MEDAL HAUL: BHS nabs 9 medals, including 1 gold, and 2 academic titles at 6A track meet

One state championship.

Two silver medals.

Nine overall medals.

Eleven different medalists.

Two academic state titles.

No matter how one adds it up, the Bartlesville High track team made a nice haul at last weekend’s Class 6A championships hosted by Ardmore.

“We did really well,” said Bartlesville head track coach David Ayres. “They competed really, really yard.”

Bruin high-flying junior Jack Wahl floated over the high bar at 6-foot-6 to seize Bartlesville’s first state gold medal since 2019, and the school’s first individual gold medal since 2018.

Wahl also made history as Bartlesville High’s first-ever high jump state title.

“The guy he was jumping against had jumped 6-foot-8,” Ayres said. “Jack jumped real well and he was the only one to clear 6-foot-5. When he found out he won he turned to me and said, ‘I just won state.’ Typical Jack Wahl stoicism.”

Wahl does not own the typical body frame of a great jumper, Ayres said.

“I can’t say enough about Jack,” he explained. “He doesn’t look like a big-time jumper. But, when he jumps and flies over the bar you can hear the audible gasp of people. He’s so reserved and so stoic I’m real happy for him.”

Two Lady Bruins — senior Ragen Hodge and freshman Kadance Barnett — each harvested a second-place finish to earn silver.

Hodge eclipsed the high jump bar at 5-foot-4; Barnett long jumped 18-feet-8.25-inches to break her own girls school record in the event.

Barnett set a new school record in the long jump for the third time in a month — extending it nearly a foot beyond what it had been going into the campaign.

Hodge endured one those odd twists of fate. As she went over the bar she barely touched it and it fell to nix the effort. But, when the winner tried it, she also brushed the bar and it jumped up and came back down to settle on the on the extenders and not fall, Ayres noted.

As large as these achievements loomed, perhaps sophomore wonder thunder Campbell Barta zoomed to a higher galactic area code.

She earned Bartlesville’s MVM recognition — Most Valuable Medalist.

Barta earned a full house of hardware — four events, four medals.

She climbed the podium three times to receive fifth-place hardware, and earned her final award on the Lady Bruins sixth-place 4x200m relay team.

Barta came in fifth in the girls 200m dash (:25.2), 400m (:57.5) and long jump (18-2.5) — she set a career mark in the latter, flying past 18 feet for the first time in her life.

Joining her on the 4x200m relay squad included Barnett, Chloe Robbins, Morgan Wasemiller and Barta.

But, the feisty foursome just missed out on trying to set a new girls school record. They finished at 1:43.39, about a second short of the school mark set in 1985.

Barta’s four medal sweep featured plenty of drama.

On Friday, she had to run compete in four events — practically all back-to-back.

“The biggest thing is whether she would have enough rest,” Ayres said.

After the long jump competition, she next ran the 400m dash prelims, the 200m dash prelims and the 4x200m relay finals.

“We were super proud of Campbell,” Ayres said.

Bartlesville brought a contingent of 23 athletes — reportedly the most in several years by the school — to Ardmore. The preponderance was split between youth (10 freshmen and sophomores) and older classes (13 juniors and seniors).

The breakdown included six freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors and nine seniors.

The freshmen/sophomore girls state qualifiers included: Barta, Barnett, Gentry Turner. Parker Fielder, Chloe Robbins, Morgan Wasemiller and Lauren Shoesmith.

The junior /senior girls state qualifiers included: Hodge, Quincey Turner, Jaiden Stevenson, Maggie Jackson, Zoe McCabe, Alexis Burton and Ledi Mull.

The freshman/sophomore boys qualifiers included: Tehi Chibitty, Reed Gorman and Noah Darnell.

The junior/senior boys group included: Jack Wahl, Kade Bostwick, Dayton Austin, Evan Gunter, Gage Keaton and Nick Smith.

Bartlesville also won points in events other than those mentioned above.

Quincey Turner soared to fourth in the pole vault (11-feet-even), claiming a state necklace for the second-straight season.

Stevenson muscled to sixth place in the discus (123-3) to nail down a medal.

Turner didn’t meet her goal of setting a state title (13-feet-1) and was visibly disappointed said Ayres.

But, this was only one meet among a storied, historic career of more than a dozen meets, during which she elevated the school record from 9-feet-6 inches to 12-feet-6 inches.

“She fully expected to win it (state),” Ayres said. “I’m not going to sugar coat it.

When I talked to her about the meet, I told her what she did at state doesn’t define her career. I told here she’s going on to great things and that the best is yet to come for her. She’s been a great leader for the team and the pole vault squad.”

Turner might have one more opportunity in Tuesday’s Meet of Champions.

Ayers also congratulated Stevenson’s medal-winning performance.

There were some hiccups, but perhaps none so obvious as with the boys 4x800m relay team.

“We should have done better,” Ayres said, adding one of the Bruin runners fell down when an Owasso runner drifted in front of him after a handoff and knocked him down.

“That cost us probably six or seven seconds,” Ayers said. “I’m proud of how they progressed this year.”

Bostwick added a point to the boys total by recording eighth place on the pole vault (13-feet-even).

In terms of team accomplishment, Ayres praised the Lady Bruins performance in finishing seventh out of 24 teams.

With well more than half of these thinclads due back for next season — plus others that barely missed qualifying for state, plus incoming freshmen or other new athletes joining the mix — the scenario for the 2023 Bartlesville track program appears even brighter.

Winners in the classroom

Bartlesville also brought home the Class 6A Boys Track Academic State Championship and Girls Track Academic State Championship.

Both honors included trophies to bring hime.

“They made a big deal of it,” gathering the teams around the podium to be recognized, Ayres said. “They talk about how rare it is for one school to win both.”

The Lady Bruins combined for a perfect 4.0 grade point average, while the Bruins came in a 3.997.

Bartlesville state meet girls results

Ragen Hodge

Long jump, 2nd (5-feet-4)

Quincey Turner

Pole vault, 4th (11-feet-0)

Campbell Barta

200m, 5th (:25.2); 400m, 5th (:57.5); long jump, 5th (18-2.5), 4x200m relay, 6th (1:43.39).

Jaiden Stevenson

Discus, 6th (123-feet-3); shot put, 9th (37-feet-even)

Chloe Robbins

4x200m relay, 6th (1:43.39)

Morgan Wasemiller

4x200m relay, 6th (1:43.39)

Kadance Barnett

100m, 7th (:12.48); Long jump, 2nd (18-8.25); 4x200m relay, 6th (1:43.39).

Alexis Burton

Discus, 12th (112-feet-9)

Gentry Turner

800m, 16th (2:24.59); 4x400m relay, 16th (4:13.87)

Zoe McCabe

4x400m relay, 16th (4:13.87)

Parker Fielder

4x400m relay, 16th (4:13.87)

Lauren Shoesmith

4x400m relay, 16th (4:13.87)

Maggie Jackson

Pole vault, NH

Ledi Mull

Pole vault, NH

Bartlesville state meet boys results

Jack Wahl

High jump, 1st (6-feet-6)

Kade Bostwick

Pole vault, 8th (13-feet-even)

Nick Smith

Long jump, 12th (5-feet-10)

Dayton Austin

4x800m relay, 14th (8:33.8); 4x400m relay, 15th (3:32.49)

Gage Keaton

4x800m relay, 14th (8:33.8); 4x400m relay, 15th (3:32.49)

Evan Gunter

4x800m relay, 14th (8:33.8); 4x400m relay, 15th (3:32.49)

Noah Darnell

4x400m relay, 15th (3:32.49)

Tehi Chibitty

4x800m relay, 14th (8:33.8)

Reed Gorman

Relay teams (alternate)

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Focus on Bartlesville High showing at state meet