Brandon Childs had just uncorked what appeared to be his biggest jump ever in the triple jump during Friday’s Class 5A Regional at Welch Stadium, getting off a monster leap that look destined to smash the school record of 45 feet, 3 3/4 inches.
Then he heard the last word he wanted to hear at that moment.
Scratch.
“When I heard I scratched, I was pretty disappointed,” he said. “I thought I had done really well.”
Childs had indeed scratched — by what appeared to be the length of a toe — leaving him with one final attempt.
After a few other contestants finished off their final jumps, Childs again lined up on the straightaway, and with a small crowd clapping in unision in the stands, Childs took off running.
To hear Emporia High jump coach, Phil Thorton, describe it, Childs’ final jump was “all academic.”
Childs’ final leap went for a whopping 46 feet, 1 3/4 inches, smashing the school record and giving Childs the Regional title.
“When he hit the board solid, we knew it was there,” Thornton said. “It was just a great effort.”
It was the second of two school records on the day for Childs, as the junior also broke the EHS boys high jump record with a leap of 5-9, breaking the old mark of 5-8 3/4 and bettering his personal best by 5 inches.
“Overall, my day went great,” Childs said. “It gives me so much confidence going into State knowing that I can do this good.”
The day was a overwhelming success for both the boys and girls squads for EHS, as the Spartans got 35 State-qualifying performances in all — 21 on the girls side and 14 on the boys side. For their efforts, the Emporia High girls took first as a team with 166 points, well ahead of runner-up Bishop Carroll (78.5), while the EHS boys finished second with 108 points behind Bishop Carroll (163).
“I thought we had a spectacular day,” EHS head coach Randy Wells said. “It was phenomenal the way our kids competed. We had some outstanding performances. I’m ecstatic for our kids.
“Getting to the State meet is obviously what you want to do. You want to qualify as many as you can get in. It was a great day for our kids.”
On the girls side, Emporia was boosted by the efforts of senior Layne Moore and junior Michaela Reynolds, as the two dominated their respective specialty races to earn four individual titles.
Moore finished first in the 400-meter dash by 4 seconds in a time of 56.70 seconds and then followed that with a 10-second victory in the 800-meter run in a time of 2 minutes, 18.10 seconds.
Reynolds swept the distance events, taking an 11-second win in the 1,600-meter run in a time of 5:19.70 and then the 3,200 in a time of 11:30.15, 45 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Moore also contributed to two victories for the Lady Spartans in the relays, as she teamed with Heather Coe, Makenzie Harder and Kelsey Camien to win the 4x800 (10:10.90) and with Coe, Angela Finch and Lindy Arndt in the 4x400 (4:05.80).
Finch out-lasted teammate Leslie Stanbrough in the 300-meter hurdles to take the Regional title in 47.50 seconds, while Samantha Kraft won the pole vault with a clearance of 10-6, and Lindsay Holland took the high jump with a leap of 5-1.
Emporia nearly swept the relays, as the 4x100 quartet of Finch, Stanbrough, Arndt and Rhani Henry was in first place for most of the race before being overtaken in the homestretch by Winfield and Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Still, the third-place finish meant a State berth, which Henry said was the goal all along.
“We wanted to get into the top 3,” Henry said. “It feels really good to get it. Now we can go to State and compete the best we can.”
The other State qualifiers for the Lady Spartans included: Stanbrough (third, 26.80 seconds) and Finch (fourth, 26.90 seconds) in the 200-meter dash; Coe in the 400 (third, 1:01.20) and the triple jump (second, 35-3 1/2); Henry in the 100-meter hurdles (fourth, 16.90 seconds); Jenna Stanbrough in the 1,600 (third, 5:38.10); Kraft in the long jump (fourth, 16-0 1/2); Raelynn Pearson in the shot put (third, 35-7 1/2) and the discus (third, 104-10); and Kira Douglas in the javelin (fourth, 107-9 1/2).
On the boys side, junior Jacob Davies and senior Eric Dorsey provided Emporia with two more titles.
Dorsey began Emporia’s day with a first-place finish in the discus. All three of Dorsey’s throws would have won him the title, but it was his final heave that proved to be his best, as he threw the disc 153-1 to finish well ahead of Carroll’s Anthony Naylor (141-9).
Dorsey, however, was cautious about his victory, knowing that it would take more if he wanted to compete for a State title next weekend.
“It feels good to win, but I’m worried about next week,” said Dorsey, who also qualfied in the shot put with a throw of 47 feet to finish third. “With those throws, they won’t do well for me at State.
“I just need to work on my turns and finish.”
Davies provided a stirring comeback in the boys 800, as he erased a nearly 10-meter hole by out-kicking Kapaun’s Colin Hagan and Carroll’s Nathan Hampton in the final 300 meters to win by 2 seconds over Hagan in a time of 1:56.50, his best time this season.
“I’ve had to come from behind in pretty much every race this year, so it wasn’t too big of a deal,” said Davies, who had been battling illness this past week. “I think next week (at State), I’m going to stay near the front and then try to out-kick them at the end again.”
Billy Malone also had a day to remember in the jumps, as the senior finished second in both the long jump and the triple jump. He finished with a best leap of 22-2 1/4 in the long jump to finish less than one-half inch out of first, while in the triple jump, he finished second to Childs with a personal best 45-0 1/2.
The rest of the State qualifiers for the EHS boys were: Caydrick Bloomquist in the pole vault (third, 13-0) and the long jump (fourth, 21-2 1/2); Mark Kolmer in the javelin (third, 189-2 1/2); Eric Wells in the javelin (fourth, 177-2 1/2); Kyle Goodwin in the 300-meter hurdles (fourth, 42.60 seconds); Ryan Parks, Andrew Wayman, Mike Robinson and Tyler Anliker in the 4x800 relay (second, 8:35.30); and Kevin Coe, Davies, Goodwin and Kolmer in the 4x400 relay (fourth, 3:32.50).
The State meet will be held next Friday and Saturday at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita.
Class 5A Regionals
Friday at Emporia
GIRLS
Team Results
1. Emporia 166, 2. Bishop Carroll 78.5, 3. Winfield 73, 4. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 70.5, 5. Ottawa 70, 6. Arkansas City 49, 7. Valley Center 40, 8. Wichita West 8.
Emporia Individual Results
200-meter dash
2. Leslie Stanbrough 26.80
3. Angela Finch 26.90
400-meter dash
1. Layne Moore 56.70
3. Heather Coe 1:01.80
800-meter run
1. Layne Moore 2:18.10
9. Makenzie Harder 2:40.10
1,600-meter run
1. Michaela Reynolds 5:19.70
3. Jenna Stanbrough 5:38.10
3,200-meter run
1. Michaela Reynolds 11:30.50
5. Kelsey Camien 12:43.90
100-meter hurdles
4. Rhani Henry 16.90
300-meter hurdles
1. Angela Finch 47.50
2. Leslie Stanbrough 47.80
6. Rhani Henry 51.40
4x100 relay
3. Emporia 52.00
Angela Finch, Leslie Stanbrough, Lindy Arndt, Rhani Henry
4x400 relay
1. Emporia 4:05.80
Heather Coe, Angela Finch, Lindy Arndt, Layne Moore
4x800 relay
1. Emporia 10:10.90
Heather Coe, Makenzie Harder, Kelsey Camien, Layne Moore
High Jump
1. Lindsey Hollond 5-1
5. Lindy Arndt 4-8
Pole Vault
1. Samantha Kraft 10-6
5. Lindsey Hollond 8-00
6. Becky Wilkerson 7-6
Long Jump
4. Samantha Kraft 16-0 1/2
6. Lindy Arndt 15-4 1/2
Triple Jump
2. Heather Coe 35-3 1/2
Shot Put
3. Raelynn Pearson 35-7 1/2
7. Anna Young 30-8
Discus
3. Raelynn Pearson 104-10
Javelin
4. Kira Douglas 107-9 1/2
DQ Noel Waters —
BOYS
Team Results
1. Bishop Caroll 163, 2. Emporia 108, 3. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 81, 4. Winfield 51, 5. Arkansas City 45, 6. Valley Center 43, 7. Ottawa 36, 8. Wichita West 30.
Emporia Individual Results
200-meter dash
6. Kevin Coe 23.40
400-meter dash
5. Kevin Coe 51.70
13. Juvie Stewart 54.50
800-meter run
1. Jacob Davies 1:56.50
6. Ryan Parks 2:05.80
10. Tyler Anliker 2:08.00
1,600-meter run
7. Asher Delmott 4:43.70
3,200-meter run
5. Asher Delmott 10:17.10
8. Mike Robinson 10:36.10
9. Andrew Wayman 10:53.90
110-meter hurdles
8. Caydrick Bloomquist 18.20
300-meter hurdles
4. Kyle Goodwin 42.60
4x100 relay
5. Emporia 45.00
Kyle Goodwin, Kevin Coe, Mark Kolmer, Billy Malone
4x400 relay
4. Emporia 3:32.50
Kevin Coe, Jacob Davies, Kyle Goodwin, Mark Kolmer
4x800 relay
2. Emporia 8:35.30
Ryan Parks, Andrew Wayman, Mike Robinson, Tyler Anliker
High Jump
1. Brandon Childs 6-9
Pole Vault
3. Caydrick Bloomquist 13-0
DQ Levi Hadden _
Long Jump
2. Billy Malone 22-2 1/4
4. Caydrick Bloomquist 21-2 1/2
12. Andrew Heerman 18-9 3/4
Triple Jump
1. Brandon Childs 46-1 3/4
2. Billy Malone 45-0 1/4
5. Andrew Heerman 41-11
Shot Put
3. Eric Dorsey 47-0
8. Troy Pierce 42-2 1/2
Discus
1. Eric Dorsey 153-1
Javelin
3. Mark Kolmer 189-2 1/2
4. Eric Wells 177-2 1/2