Class 3A was full of surprises this year. They subverted expectations in a big way to end it, too. Collegiate's boys leading wire-to-wire in what was supposed to be a competitive team race, while Prarie View shocked everyone with a team victory on the girls side.
3A Girls
This one was supposed to be wide-open, but with such a great regional performance and a good start on Friday, it looked like Beloit would finish the year strong and take it. However, after a flurry of medals off the bat in the pole vault, long jump, and discus, the points ran dry for the Trojans. By the time the shot put came around on Saturday afternoon, not even a 1-2 finish could put them back in the conversation.
Smoky Valley, the preseason favorite, seemed to show life with Breanne Peters taking 1st in the 100 and 2nd in the triple jump and pole vault. Hope Duncan also had a nice triple jump for 4th place. Their 4x400, however, was one spot out of finals.
Prairie View, a team with just two scorers, started to make some noise, though. Bree Allen led off the meet with a win in the 3200, as expected. A solid high jump by Maddie Baker gained 5 more points. The rest of the day, though didn't seem out of the ordinary, nobody else came close to scoring, save for Baker sneaking into the 100 hurdles. Saturday morning, she overperformed and took 3rd. Then Allen won the 1600. The Buffaloes weren't doing anything crazy, but had just enough to stay in the hunt.
Then Bree Allen won the 800.
She wasn't expected to do bad in the event, but winning it was huge. Now the Buffaloes were done scoring at 41.5, and the pressure was on for anyone else to catch them.
Phillipsburg needed a gold and a silver from Heather Schemper's 200 and the 4x400, but only got a bronze from the 200. Breanne Peters won the 200 for Smoky Valley, but it was already too late, they were done scoring and half a point behind.
Norton had to win the 4x400 to win the meet, but Phillipsburg beat them out for the relay title.
Final Score: Prairie View 41.5, Phillipsburg 41, Smoky Valley 41, Norton 40
Another 6 schools were within 10 points of the champions. It was a wildly close team finish.
Individually, Ashley Singhateh was a double champion in the hurdles, leading Eureka to 5th place.
Beloit's throws were a highlight, with Tatum Seyfert winning shot put and discus.
Bethany Umbarger (Cherryvale) had a huge day in high jump. After struggling early, she made the final 2 with Lily Zeigler (Council Grove). The bar was at 5-6, which neither had cleared before. Ziegler came dangerously close to clearing on attempt #2, but her foot knocked the bar off. Moments later, Umbarger narrowly sailed over the bar. Celebration ensued, and Zeigler would go on to miss her final attempt to settle for 2nd.
Rachel Van Gorp (Olathe Heritage) swept the horizontal jumps, while Shellamae Farmer (Hoisington) won the pole vault. Lindsey Cure (Goodland) won an electric javelin battle over top-seeded Janessa Ruder (Norton) by just 13 inches.
3A Boys
The 3A Boys team battle was supposed to be close, but Wichita Collegiate didn't want that, so they took the lead and never relinquished it, winning 60-51 over Southeast of Saline. Wichita Trinity took the final podium spot with 48.
Individually, Ethan Burton (Council Grove) was the king of the sprints. He left no doubt who was fastest in the 100 & 200. He even flashed Council Grove's trademark comeback in the 4x100, though the top-seeded relay was DQ'd for an earlier exchange violation.
Clay Shively (Wichita-Trinity) starred in the distance events, winning the 800m and 1600m events in dominant fashion. The 1600m state record was well within his grasp, even though he played some tactics early to help out his teammates. His teammate Sam Ferguson won a close battle with Silas Miller (Marysville) in the 3200.
Linkon Cure (Goodland) was entertaining in the hurdles, winning a close one in the 300s over Drew Tolar (Cheney) and losing a close one to Kael Gorski (Perry-Lecompton) in the high hurdles.
The relays were a big highlight on Saturday, with Smoky Valley going under the state record in the 4x800 but still losing to Southeast of Saline. The Trojans have been gunning for that record for years, so this one was sweet for Southeast.
Later on Wichita Collegiate cracked the 4x100 state record, despite losing their top sprinter last week to injury. Talk about 'next man up' mentality!
Avery Albright (Kingman) defended his 400m title, while Landon Boss (Osage City) put himself back on top in the javelin. Josiah Ball (Hoisington) won a close pole vault competition.
Grady Seyfert (Beloit) was a major performer, winning the discus and setting a state record in the shot put.
The jumps were all close. Norton senior Dean Clark came so close in both, but wound up with 2 silvers. Tyler Rewerts (Hesston) edged him out in the long jump by 3.75 inches, while Stevie McGuire (Prairie View) took the triple by 5.5 inches.
