Week 3 of the 2023 season was an exciting one. Both Pittsburg State and Wichita State hosted their annual high school meets, allowing for athletes from all over to find high-level competition as the season continues to get going.
The big meet of the week was the Shocker Pre-State Challenge. The annual April meet is held at Cessna Stadium, the same site as the 1A-6A State Championships at the end of May. Over 70 teams competed in Pre-State this year, with the majority coming from the Wichita area.
There was a little drama in the hurdles, where Annalisa Cullens of Hutchinson, the top hurdler in the state so far this season, was upset by a former 4A rival Madison Williams of Clearwater. Williams has taken a serious step forward this year in the 300-meter hurdles, and this was her wake-up party. Cullens won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.76, but the fastest time of the weekend actually came from Eureka's Ashley Singhateh at her home invite on the same day.
Mckenzie Fairchild of Andale won the shot put (39-2) and javelin (155-9.75) at Pre-State, but had stiffer competition than expected from some small-school athletes. Neodesha's Kristen Stover had a solid runner-up shot put of 38 feet, and Lebo's Brooklyn Jones took silver in the javelin with a 137-7.25. As big meets often show, iron sharpens iron.
Pre-State Results | Pre-State Elite Performances
The boys throws were elite as well, with 3 discus throwers over 150 feet, four javelin throwers over 175, and two shot putters over 50. Drake Stapleton of Caney Valley (Shot/Disc) and Riley Marx of Andale (Javelin/Disc) each completed two of those three feats.
On the track, Kapaun Mt Carmel's Lillian Harris swept the sprints, winning the 100 and 200 with relative ease and just barely sneaking away with a win in the 400 as well. Hesston freshman Ashley Lehman took her to a photo finish, with both crossing in 58.23.
In similar fashion, Ethan Burton of Council Grove won the 100 and 200, but left the 400 drama to Tonganoxie's Eli Gilmore. Typically a distance runner, Gilmore tackled the tough 400-800 combo to take home 2 gold medals.
The girls distance events were loaded. The 2A, 4A, and 5A cross country champions all clashed in the 800 and 1600, with a plethora of other state medalists involved as well. None of them were any match for Chesney Peterson, though. She ran 4:50 (Kansas #8 all-time) to win the 1600 by 15 seconds over Salina Central's Katelyn Rupe, then turned around and beat Clearwater's Hayley Trotter by 5 seconds in the 800. Peterson was not on hand Thursday night, however, when Rupe ran 11:13 to win the 3200.
Girls 1600m Rankings | Girls 800m Rankings
This week had some dazzling performances off the track as well. In the pole vault, we saw major performances from Olathe East's Andrew Kirby (15-6), Gardner Edgerton's Pierson Carlisle (15-3), and Louisburg's Caden Caplinger (14-6). Girls vaulters weren't left behind, either, with St James' Emma Holton (11-7), Smoky Valley's Breanne Peters (11-3) and Mill Valley's Makenna Payne (11-6) all winning their meets as well. All but Peters will be in action this week at the Kansas Relays.
In the throws, the Seyfert family from Beloit showed out at the Concordia Invite. Tatum Seyfert won both shot and disc on the girls side, coming just 1 inch shy of a discus PR. Grady Seyfert similarly dominated the shot/disc on the boys side.
Pittsburg State Gorrila Relays Results | Olathe Invitational Elite Performances
At the Pratt invitational, there was quite a boys' javelin competition, with Jackson Rumford of Scott City edging out Wyatt Waddell of Hays by 2 inches, winning with 179-8. On the track, Kingman's Avery Albright took gold in the 200 and 400, running 22.93 and 49.52 respectively. Albright barely missed the triple-crown, getting edged by .02 in the 100 by Hays' Keamonie Archie.
Pittsburg State's Gorilla Relays was mostly dominated by out-of-state teams, but one Kansas highlight was Iniya Hinman from Parsons winning the triple jump at 36-1. She also won that event a day prior at Frontenac.
Olathe West continues their girls distance dominance, with Charis Robinson winning the 1600 and 800 at the Olathe Invite and Bree Newport breaking 11:00 in the 3200. Olathe Northwest has a similar story in the throws, with Val Galligan winning the Shot & Javelin and several teammates not far behind. Speaking of Olathe throws, Jordan Allen from Olathe South has taken over the KC Metro, winning shot & discus in back-to-back meets and with a new shot put PR this week.