Many qualify for state in track and field

By NICHOLAS KIMBALL
and DELBERT PETERS

Staff writers

County track and field teams competed in regionals this past week in hopes of securing top-four finishes to advance to the state championship meet this week in Wichita.

Hillsboro

The Trojans will take nine athletes to state after an awe-inspiring performance at regionals.

D’myia Cox placed second in long jump and triple jump.

Addison Jost placed second in the 800 run. Her sister, Moriah Jost, placed fourth.

Angel Rivera placed second in discus, and Zachary Denholm placed second in 110 hurdles.

Abbi Williams placed fourth in shot put, and Anders Weisbeck placed fourth in discus.

Hillsboro’s 4x800 relay team of Addison Jost, Jaidyn Frantz, Nora Hein, and Moriah Jost also will be heading to state.

“The athletes’ dedication to training and their unwavering focus paid off as they achieved remarkable results and brought home numerous medals,” coach Demetrius Cox said.

Goessel

Grant Bryant led the Goessel boys team at the 1A regional Friday in Iola. He captured first in the 110 hurdles, second in the 400-meter dash and participated in two relays.

Eli Boden garnered third place in the triple jump and 400-meter dash and also ran in two relays. Jake Flaming picked up fourth place medals in the two hurdle events and also ran a leg in two relays.

Jake Wiens placed third place in long jump, and Javin Schmidt was fourth in the 1,600-meter run. All will participate in these events at the state meet.

The highest medal for the Goessel girls went to Aimee Funk with a second place in the 100-meter dash. Cheyenne Sawyer got third and fourth in the 100 and 300 hurdles. Riley Graber will advance to state by placing third in the high jump and triple jump. Abbigail Funk snatched third in the 100-meter dash .and Brooklyn Wuest took third place in the 200 meter dash.

The Goessel girls finished third as a team.The Bluebird boys came in fifth.

Marion

The Warriors will be sending one individual and one relay team to state.

Chance Shults continued to stay hot in the pole vault, qualifying for a third straight byplacing third. Marion’s 4x800 relay team punched their ticket to state with a fourth place finish.

“Tristen Dye led off with a great opening leg, and then Christopher Beery and Eli Klenda kept us in the race, setting Luke Wessel up with a chance to get this group to Wichita,” coach Grant Thierolf said.

Centre

Kaitlynn Bina will be the only Centre athlete heading to Wichita. She placed third in the 1600, earning her first state qualification by shaving fractions of a second off her personal best.

Bina earned her second berth in the state meet with a second place finish in the 800, breaking a personal best record with a time of 2:39.74.

She will be running at 1:25 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. Saturday.