. Check out Jessica Sprecker's full album of photos from the Beloit Relays here!

        It's not often you see multiple runners from the same school leading an event. A 1-2 punch in an event is pretty special, especially for a smaller school, just ask Kingman's distance duo. Council Grove has that with standout sprinter Lauren Carlson flanked by not one, but three teammates in the 100 meters. That's right, the Braves took 1^st through 4^th at Silver Lake on Tuesday in the 100 with Carlson, Lauren Reddick, Sanaia Palmquist, and Darian Julian. Does that sound like a recipe for a good relay team? It should, because they lead 3A in the 4x100. These girls weren't done making statements though, as they went 1-2-3 in the 200 and Palmquist led a 1-2-4-5 finish in the 400. Council Grove hasn't been a factor in the 4x400 since they won state 30 years ago, but that could change if these four put one together.

Watch the Council Grove sprinters dominating in the 100m below and watch more videos from the Silver Lake Spring Invitational here!

Distance

        The Beloit Relays had a strong showing this week, especially in 1A. Our distance performer took 1A by storm with victories over strong competition in the 800 and 1600 races. Reagan Bales, a sophomore from Osborne is that performer. In both events, he defeated fellow 1A standouts Brandon Bates and Quinn Buessing, among others. There were nearly 40 entries in each event, and his times were better than all of them. With new personal bests of 2:01 and 4:31, he walked off the track happy on Friday.

Mid-Distance

        Mid-distance has been defined in several ways, but I see high school mid-distance as the 400 and 800 events; too short to be long distance but too long to be sprints. It's not often you see an athlete excel in both of these, since the only separation between the two is the 300 hurdles, which usually has one heat of boys and girls. The ability to come back in the 800 after a physically draining 400 is known only to a few. Elijah Mosely of Wichita Heights is one of those few. At the El Dorado meet, Mosely dropped a 49.49 quarter-mile, a career best. Two heats of boys 300 hurdles helped extend his rest, but for him it probably didn't feel like enough. The sophomore stepped onto the track and earned his second gold medal of the day, clocking in at 1:59.45. He is the only Kansan boy to be in the top ten in both the 400 and 800, and he did it all within an hour.