Lawrence, Kansas is the place to be this time of year for track and field. With back-to-back major meets right in the middle of the season, KU Relays and Barrier Breakers are synonymous with elite Kansas meets. This year is no different, with well over a dozen of the state's premiere schools headed to Free State High School on Friday, April 21st.
Entries haven't been made public, but this will certainly be must-see track & field. Among the invited teams are Shawnee Mission East, KC Piper, Olathe West, and DeSoto. From outside the KC Metro, we will see a handful of Topeka schools, Manhattan, and Emporia. Saint James , St. Thomas Aquinas, and Bishop Miege are on the list, so the private schools will be in action. In addition to them, the smallest, and possibly most notable school invited is Wichita Trinity.
Full Team List - Barrier Breakers
In the sprints, we get to see Manhattan standouts Tanner Dowling-Burnett and Harli Omli take on the Metro competition. Bishop Miege junior Lamar Lynch Jr will be a factor as well, along with Damiya Richards of Olathe East.
In the distance events, Olathe West will aim to dominate on the girls side, while Shawnee Mission East's Lida Padgett and Washburn Rural's Madeline Carter will try to ride the high from fabulous performances at the Kansas Relays.
The boys side highlights distance runners Clay Shively (Wichita-Trinity) and Wyatt Haughton (Shawnee Mission East). The two had a legendary battle last Friday night in the 800, both breaking 1:52. This week you can expect more major action, quite possibly in the 1600. Shawnee Mission North's Micah Blomker will be in attendance as well, and he can certainly play a factor in any race.
We may see some solid 4x400 relays, particularly since there weren't any last week. Hayden, St. James, and SM East all have good boys teams, while upwards of 8 teams could be state medal contenders. Meanwhile St. James, Olathe West, and Seaman will battle it out on the girls side.
Boys 4x400 Rankings | Girls 4x400 Rankings
The closest event of the day may be the boys' discus, where Blue Valley NW senior Aidan Behymer and Aquinas sophomore Joey Goodenow come in with the same leading mark of 160 feet, 1 inch. The high jump competition will be a fun one, with 11 girls over 5 feet, led by Free State's Reese Hulcher at 5-7. DeSoto's Ella Capling will highlight the jumps, and Olathe East's Andrew Kirby will look to soar even higher in the pole vault.
Regardless of how things shake out, barriers will certainly be broken. As the season kicks into high gear, athletes will do the same, continuing to wow us with electric performances.