Kansas high school state boys track champions: Wichita Collegiate wins team title
There was no hesitation when Collegiate track and field coach Clark Ensz was asked how his boys team pulled off just its second team championship in school history.
It was the performance of one athlete, A.J. Batiste, a star freshman basketball player whose speed has translated immediately on the track, in one event, the 100-meter dash, that swung things in the Spartan’s favor.
Batiste, who entered with the ninth-fastest time in Class 3A, finished with the silver medal in the race with a personal-best time of 11.01 seconds. Not only did he score eight unexpected points for the team, but Batiste’s breakthrough inspired the rest of the team.
“What he did was change the whole momentum within the team,” Ensz said. “After that, everybody stepped up.”
Will Meyer, a senior who injured himself during his leg in the 3200 relay, pushed through the pain to take seventh in the 1600 to score two points. C.J. Meyer, his sophomore young brother, ran a personal-best time of 1:55.08 to take second in the 800. Junior James Shackelford out-performed his seed to take third in the 200 with a time of 22.79.
But the star of the meet for the Spartans was Batiste, who also stepped up in place of the injured Jaden Mitchell, last year’s 100 state champion, to anchor Collegiate’s winning 400 relay team.
And the relay of senior Carson Phelps, Shackelford, junior Peyden Chronister and Batiste not only won the 3A title, they shattered the decade-long 3A state meet record time with a season-best time of 42.41 in the finals.
“It was just incredibly special to watch him step up like that,” Ensz said. “Boy, a lot of people stepped up for us. You don’t think about it, but those guys that score a few points here, a few points there make all of the difference.”
Other medalist performances included the Meyers brothers finishing third (Will, 9:21.59) and fifth (C.J., 9:29.10) in the 3200, junior Brett Wetta in the 110 hurdles (sixth, 15.46) and Mitchell in the long jump (fifth, 20-8½).
Collegiate also scored a total of 19 points with its three relays, as Phelps, Chronister, C.J. Meyer and Shackelford teamed up to take fourth in the 1600 relay (3:25.73) and junior Price Johnson, junior Mason Hart and the Meyer brothers took fifth in the 3200 relay (8:16.59).
The Spartans, which also won the 2015 team title, rallied to finish with 55 team points, 12 more than runner-up Southeast of Saline.
Andover Central’s Bryce Barkdull beats state meet record
One year after his older brother etched his name in the record book, Andover Central junior Bryce Barkdull erased it.
Not only did Barkdull beat the 5A state meet record with his mark of 17-1 to win the pole vault title, he also broke the overall state meet record. Only two other vaulters had previously cleared 17 feet: Gardner’s Jeff Buckingham (17-0½) in 1978 and Kansas City Wyandotte’s Steve Stubblefield (17-0) in 1980.
Even more impressively, that was far from Barkdull’s best vault of the season. He has actually cleared 17-6¼, which stands as the No. 1 all-time mark in Kansas history and the second-best mark in the country this season.
Barkdull is the son of Ryan Barkdull, a two-time NCAA All-American in the pole vault during his illustrious Wichita State track and field career. Ashton Barkdull, his older brother, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman at Kansas.
Kapaun’s Luke Brock completes evolution from soccer player to track state champion
Rounding the curve and entering the final straightaway, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior Luke Brock heard all of the motivation he needed on the intercom at Cessna Stadium.
Announcer Don Steffens relayed to the crowd that Brock was gunning for his second straight 5A state title in the 1600, while down on the track Brock was in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle with Shawnee Heights’ Jackson Esquibel in the final 100 meters.
“I just kept thinking about how cool it would be to be a two-time state champion,” Brock said. “That really motivated me to kick as hard as I possibly could.”
Brock exerted everything he had and came away with another gold, pulling away from Esquibel with one final push. Both runners broke the 5A state meet record time, bolstered by sub-60-second final laps, with Brock (4:15.03) barely edging Esquibel (4:15.26).
“It’s an unreal feeling because I’ve put in so much work, ran so many miles the last two years,” Brock said. “And it’s all paid off.”
It was a nearly six-second improvement on his career-best time, as Brock surprised even himself by running a 59.15 split on his fourth and final lap.
It completed a rather remarkable rise in the eyes of Kapaun distance coach Gage Garcia, as Brock was a soccer player first when he arrived in high school. It wasn’t until his junior year when Brock fully transitioned to being a dedicated runner and he leaves with two gold medals and two top-four finishes in the 800 (he took third on Saturday in 1:56.47).
Brock beating the state meet record held by Bishop Carroll’s David Thor, who ran a 4:15.43 in 2012, was also special to Garcia, who was Thor’s teammate and helped pace him in that race for his eventual title and record.
“He saw that he had some pretty good potential early on and he just kept working, putting in the time,” Garcia said. “He did it exactly how we planned (in the 1600). Jackson came up and challenged him super early and Luke held his challenge really well all the way to the end. I knew Luke had some really good quarter speed in him and he handled everything perfectly.”
Syracuse football commit Bryce Cohoon adds final state title at Maize
Sprinting on the track was a way for Maize’s Bryce Cohoon to work on his explosiveness for football season.
In the end, Cohoon left as a two-time state champion with times that helped him earn a scholarship to Syracuse, where he will soon begin his Division I football career.
After nearly breaking the 5A state meet record with his winning time in the 100 last year, Cohoon added the gold medal in the 200 this year. He finished with five individual state medals, including three straight years in the finals in the 200.
“It was definitely more than I ever expected to do,” Cohoon said. “I didn’t come into high school expecting to win these state championships. I’ll always remember this and it was a lot of fun, but now it’s onto football.”
Cohoon was actually motivated by disappointment after a slow start in the 100 finals earlier in the day on Saturday cost him a chance at repeating as champion. He ended up finishing fourth in 10.87.
He nearly pulled off a jaw-dropping comeback as the anchor of Maize’s 400 relay team, as he was still closing the gap on the leader from Hays when the two crossed the finish line. Another 10 meters and Cohoon perhaps could have completed the comeback. A silver medal and time of 42.25, a school record, was not a bad consolation prize.
Up next was the 200, his final chance of winning a gold medal.
“I didn’t do so hot in the 100, I had a bad start and you can’t have a bad start at state and still win,” Cohoon said. “So I knew I had to get it back. I made sure I didn’t come out light (in the 200). I had to go 100% the whole time and it ended up working out.”
Cohoon built an early lead in the race, delivered a good curve and even pulled away some down the straightaway to log a winning time of 22.05, nearly three tenths of a second faster than what was billed as a loaded field.
Trinity’s Clay Shively breaks state meet record in 3A distance wins
When you break a 58-year-old Jim Ryun record, the pressure has only escalated for Trinity Academy junior Clay Shively.
He didn’t face questions on whether he would win his races at state. People wanted to know if he was going to break Ryun’s state meet records.
“I know people were wondering if I was going after Jim Ryun’s records,” Shively said. “He’s a legend to me and I look up to him, but today wasn’t the day I wanted to chase after something like that.”
Instead, he won his first pair of state championships and broke the 3A state meet record in the 1600 in the process.
It was just an average time by his standards, but Shively’s time of 4:12.60 broke the meet record by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, his winning time of 1:54.50 in the 800 was three tenths of a second off the 23-year-old meet record held by Hesston’s Justin Rempel.
Even though Shively has accomplished much grander things in running, he said standing on top of the podium twice this year was especially meaningful. Last year, as a sophomore, he was matched up against one of the state’s best runners, as Southeast of Saline’s Dylan Sprecker edged him in the 800 and 1600 races.
“I pretty much did everything that I wanted to do,” Shively said. “Last year I really wanted (to win) and it just wasn’t my day. So to be able to come back this year and do all I could to get those titles was awesome.”
The Holthusen family adds another state champion in the hurdles
Bishop Carroll junior Luke Holthusen added to his family’s growing collection of accomplishments in the hurdles with his performance on Saturday.
He became a first-time state champion, winning the 5A gold medal in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.42 to edge out Shawnee Heights’ Jordan Garvin (39.68) and Kansas City Piper’s Shinji Pollard (39.69).
Holthusen added to his medal collection with a silver medal in the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.96.
He is the younger brother of Joseph Holthusen, the current WSU track and field standout who was a double hurdles champion at Carroll in 2018 and of Matthew Holthusen, who took third in the 300 hurdles last year. Noah Holthusen, his younger brother who is a freshman, was also a state qualifier in the 300 hurdles and just missed out on qualifying for the finals.
K-State football commit Teagan Cobb of Rose Hill wins 4A 110 hurdles
An electric start gave Rose Hill senior Teagan Cobb the boost he needed to win the 4A title in the 110 hurdles.
Cobb, who is committed to K-State football as a kicker and punter, held off a late push from Louisburg’s Mason Dobbins (14.70) to win a photo finish with a lean at the finish line to clock in at 14.67.
It was the third straight year where Cobb had made the finals in the 110 hurdles, but he took a leap his senior year in the race after finishing in sixth place the previous two years. Cobb, who ended his career as a seven-time state medalist, also picked up podium finishes in the long jump (fifth, 21-1¾) and in the 400 relay (43.57) with Connor Wallis, Ben Peck and Luke McLaughlin.
Inman wins first 2A team title behind two individuals
The individual prowess of junior Tanner Heckel and senior Eli Brunk helped Inman win the 2A team championship, the first title in school history.
Heckel and Brunk racked up 50 of Inman’s 51 points from their own individual events, as the Teutons edged Garden Plain (48) and Chase County (45) in the team race.
“Those two scored the points, but we had such a good group of guys training with them, working out with them, pushing them every day,” Inman coach Lance Sawyer said. “Both of those guys are all about the team. They were more excited about the team winning than they were about their own individual accomplishments.”
Heckel was a two-time state champion on the weekend, winning the triple jump on Friday and then the long jump on Saturday. His season-best mark of 24-0½ finished as the third-best long jump in Kansas this season. He didn’t need that kind of mark to win the 2A title, however, as Heckel’s mark of 22-11½ was still good enough to win the competition by more than 20 inches.
Heckel nearly won a third gold in the 100, but was edged at the finish line in a photo finish to take second in a time of 10.96 from Lane 6. His fourth medal of the weekend came in the javelin, where his toss of 178-4 earned him the bronze. Heckel’s 34 individual points alone would have finished fifth in the 2A team competition.
“Tanner had been training for this all year,” Sawyer said. “He’s just a phenomenal athlete and he just had a great weekend.”
Meanwhile, Brunk racked up points in both hurdles, as he collected the silver in the 110 hurdles (15.65) and 300 hurdles (40.19) to put Inman over the top.
The team race came down to the final event, the 1600 relay, with Garden Plain needing to outscore Inman by seven points to win. Inman’s relay of Felix Farnebo, Brunk, Kellen Schrag and Josiah Buller picked up a point with an eighth-place finish, while Garden Plain’s team took fifth in the race to only outscore Inman by three points to come up just short in the team race.
Luke Hillman’s shot put title highlights Garden Plain’s second-place team finish
It was a long time coming for Garden Plain senior Luke Hillman to take the final step on top of the podium to finish his high school career.
After finishing runner-up in 2A shot put the last two years, Hillman delivered a career-best throw of 53-0¼ to win the title on Saturday. It quickly became a race between Hillman and St. Marys’ Josh Deiter for the gold medal, as Hillman’s first throw of the finals survived Deiter’s final toss of 52-4¾ by a little more than seven inches.
Hillman was the lone individual champion for Garden Plain, which also won the 400 relay to spur a second-place finish in the 2A team standings with 48 points, second only to Inman’s 51. It was the second straight runner-up finish in the team standings for the Owls.
It was a bit of an anticlimactic win for Garden Plain’s senior-laden 400 relay team of Elijah Atkins, Taegan Gallagher, Elliot Helten and Noah McGregor because Moundridge won the race by more than a full second. But afterward Moundridge was disqualified due to a zone violation, making Garden Plain’s time of 43.99 the winner.
McGregor and Hillman were both dual individual medalists, as McGregor took second in triple jump (44-2¼) and seventh in the 400 (51.49), while Hillman won the shot put and took fifth in discus (137-8). Other individual medalists included junior Gage Lee (fourth in javelin, 177-10), Helten (sixth in 110 hurdles, 16.25) and senior Collin Haukap (seventh in pole vault, 11-6).
Kingman’s Avrey Albright goes back-to-back in 3A 400
After beginning his career as an 800 runner, Kingman’s Avrey Albright wrapped it up as a two-time state champion in the 400.
He found his niche his junior year winning the 3A title last year as a quarter-miler, then successfully defended his title on Saturday with a winning time of 49.45. He also ran a career-best time of 48.63, just off the 3A state meet record time of 48.32 set by Garden Plain’s Kurt Pauly in 2009, in Friday’s preliminary race.
In Saturday’s finals, Albright established a lead almost immediately and took a sizable advantage into the final straightaway. He held off a late charge by Southeast of Saline’s Nakari Morrical-Palmer (49.81) for the second year in a row to win.
Albright also picked up three individual medals for the first time in his career, adding a third-place finish in the 100 (11.03) and a fourth-place finish in the 200 (22.82). Albright, who finished with nine career state medals, completed the four-medal weekend for a second straight year with a sixth-place finish in the 1600 relay (3:28.92) with Ethan Smith, Ty Birkenbaugh and Chase Webster.
Moundridge’s Kaden Elmore adds another 2A sprinting title to collection
After winning the quarter-mile state title as a freshman, Moundridge’s Kaden Elmore added a shorter sprint title to his collection as a sophomore.
Elmore continued his success in the 100 this season and came away as the 2A state champion in the event, edging Inman’s Tanner Heckel (10.96) and Ellinwood’s Koy Behnke (10.98) in a photo finish with a winning time of 10.95.
The Moundridge sophomore entered finals with the third-fastest qualifying time, but surged to the front of the race when Pleasanton’s Isaiah Bates, who broke the state meet record last year, suffered an injury during the race.
Elmore actually broke the 31-year-old state meet record as well with his time of 10.76, but finished runner-up to Bates’ record-shattering time of 10.50. He also finished runner-up in the 200, won the 400 and ran a leg on Moundridge’s winning 400 relay last year at state.
Moundridge believed it had won its third straight 2A title in the 400 relay on Saturday, as Elmore, Logan Churchill, Landon Kaufman and Mac Unruh easily won the race in a season-best time of 42.78 — just off the record-setting time that Elmore, Kaufman and Unruh helped set last year.
But Moundridge was disqualified after the race due to a zone violation, as an official deemed a hand-off exchange to have occurred outside of the 20-meter zone.
Elmore added his second straight runner-up finish in the 200 later on Saturday, finishing second to Behnke (22.82) in a time of 23.00.
Hutchinson Trinity’s Jonah Godina runs PR to win 2A 1600
A personal-best time was going to be required of Hutchinson Trinity senior Jonah Godina to win the 2A title in the 1600 race and he was up for the challenge.
Godina made his move with a sub-64-second third lap to build a lead, then held on for the first gold medal of his career. His winning time of 4:23.18 was nearly a five-second improvement from his personal best, as Godina won the race by a full four seconds with Kansas City Christian’s Andrew Schumacher taking second in 4:27.62.
Godina made a progression all three years at the state meet in the event, taking fifth as a sophomore and runner-up as a junior. He ended his career as a five-time medalist after picking up another podium finish in the 800 on Saturday with a sixth-place finish in 2:01.09.
