It was another action packed year at the Kansas State Track meet in Wichita at Cessna stadium and once again athletes from Northeast Kansas made a big impact with the Big Seven League, Twin Valley League and Northeast Kansas League athletes showing out big time. 

Plenty of headlines from all classes involving area athletes at State Track and even Mother Nature made a headline delay some of the action on the first day of competition. 

Class 1A:

The Centralia Panthers led the way for the area in Class 1A and namely the lady Panthers as they won the school’s first ever girls State track title, just edging out fellow TVL school Axtell by 2.66 points in the final team standings, finishing with 56.66 points. Breanna Schmitz led Centralia with a pole vault mark of 10'00 to win the 1A State title, while her teammates, Chelsea Huerter and Breanna Hasenkamp each tied for second in the same event. Tara Bergman closed her Panther track career with a second place in the discus and eighth place in the shot put, while Madison Leuger grabbed third place in the javelin. On the track the lady Panthers had Tamra Jones finish fourth in the 1600 meter run, while Maegan Koch placed fifth in the 400 meter dash and the relay teams placed fifth, fifth and seventh in the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 relays for the lady Panthers. 

Dylan Boeckman and Stephan LeBlanc each grabbed medals also for Centralia as Boeckman tied for second in the boys pole vault and LeBlanc took eighth place in the same event. 

Axtell lady Eagles for the third time in the 2015-16 finished as State runner-up and were led by three State Champs. The quartet of Courtney Heinen, Bradie Schmitz, Kiersten Talbot and Chelsea Smith won the 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays with times of 10:18.81 and 4:13.00, while a leap of 5'04 won Mariah Deters the 1A girl’s high jump title. Schmitz added a second place in the 400 meter dash and fourth place in the 200, while Deters leap to second in the long jump, Talbot notched seventh place in the 800 meter run and Smit finished eighth in the 1600 meter run. The Axtell boys had plenty to celebrate, too with four medals as Brice Koch took third in the 800 meter run, Caleb Heiman placed sixth in the 300 meter hurdles, Burke Deters finished fifth in the 3200 meter run and the boys 4x800 meter relay team placed third. 

The Hanover boys had the best team finish in the boy’s 1A competition tying for third led by Matthew White who posted times of 11.13 and 50.70 to win the 100 and 400 meter dashes, while the boy’s 4x100 meter relay team notched a time of 44.53 to repeat as State champ. Wildcats 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams took second and sixth. The lady Wildcats earned fourth and sixth place finishes in the 4x400 and 4x800 meter relays and Claire Zarybnicky finished second in the 800 meter run. 

Doniphan West Mustang boys took eighth place as a team in 1A with a second place finish by Kody Collins in the 110 meter hurdles leading the way. Carson Lackey sprinted to a third place finish in the 200 and sixth place finish in the 100 meter dash, while the Mustang boys 4x100 took third. Kenzie Blevins was the lone lady Mustang at State and brought home two medals finishing fifth in the 200 meter dash and seventh in the triple jump. 

A State Champ led the Frankfort Wildcat State track performances in 1A as a throw of 169'08 won Ryan Kraushaar the javelin title. Emilee Ebert brought home a fourth place finish in the girl’s long jump, while Sheldon Parthemer finished seventh in the boys pole vault. 

Wetmore Cardinal boy’s had three medals earned at State as Curtis Bloom took third in the triple jump, the 4x100 meter relay team finished seventh and Aaron Achten placed eighth in the 3200 meter run. 

A trio of Onaga Buffaloes placed at State track in 1A as Cheyenne Brunkow took fifth in the shot put, Logan Marten took seventh in the triple jump and Garrett Ames grabbed sixth and eighth place finishes in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles.

Blue Valley-Randolph had four medals come home with their athletes at State as Griffen Vincent took fifth in the long and triple jumps, Georgia Hatesohl finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles and Chase Carey took second in the 1600 meter run. 

Elizabeth Nobert led Clifton-Clyde placing fifth in the girl’s 300 meter hurdles and seventh in the 100 meter hurdles, while Maycee Callihan snagged seventh place in the discus. 

Linn had two medalists as Brooke Diederich placed third in the long jump and Shelby Ohlde earned the silver in the high jump. 

Class 2A:

The Valley Heights Mustangs led the charge in Class 2A for the area athletes with the lady Mustangs dominating the competition. Behind 73 points the lady Mustangs won the Class 2A girls team State track title by 24 points with a trio of State titles leading the way. Brandi Jo Roepke returned to State after a year’s absence and won the long jump (17'07.50), while Skyler Saunders leapt to the high jump win (5'05) and Kayla Smith also jumped to a State title winning the triple jump (37'08.25). Smith added two third place finishes in the 100 meter dash and long jump and fourth place in the 200 meter dash, while Saunders took fifth in the triple jump and seventh in the pole vault. The medals didn't stop there for Valley Heights as Shelby Vermettern tossed her way to second and fourth in the 2A discus and shot put, while Nicole Weyer placed seventh in the long jump and the girls 4x100 meter relay team took fourth. 

Adrian Pishny brought home the only medal for the Mustang boys as he placed sixth in the 3200 meter run. 

Washington County boys had the best 2A area team showing taking third place led by Hunter Kier who won the boys discus with a toss of 156'04. Five other medals were earned in field events by Tiger boys as Dawson Miller took second in the javelin, Jerrod Hoover placed second in the high jump, Konnor Penning earned fourth in the shot put, Levi Gauby placed sixth in the triple jump and Cole Thompson finished third in the long jump. Thompson also snagged an eighth place finish in the 200 meter dash. For the lady Tigers Brooke Tuma placed fourth in the discus, while Courtney Moore took sixth in the 100 meter hurdles and Jenna Hennerberg earned eighth in the shot put. 

Jackson Heights track program saw three State titles secured by athletes in Class 2A with Faith Little leading the way as she ran to the 800 and 1600 meter run titles with times of 2:23.26 and 5:23.06. Westin Jacobsen captured the other State title as he posted a time of 50.76 to win the 400 meter dash. A second place finish was earned by Cobra, Wyatt Olberding in the triple jump and the lady Cobras 4x400 meter relay took third place. 

Four medalists lead the Jefferson County North Chargers at State as the boys 4x400 meter relay took sixth, Carissa McAfee in the girls 1600 meter run and girls 4x800 meter relay each placed seventh and Cole Bryant placed eighth in the 400 meter dash. 

Daspin Bruning was the only Horton Charger to qualify for State and she placed fifth in the 2A girl’s shot put and seventh in the javelin. 

The lone Troy Trojan to qualify for State, Amanda Stock earned fifth place in the high jump, while McLouth had just one medalist as Anna Moore took third in the girl’s 100 meter hurdles. 

Class 3A:

Behind 14 medals on the day the Nemaha Central Thunder were able to bring home plenty of hardware at the State track meet competing in Class 3A. Both the girls and boys as teams finished third place as teams, led by three individual State titles. Jacob Koezler led the boys has he repeated as the 3A long jump champion (21'06.25) and won the 100 meter dash (10.89), while also taking second in the 200 meter dash (22.63). Allison Rottinghaus captured the other State title for the Thunder as she won the triple jump with a leap of 37'06 and took seventh in the long jump. Kaley Dalinghaus grabbed three medals for the Nemaha Central tossing her way to second in the shot put and third place in both the discus and javelin, while Rachael Baumgartner placed second in the pole vault and Jenna Macke took fifth in the 300 meter hurdles. For the boys Caleb Bradley took third in the pole vault, while Caleb Henry tied for seventh in the same event, Winston Meyer secured third in the shot put and the boys 4x100 took sixth place. 

Six other area schools had a State Champ by the end of the State track meet in Class 3A in Wichita. Hiawatha Red Hawk, Elizabeth Kettler with a time of 11:49.13 raced to the State title in the girls 3200 meter run and took eighth in the 1600, while the lady Red Hawks placed eighth in the 4x800 meter relay. Emily Gartner tossed her way to a fourth place finish in the discus and the lone Red Hawk boy in action at State, Gavin Lierz took second in the 300 meter hurdles. 

Royal Valley Panther, Lucas Broxterman with a leap of 6'06 won the high jump crown, while taking fifth in the long jump. Fellow Panthers Doren Rupnicki and Kathryn Hanshaw placed fifth and eighth, respectively in the boy’s discus and girls 3200 meter run. 

A time of 10:01.58 led the Maur Hill-Mount Academy lady Ravens to the State title in the 4x800 meter relay, while Heather Ronnebaum placed fourth in the 800 meter run, also. In the boys competition Jack Siebert took fourth in the 3200 meter run and Karim Majed placed eighth in the 800 meter run. 

Dillion Grother led the Oskaloosa Bears as he won the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 39.67, while the boys 4x100 mete relay team took eighth and Alexi Adams placed fourth in the girls 400 meter dash. 

A vault of 11'00 led Grace Stohs to the 3A pole vault title for Marysville, while Avery Williams finished eighth in the both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, Claire Cudney took second in the 100 meter hurdles and the girls 4x100 finished eighth. Chase Green was the lone Marysville boy to medal placing eighth in the javelin. 

Riverside Cyclones were led by Cole Hinton who with a time of 4:41.02 claimed the State title in the 3A 1600 meter run and took fifth in the 3200 meter run. Tre"Nez Wilkinson also medaled for Riverside placing fifth in the boy’s 400 meter dash. 

Four medals led the ACCHS Tigers all coming in the girls competition with fourth place finishes by the 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams leading the way. Beba Scholz and Madison Bissell each notched seventh place finishes in the 1600 and 800 meter runs for ACCHS. 

Sabetha Bluejays had the girl’s 4x800 meter relay race to second place, while Eric Reyner placed fifth in the discus and seventh in the shot put. 

Pleasant Ridge Rams were led by Jagar Haack and Gabe Younger who placed fifth and eighth in the shot put and 400 meter dash, respectively. 

Fifth place in the girls 800 meter run by Lexia Jamison and seventh place by the boys 4x100 meter relay led Perry Lecompton at State. 

Class 4A:

Five medals were earned in Class 4A by area athletes with all five coming between Holton and Jeff West from the Big Seven League. 

Holton Wildcat, Mason Strader made the most of his trip to State placing sixth in the 1600 meter run and eighth in the 3200 meter run. 

For Jeff West Tigers, Mariah Murdie took third place in the triple jump and fourth in the 110 meter hurdles, while Michael Majors finished eighth in the shot put.