Photo by Michael Ashford
Emporia High’s Brandon Childs cleared 6 feet, 6 inches during the high jump competition on Friday. Childs went on to win the event with a jump of 6-10 — a new school record.
Moments before she received the baton on the anchor leg of the girls 4x400-meter relay at Friday’s Class 5A Regional track and field meet, Emporia High junior Victoria Sims looked down the track at her fast-approaching teammate, Angela Finch, and mouthed, “Let’s go. We got this.”
One lap later, Sims had held true to her word, as she crossed the finish line all alone in first place, 6 seconds ahead of the next closest finisher.
“I was just thinking, ‘I’m doing it. My team is like my family, and I’m not going to lose this. I’m going to win this, because it’s my passion,’” said Sims, who teamed with Finch, Lindy Arndt and Jenna Stanbrough in the 4x400. “I just told myself, ‘Keep on going, don’t give up, you’re not tired. You’re just going to keep on fighting.’
“If you’re going to be in track and not fight, then there’s no point in doing it. You’ve got to fight to get where you want to be.”
The victory in the 4x400 — the final event of the night — was enough to help the Emporia High girls leap over Bishop Carroll in the team standings to claim the Class 5A Regional title, as EHS totaled 128 points to Carroll’s 125. It also gave Emporia High a sweep of the team titles, as the EHS boys ran away with the Regional championship, 136-108, over runner-up Valley Center.
“Being Regional champs on both sides is quite a feat, and it’s a testament to how well our kids performed and how well our coaches prepared,” EHS coach Randy Wells said. “We were well-prepared, I thought, and the kids came out and competed hard, and good things happened for us.”
Photo Gallery
Class 5A Regional track and field meet
Action from Emporia High's showing at the Class 5A Regional at Welch Stadium on May 16.
The top four placers in each event earned a trip to State, and with both the girls and boys squads taking the team titles for EHS, that meant a plethora of Emporia High athletes qualified to represent the school next week in Wichita. In all, EHS qualified 24 athletes for State in 26 events.
Brandon Childs got the Emporia boys rolling early with three victories in the jumps — including one in record-breaking fashion.
After placing first in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 9 1/2 inches, Childs moved to the high jump, where he first cleared 6-6 on his first try to beat Topeka West’s Nic Gianacana, then easily cleared 6-8 to set up an attempt at 6-10 — a school record.
Childs, who set the school record in the high jump at last year’s Regional at 6-9, missed his first attempt at the new height before clearing the bar on his second try.
“We’ve been lucky, the past couple of years we’ve had real nice weather,” Childs said. “It’s always good when you’re a jumper to have a nice, warm day.”
Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High’s Raelynn Pearson competes in the discus competition at Friday’s Class 5A Regional track and field meet at Welch Stadium. Pearson won the event with a throw of 119 feet to qualify for State.
Childs followed that with a victory in the triple jump with a distance of 45-8 1/2.
“Getting into the State track meet in three events is always pretty special,” he said. “The more points I score there, the better off we’ll do as a team.”
Senior Jacob Davies had a hand in three events victories as well, and nearly came away with a fourth.
Davies won the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.70 seconds before taking the 800 title in a time of 1:56.70. He also teamed with Taylor Euler, Tyler Tilton and Mark Kolmer to win the 4x400 (3:26.20) in the last race of the meet. His only non-win was a third-place finish in the 1,600 — his first race — when it was obvious he was conserving energy for the other three races to come.
“I came into the day thinking, ‘Hey, just stay relaxed and qualify. That’s all I need to do, and at State, I’ll have more time to get some rest and run some good races,’” Davies said. “But I think because I came in so relaxed and not worrying, I was able to run really relaxed and smooth. It all just came together.”
In the girls jumping events, EHS freshman Sarah Kolmer impressed with a two-title day, winning the long jump with a distance of 16-9 3/4 before taking the triple jump with a distance of 35-9 despite battling leg cramps.
“It feels really good to be going to State,” Kolmer said. “Coach (Phil) Thornton’s helped with a lot and made me what I am right now. I’m just excited.”
Senior Michaela Reynolds set herself up for a run at a pair of State titles by dominating the distance events, winning both the 1,600 (5:16.70) and the 3,200 (11:30.80) by a combined 47 seconds.
Emporia High also fared well in the relays in addition to the girls and boys squads each winning their respective 4x400 races.
The 4x100 girls relay team of Finch, Kolmer, Arndt and Rhani Henry placed first in a time of 50.9 seconds, while the boys 4x800 squad of Andrew Wayman, Asher Delmott, Tyler Anliker and Tilton took the title in a time of 8:26.60. The boys 4x100 relay team of Kyle Goodwin, Euler, Mark Kolmer and Edd Noonan came in third (44.2 seconds).
The other titles for EHS came from Raelynn Pearson in the girls discus (119-0) and from Mark Kolmer in the boys javelin (177-0).
Photo by Michael Ashford
Emporia High’s Jacob Davies sprints toward the finish line during the 400-meter dash on Friday at the Class 5A Regional track and field meet at Welch Stadium. Davies won the 400 in a time of 49.7 seconds.
The other State qualifiers for EHS on the girls side were: Samantha Kraft, second in the pole vault (10-6); Henry, second in the 100-meter hurdles (16.40 seconds); Stanbrough, third in the 800 (2:27.50); Finch, second in the triple jump (34-4 1/4) and third in the 300 hurdles (49.90 seconds); Courtney Waldner, third in the high jump (4-10); and Pearson, third in the shot put (35-0 1/4).
On the boys side, the other State qualifiers for EHS were: Caydrick Bloomquist, second in the pole vault (14-0); Andrew Heerman, second in the long jump (22-0 3/4); Troy Pierce, second in the shot put (43-3 1/2); Delmott, third in the 3,200 (10:03.20); and Brian Dorsey, fourth in the long jump (21-2 3/4).
The State track and field meet will begin at 7:45 a.m. on Friday and run through Saturday at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium.
“We want to go into State and try to perform better than what we did today,” Wells said. “Obviously, when it gets to Regional time, you have to be at your best in order to qualify ... but we’ll change our focus the next week in practice to get ready for the State meet.
“We’ll come out and practice hard and hopefully have good marks again next week.”
Class 5A Regional Track and Field
Friday at Welch Stadium, Emporia
GIRLS
Team Scores
Emporia 128, Bishop Carroll 125, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 93, Winfield 77, Topeka West 64, 6. Valley Center 34, Arkansas City 29, Wichita West 4.
Results
(top 4 advance to State)
100 — 1. Proctor, Win, 12.20; 2. Morris, AC, 12.30; 3. Smith, Win, 12.90; 4. Cummings, VC, 13.00. 200 — 1. Morris, AC, 26.30; 2. Proctor, Win, 26.50; 3. Clark, TW, 27.50; 4. Urban, BC, 27.60. 400 — 1. Clark, TW, 1:03.10; 2. Huennekes, TW, 1:04.50; 3. White, AC, 1:04.60; 4. Hagan, KMC, 1:04.70. 800 — 1. Brugman, BC, 2:26.20; 2. Dicus, TW, 2:26.50; 3. Stanbrough, Emp, 2:27.50; 4. Bland, AC, 2:28.80. 1,600 — 1. Reynolds, Emp, 5:16.70; 2. Miller, VC, 5:25.10; 3. Hand, KMC, 5:34.40; 4. Vining, VC, 5:38.70. 3,200 — 1. Reynolds, Emp, 11:30.80; 2. Miller, VC, 12:09.50; 3. Hand, KMC, 12:14.00; 4. Vining, VC, 12:17.50. 100 hurdles — 1. Bello-Ogunu, KMC, 16.20; 2. Henry, Emp, 16.40; 3. J. Sponsel, BC, 16.60; 4. Akao, KMC, 16.70. 300-hurdles — 1. K. Sponsel, BC, 48.20; 2. Akao, KMC, 49.00; 3. Finch, Emp, 49.90; 4. J. Sponsel, BC, 50.10. 4x100 — 1. Emporia 50.90, 2. Topeka West 51.90, 3. Winfield 52.00, 4. Bishop Carroll 52.10. 4x400 — 1. Emporia 4:10.50, 2. Bishop Carroll 4:16.10, 3. Topeka West 4:16.30, 4. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 4:16.70. 4x800 — 1. Bishop Carroll 10:25.50, 2. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 11:11.70, 3. Topeka West 11:44.00, 4. Wichita West 13:18.60. High Jump — 1. Wilson, BC, 5-2; 2. Lubbers, BC, 5-2; 3T. Waldner, Emp, 4-10; 3T. Smith, Win, 4-10. Pole Vault — 1. Detmer, BC, 11-0; 2. Kraft, Emp, 10-6; 3. Northcutt, BC, 10-0; 4. Toon, KMC, 9-6. Long Jump — 1. Kolmer, Emp, 16-9 3/4; 2. Wilson, BC, 16-8; 3. Okoronkwo, TW, 16-1 1/2; 4. Proctor, Win, 16-0 3/4. Triple Jump — 1. Kolmer, Emp, 35-9; 2. Finch, Emp, 34-4 1/4; 3. Roth, Win, 32-4; 4. Okoronkwo, TW, 32-3 1/2. Shot Put — 1. Cook, KMC, 40-3; 2. Wall, Win, 36-4 1/2; 3. Pearson, Emp, 35-0 1/4; 4. Konen, VC, 33-5 1/2. Discus — 1. Pearson, Emp, 119-0; 2. Cook, KMC, 115-10; 3. Voth, BC, 106-1; 4. Lantz, KMC, 103-4. Javelin — 1. Northcutt, BC, 121-8; 2. Jauregui, Win, 115-7; 3. Wall, Win, 114-3; 4. Cook, KMC, 112-10.
BOYS
Team Scores
Emporia 136, Valley Center 108, Bishop Carroll 106, Winfield 64.5, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 63, Topeka West 45, Arkansas City 24.5, Wichita West 9.
Results
(top 4 advance to State)
100 — 1. Babbidge, VC, 10.60; 2. Freeman, AC, 10.70; 3. Fisher, VC, 11.20; 4. Cates, Win, 11.30. 200 — 1. Freeman, AC, 22.20; 2. Babbidge, VC, 22.30; 3. Kuchinskas, BC, 22.90; 4. Fisher, VC, 23.20. 400 — 1. Davies, Emp, 49.70; 2. Perry, TW, 50.10; 3. Torgler, KMC, 50.80; 4. Kuchinskas, BC, 50.90. 800 — 1. Davies, Emp, 1:56.70; 2. Perry, TW, 1:57.40; 3. Hagan, KMC, 1:58.60; 4. Segura, TW, 1:58.90. 1,600 — 1. Crum, VC, 4:23.90; 2. Hagan, KMC, 4:27.80; 3. Davies, Emp, 4:28.70; 4. Segura, TW, 4:28.80. 3,200 — 1. Crum, VC, 9:57.80; 2. Glasgow, KMC, 10:02.40; 3. Delmott, Emp, 10:03.20; 4. Volz, BC, 10:05.50. 110 hurdles — 1. McKown, VC, 14.90; 2. Long, BC, 15.10; 3. Powell, BC, 15.30; 4. Hoetmer, VC, 15.60. 300 hurdles — 1. McKown, VC, 39.10; 2. Long, BC, 39.30; 3. Roan, Win, 40.90; 4. Hoetmer, VC, 41.00. 4x100 — 1. Valley Center 44.20, 2. Bishop Carroll 44.60, 3. Emporia 45.00, 4. Winfield 45.20. 4x400 — 1. Emporia 3:26.20, 2. Bishop Carroll 3:26.40, 3. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 3:28.20, 4. Valley Center 3:29.40. 4x800 — 1. Emporia 8:26.60, 2. Kapaun Mt. Carmel 8:30.80, 3. Topeka West 8:43.60, 4. Bishop Carroll 8:45.40. High Jump — 1. Childs, Emp, 6-10; 2. Gianacana, TW, 6-4; 3. Rohleder, BC, 6-0; 4. Taylor, Win, 6-0. Pole Vault — 1. N. Arnold, BC, 14-0; 2. Bloomquist, Emp, 14-0; 3. L. Arnold, BC, 13-0; 4. Gross, BC, 12-6. Long Jump — 1. Childs, Emp, 22-9 1/2; 2. Heerman, Emp, 22-0 3/4; 3. Flynn, KMC, 21-8 1/4; 4. B. Dorsey, Emp, 21-2 3/4. Triple Jump — 1. Childs, Emp, 45-8 1/2; 2. Flynn, KMC, 43-5 1/2; 3. McKown, VC, 43-5 1/2; 4. Johansen, BC, 43-3 1/4. Shot Put — 1. Abernathy, Win, 45-1 1/4; 2. Pierce, Emp, 43-3 1/2; 3. Bonner, WW, 42-8 3/4; 4. Maxwell, BC, 42-3. Discus — 1. Groene, Win, 140-11; 2. Abernathy, Win, 136-9; 3. Sherwood, VC, 134-10; 4. Metzinger, AC, 124-7. Javelin — 1. Kolmer, Emp, 177-0; 2. Cates, Win, 151-0; 3. Hentzen, BC, 150-8; 4. Jones, TW, 50-6 1/2.
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