This year's 2A team battles featured some loaded defending champion teams along with some serious challengers. For the girls, it was Garden Plain who defended their title, while Inman's boys took advantage of every opportunity to defeat their league rival & defending champion, Moundridge.
2A Girls
Despite being defending champions, Garden Plain wasn't the preseason favorite. That title belonged to Pittsburg-Colgan. They weren't the media's darling. That title belonged to Chesney Peterson & Stanton County. The only title the Owls cared about, though, was the 2A State title, and that's exactly what they earned on Memorial Day Weekend.
The hero for Garden Plain was Haidyn Thompson. The junior won three of her four events - the 100, 4x100, and long jump. She also placed 3rd in the 200.
Molly Zoglman (Shot, Disc) and Celia Puetz (100 hurdles, Javelin) were also multiple-event scorers for the Owls.
Stanton County had only 4 athletes competing, but squeezed everything they could out of them for a runner-up finish. Chesney Peterson led the way, with state records in the 800, 1600, & 3200. Suzanne Farnham added a runner-up finish in the pole vault and Avery Scott added points in the 400. The three also combined for points in the 4x400.
Pittsburg-Colgan was third as a team, led by Lily Brown's victories in the 100 hurdles, high jump, & triple jump. Brown also finished 3rd in the 300 hurdles.
The hurdles had a little heartbreak, with Inman's Madilyn Heflin falling over hurdle 7 of the 100s after leading the entire way. Afterwards when the emotions flooded in, her competitor, Brown of Colgan, was there to pick her up and offer encouragement. Later, in the 300 hurdles, she was involved in a photo-finish, coming up just 0.01 short of Clarysa Webber of Sublette. Heflin is just a junior, though, so she will be back for redemption in 2024.
Sterling had quite a showing from a pair of athletes. Faith Ekart pushed Chesney Peterson for a while in the 800 before placing 2nd. She also scored in the 3200. Freshman Julia Kilgore, who was 3rd in XC, won the 200m and 400m.
Kilgore and Payton Wurtz (Wabaunsee) could have quite the battle the next few years. Both have shown incredible range, and Wurtz is just a sophomore. She was runner-up in the 400, 1600, and 3200 each of the last two years.
Nakaela O'Hair (Elkhart) won the pole vault in dominant fashion. Among the throws Natalee North (Ellis) won discus, Lillie Veer (Berean) won javelin, and Abby Micek (Rawlins County) won shot put.
2A Boys
It seemed like the theme of the meet for 2A boys was "Things Happen". Every year teams and athletes with high aspirations see their hopes dashed in unforeseen ways.
Moundridge was the preseason team favorite. After a rocky start and losses to Inman and Berean, they righted the ship at regionals to became the favorite once again. On Friday, defending 400m champ Kaden Elmore failed to make finals. Saturday, after appearing to win the 4x100, they were disqualified for leaving their lane.
And just like that, the Cats and their iconic red tights were out of the running.
Poised to take their place was Inman. Tanner Heckel won the triple jump on Friday, and returned on Saturday to win the long jump and take 3rd in the javelin & 2nd in the 100. Eli Brunk added runner-up finishes in both hurdle races, and the Teutons were in the driver's seat entering the 4x400.
Garden Plain had scored well, too, with Luke Hillman winning the shot put and the 4x100 relay winning after the Moundridge DQ. Six other owls chipped in points before the 4x400 arrived. The score was Inman 50, Garden Plain 44. Both had teams in the relay, but Inman never seemed to get out of last place. Garden Plain couldn't quite place high enough, either, though.
Final Score: Inman 51, Garden Plain 48.
Meanwhile, Chase County, capitalizing on their relays, snatched the third place spot with 45 points after a runner-up finish in the 4x400. The Bulldogs also won the 4x800 and were 4th in the 4x100.
Continuing the theme of "Things Happen", Pleasanton standout Isaiah Bates, the top sprinter in all classes, pulled a hamstring in the 100m finals, giving Kaden Elmore his chance to win. Bates has been a great story this year, and his empty lane in the 200m final was tough to see.
In the 800m, Logan Keith (Meade) won an exciting race, holding off a late charge from Cody Hammond (Central Heights). He now boasts 1A and 2A titles in this event. Keith also claimed gold in the 3200.
In the 1600, Jonah Godina (Hutchinson-Trinity) ran a tactically sound race to win over a pair of KC Christian runners.
Smith Center's Garrett Wanner won both hurdle races. He was a bit of an underdog, but came out on top in a field loaded with seniors.
Ell-Saline's Brogan Rowley cleared 6' 10" to win high jump. His attempts at seven feet all brought the crowd to their feet, but he wasn't quite able to join the 7-foot club.
The javelin throw was the closest of the three throws, with Rex Johnson (Ellis) taking the win by just 10 inches at 181' 5". Plainville's Braylon Bittel had the widest margin of victory at over 5 feet in the discus at 160' 6".
