Once, Twice... five Times a Champion! Leffler breaks State record in shot put
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, May 26, 2007
WICHITA — Jacquelyne Leffler was worried — worried that the mantra that had consumed her all year long would never be realized.
All this season, the Northern Heights junior had eyed the State track and field meet as a chance to, as she said, “make them bring out the steel tape,” in reference to the method used to measure State-record distances on the field events.
After Leffler’s first attempt in the Class 3A girls shot put Friday morning at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium, Leffler thought she would see that steel tape.
She had let loose on a throw that measured 44 feet, 1 inch on a nylon tape measure, which would have broke the State meet record of 43-10.
It would have, but the officials never brought out a steel tape to make the record throw official.
“I was afraid my motto was going to be messed up because they forgot to measure it with the steel tape,” Leffler said.
No worries though.
Leffler simply went out and broke the State record – on four of her next five throws. The victory gave her the event title for the third year in a row.
Her top throw of the day — a heave of 45-06 3/4 — put her at No. 10 all-time in Kansas high school history in all classes.
It all made for an anticlimactic finish after not being allowed the record on her first throw.
“I was pretty excited about it,” Leffler said. “It feels really good to get that record. Now I can focus on doing even better next year.”
Leffler followed her record-breaking performance in the shot put with her third-straight State championship in the discus with a throw of 148-11, which outdistanced the second-place finisher by nearly 17 feet. She also finished third in the javelin (131-02).
“I’ve been going since 8 in the morning, and I am dead-tired,” Leffler said after her discus victory. “You can’t ask for much more than two State titles.”
Leffler led the way for the area schools on the first day of the State championships, as she claimed two of the area’s five State titles on the day.
Olpe’s Sharon Zeller got the day started well for the area athletes, as the junior distance runner won the first race of the day — the Class 1A girls 3,200-meter run — in dominating fashion.
Zeller took the lead after the first lap of the eight-lap event, and by the halfway mark, she had built up a 20-meter lead over Tipton’s Megan Hake. Zeller cruised from there, winning the race in a season-best 12 minutes, 6.11 seconds, more than 12 seconds ahead of Hake.
“I wanted to get out fast and get a good lead,” Zeller said. “I pretty much have to be up in the front. It scares me when people are ahead of me.”
The other two area titles went to Burlington’s Tyrel Reed, as he won the Class 3A boys long jump with a leap of 22-05 1/4, and Lyndon’s Andrea Hoke, who captured the Class 2A crown in the girls discus with a throw of 125-11.
In preliminaries action, Burlington’s Katie Guevel and Waverly’s Matt Coursen fared well in the hurdle events. Guevel, the reigning 3A champion in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, had the top time in each event Friday with times of 14.27 and 44.87 seconds, respectively, while Coursen had the second-best time in the Class 1A boys 110-meter hurdles (15.90 seconds) and the top time in the 300-meter hurdles (40.48 seconds).
Guevel also earned the top seed time in the 3A girls 200-meter dash in 25.32 seconds.
The State championships conclude today with the rest of the field events and the running of the finals in the track events.