WICHITA — Jacquelyne Leffler didn’t wait very long to give the large crowd that had assembled around the discus ring a glimpse of history on Friday at the State track and field meet.
With many people waiting around just to watch Leffler throw, the Northern Heights senior didn’t disappoint.
On her first attempt, Leffler let loose on a throw of 157 feet, 7 inches, drawing a chorus of “oohs” and “aahs” from the gallery. The heave broke the Class 3A meet record in the event and ultimately was Leffler’s best throw of the day, easily giving Leffler her fourth straight 3A discus title by 20 feet.
“It was a lot of relief after my first throw, just knowing that I got it out of the way and I could just move on,” Leffler said. “It means a lot for the discus because it’s my favorite event.”
Leffler was as dominant as expected, as any one of her six throws would have been enough to win the title. Her worst throw of 139-7 was still 2 feet better than the runner-up.
But for Leffler, who was aiming for the all-time Kansas high school record of 165-2 — her best throw of 162-4 ranks third all-time — it was somewhat of a disappointment despite the fact that she had a stiff wind in her face throughout the competition.
“I figured I’d get the 3A record; it was just a matter of if I’d get the overall record,” she said. “I had trouble catching a rhythm at the back of the ring.”
Still, the victory gives Leffler the chance to be a four-time State champion in two events. She was scheduled to go for her fourth straight shot put title at approximately 10 this morning.
“It’s pressure relieved, but it pumps me up for tomorrow knowing that I’m going for my second event (title),” she said.
While Leffler was putting the finishing touches on the first of what she hopes is a pair of four-peats, another area athlete was perhaps laying the foundation for one of her own.
Olpe freshman Katelyn Henderson, despite being diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday, won a back-and-forth battle over Rock Hills’ Hilary Callaway to win the Class 1A girls 3,200-meter title in her first State meet with a time of 12 minutes, 14.05 seconds.
Henderson credited her victory to the fact that she was able to work out with last season’s champion, Olpe senior Sharon Zeller, who placed eighth (12:43.95).
“It’s great. I’ve been training with the defending champ all year,” Henderson said, “and I couldn’t have raced that good if I didn’t have that kind of competition in practice.”
The area barely missed out on a few more championships. Madison’s Tera Titus placed second in the girls 1A discus with a toss of 117-9, while Chase County’s Julie Dorneker finished as the runner-up in the 2A girls 3,200-meter run in a time of 12:00.61.
Burlingame’s Miranda Fagan finished second in the 1A girls shot put with a heave of 38-8, while Olpe’s Megan Woods placed fifth with a throw of 36-10 1/2.
Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Chisom Spencer placed in two jumping events, as he finished fourth in the Class 1A long jump with a leap of 21-3 3/4, before taking seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 42-1 3/4.
Other area finals results were: Madison’s Shelby Buster, sixth in the 1A javelin (120-7), 12th in the discus (96-8) and 14th in the shot put (31-1 1/2); Waverly’s Megan Steward, seventh in the 1A high jump (5-0); Hartford’s Aaron Thomsen, eight in the 1A 3,200 (10:44.46); Flinthills’ Jacob Ritter, eight in the 2A 3,200 (10:25.68); Madison’s Ashley Martell, ninth in the 1A pole vault (8-0); Chase County’s Cody Peterson, ninth in the 2A shot put (44-5 1/4); Burlingame’s Cory Smart, ninth in the 1A long jump (19-11 1/2); Flinthills’ Sydney Idleman, ninth in the 2A girls long jump (15-7); Northern Heights’ David Hanks, 10th in the 3A shot put (46-11); Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Brandon Litch, 13th in the 1A 3,200 (11:06.97); Madison’s Malacie Bybee, 14th in the 1A pole vault (7-0); and Olpe’s Bradley Argabright, 14th in the 1A triple jump (39-10 1/4).
In preliminary action on Friday:
* Chase County’s Alec Wold ran the third-fastest time in the prelims of the Class 2A 200-meter dash to put himself into today’s finals with a time of 23.12 seconds.
Lebo’s Cameron Smith (ninth, 23.83) and Lyndon’s Jesse Filburn (16th, 24.54) did not make the finals.
* Morgan Stout of Madison ran the third-fastest time in the Class 1A girls 200-meter dash preliminaries, reaching the finals in a time of 27.10 seconds.
* Waverly’s Kale Hamm reached the finals of two events in Class 1A, running the 110 hurdles in 15.66 seconds to finish fourth and then running the 300 hurdles in 41.67 seconds to come in fifth.
* Keene Niemack of Lyndon qualified for the finals of the 2A 400-meter dash with a time of 50.99 seconds. He will be seeded fourth in the finals.
Niemack then teamed with Jake Owens, Daniel Wilson and Dylan Filburn to place eighth in the prelims of the 2A boys 4x400 (3:36.89).
* The Olpe boys 4x400 relay team of Trey Stead, Bradley Argabright, Ethan Hall and Luke Miller advanced to the 1A finals with an eighth-place prelims finish in a time of 3:36.98.
* Flinthills’ Ethan Eisenbarth qualified for the 2A 110-meter hurdles finals with the fifth-best time of the day at 16.13 seconds.
Also, Flinthills’ 4x400 relay squad of Eisenbarth, Grant Vogt, Logan Fullerton and Jacob Ritter came in sixth in the prelims in a time of 3:36.23.
* Waverly’s Shelby Woods reached the finals of the 1A 400-meter dash with a fourth-best time of 1:01.51.
* Many other area athletes competed in the preliminary events on Friday but did not qualify for the finals.
The other area participants in Class 1A were: Waverly’s Woods in the 200, 15th (28.16); Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Jessica Schmidt in the javelin, 13th (101-7); Burlingame’s girls 4x100 relay, 15th (55.81); Olpe’s Natalie Kuhlmann in the 300 hurdles, 16th (52.64); MdCV’s Chisom Spencer in the 400, 10th (53.18); Olpe’s girls 4x400 relay, 15th (4:35.59); and the Burlingame’s boys 4x400, 14th (3:44.37).
The other area participants in Class 2A were: Chase County’s girls 4x100 relay, 13th (54.14); Flinthills’ Carley Dunham in the 100 hurdles, 11th (17.14); Lebo’s Chancy Keifer and Dru Antony in the girls 300 hurdles, 15th (54.80) and 16th (54.86), respectively; Lyndon’s Daniel Wilson in the boys 300 hurdles, 16th (43.58); Lebo’s Blake Jones in the boys 110 hurdles, 14th (16.67); Lyndon’s boys 4x100 relay, 10th (45.41); Chase County’s boys 4x100 relay, 14th (47.29); and the Flinthills’ girls 4x400 relay, 15th (4:35.01).