WICHITA — As if winning both the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run for the second year in a row at the State track and field championships on Saturday wasn’t a fitting cap on Emporia High senior Layne Moore’s outstanding high school career, then perhaps it was her performance as the anchor on Emporia’s gold medal-winning 4x400 relay squad that displayed just how dominant of a middle-distance runner Moore has become.
In what was the final event of the day, Moore received the baton from freshman Lindy Arndt with the Lady Spartans in third place and facing what appeared to be an insurmountable lead to catch the race leader at the time, St. Thomas Aquinas.
But as Moore has shown time and time again in her career, almost no lead is safe.
The Missouri signee caught up with the lead pack with about 100 meters left and then kicked it into overdrive, blowing past the race leaders with about 30 meters left to win going away, finishing nearly a second ahead of Gardner-Edgerton’s Julia Scott.
As she crossed the finish line, Moore flashed a huge grin and pumped her fists in celebration. The performance gave Moore, Arndt, Angela Finch and Heather Coe the gold medal and capped Moore’s career with yet another ‘Oh-my-gosh-did-you-see-that’ performance.
“Just phenomenal. What can you say?” EHS coach Randy Wells said. “She’s just a great athlete who loves to compete and wants to win. We’re going to miss her, there’s no questions about that. She’s a phenomenal athlete.”
Those in the Cessna Stadium stands should have seen Moore’s heroics coming after the double display of power she exhibited earlier in the day in winning the 400 and 800 titles.
Moore came excruciatingly close to breaking the Class 5A State meet record in the 400, finishing in a school-record time of 55.97 seconds, just .07 seconds off Bonner Springs’ Viesta Suffren’s record mark (55.90). It was the 12th-fastest 400 time in Kansas high school history in all classes.
In fact, she ran so well that by the halfway point of the race, she had completely made up the stagger from the start of the race, though it only fueled her to run harder.
“I freak out when I see girls in front of me even though I know the stagger is there,” Moore said. “It just motivates me; I think they’re still beating me. I just ran the last 100 scared since I couldn’t see anyone in front of me. I just feel like someone’s going to come up from behind me and pass me.
“It’s exciting to run that well when you don’t really know how you’re doing.”
In the 800, Moore ran most of the race just behind the leaders before easily out-kicking everyone in the final 200 meters to win in a time of 2:19.41.
“It’s very nice to repeat winning both titles again,” Moore said. “That was the goal all year. I am very happy to end my high school career like that. That felt good.”
Emporia High swept the 800 titles, as junior Jacob Davies provided a highlight-reel race on the boys side in capturing his first individual State title.
True to the form he had shown all season long, Davies was content to lag behind the lead group for the majority of the race before making his move with about 250 meters to go.
It almost came back to haunt him though, as he even admitted he almost let the race leaders get too far ahead before he started his kick at the end.
“I was almost a little too far back,” said Davies, who was in ninth with 300 meters left. “Last year when I wasn’t used to the race, I noticed that everyone would just converge real quick off the turn at the start, and I got trapped in there a couple times. I decided to let those guys get boxed in and I’d just stay back to where I had room to move either way.”
Though he had to make his final move for the lead earlier than he had planned, Davies roared to the front of the lead pack with about 150 meters left in the race and then used his superior kick to leave the field fighting for second place. He crossed the finish line in 1:55.54 — with a smile on his face.
He ran the fastest time of the day in all classes and was nearly a second ahead of Great Bend’s Sloan Kern (1:56.48), who had won the 1,600 earlier.
“I was kind of scared because I saw what Sloan Kern did to (Seaman’) Clay Schneider in the mile, he just blew him away,” Davies said. “But after I passed the 100 mark, I knew no one was going to beat me. With about 25 meters left, I thought I might as well relax and put on a smile.”
Highlighting other action for the Emporia High boys on Saturday was junior Brandon Childs, who earned his second runner-up finish of the State meet with a silver-medal placing in the high jump one day after he placed second in the triple jump.
Childs’ final clearance came at 6 feet, 6 inches, which put him behind Eddie McClain of Bonner Springs (6-10).
Freshman Mark Kolmer and senior Eric Wells also earned points for the Emporia High boys by finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the javelin.
Junior Michaela Reynolds barely missed out on a medal in the girls 1,600, finishing eighth in a time of 5:30.34.
After running the 3,200 the day before, Reynolds said she knew early on Saturday that it would not be her day.
“I just woke up (Saturday) and my legs didn’t feel good. They felt tired,” Reynolds said. “I didn’t feel good this whole meet, and it’s kind of disappointing.”
The EHS girls’ 4x800 team of Coe, Kelsey Camien, Reynolds and Moore placed fourth in a time of 9:48.25, Coe finished sixth in the triple jump (34-08 1/4) and fifth in the 400 (1:00.05) and Leslie Stanbrough placed seventh in the 300-meter hurdles (48.77 seconds).
The weekend was deemed a success by coach Wells, as the Emporia High boys finished second as a team with 51 points, just 13 points behind champion Shawnee Heights (64). The EHS girls placed fourth with 56 points, with Great Bend winning the team title with 80 points.
“We had kids that stepped up,” Wells said. “They’ve all competed very well. I think the kids came here with a purpose and did everything they could do.”
State Championships
Saturday in Wichita
Team Scores — Class 5A
Girls Top 10
1. Great Bend 80; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 76; 3. Miege 66; 4. Emporia 56; 5. Gardner-Edgerton 47; 6. Seaman 35; 7T. Hutchinson 25; 7T. Hays 25; 9. Mill Valley 23.50; 10. Shawnee Heights 21.
Boys Top 10
1. Shawnee Heights 64; 2. Emporia 51; 3. Bishop Carroll 44.5; 4. Harmon 42; 5. Hutchinson 37.5; 6T. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 30; 6T. Gardner-Edgerton 30; 8T. Hays 28; 8T. Great Bend 28; 10. K.C.-Washington 26.
Emporia High Results
Girls 4x800 Finals
4. Emporia 9:48.25
Heather Coe, Kelsey Camien, Michaela Reynolds, Layne Moore
Girls 1,600 Finals
8. Michael Reynolds 5:30.34
Girls 400 Finals
1. Layne Moore 55.97
5. Heather Coe 1:00.05
Girls 300 Hurdle Finals
7. Leslie Stanbrough 48.77
Girls 800 Finals
1. Layne Moore 2:19.41
Girls 4x400 Finals
1. Emporia 4:00.22
Heather Coe, Angela Finch, Lindy Arndt, Layne Moore
Girls Discus
9. Raelynn Pearson 110-05
Girls Long Jump
11. Samantha Kraft 15-05 1/4
Girls Triple Jump
6. Heather Coe 34-08 1/4
Boys 4x800 Finals
10. Emporia 8:24.25
Tyler Anliker, Asher Delmott, Jacob Davies, Ryan Parks
Boys 800 Finals
1. Jacob Davies 1:55.54
Boys 4x400 Finals
5. Emporia 3:26.24
Kevin Coe, Jacob Davies, Kyle Goodwin, Mark Kolmer
Boys Shot Put
14. Eric Dorsey 43-05 1/2
Boys High Jump
2. Brandon Childs 6-06
Boys Javelin
6. Mark Kolmer 175-01
7. Eric Wells 174-07