By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Madison Regehr and a loaded 300-meter hurdle field was supposed to be one of the highlights at Friday’s Jack Bowman Invitational. That race never happened. Instead, just before lightning moved into the area and eventually canceled the meet, Great Bend senior Kaiden Esfeld stole the show by beating a 55-year-old school record in the 1600m run.
Hays won the abbreviated meet with 99 points. Andale finished second with 69 points, and the Panthers scored 57 points for third place.
The 110m hurdles also featured some top athletes from three classes. Hoisington junior Josiah Ball held off Regehr for the gold in 15.15, followed by the Panther senior in 15.36. Ball won the pole vault by two feet at 14-6, with Panther senior Skyler McMullen clearing 10-0 for ninth.
Hays senior Keamonie Archie broke a 42-year-old school record in the long jump at 24-7.4 last week. He won that event by nine inches Friday at 23-1, and won the 100m dash in 11.07. Panther senior Cayden Scheuerman ran fourth in 11.33 to miss the bronze by 0.07 seconds.
Hays also dominated the triple jump with the top-two marks. Panther senior Olivier Dominguez finished third at 43-3.5 to miss the silver by a foot. Ben Nicholson reached 39-1 for seventh.
Hays posted the second-fastest 4x100m relay time in Class 5A Friday in 42.97. Great Bend’s team of Scheuerman, Regehr, Braylon Council, and Maddox Spray ran fourth in 44.52 to miss the bronze by 0.33 seconds.
Bishop Carroll entered the day ranked No. 4 in 5A in the 4x800m relay. The Golden Eagles won by 24 seconds in 8:24.25. Great Bend’s team of Ramiro Rocho, Alex Galindo, Braylon Moore, and Pedro Enriquez finished third in 8:54.18 to miss the silver by less than six seconds.
Andale’s Riley Marx, the top javelin thrower in Kansas this spring, skipped the Bowman Invite for the KU Relays in Lawrence. The meet still featured some top throwers. Hoisington’s Caiden Hoffman won the shot put by three-plus feet at 49-1.5. Great Bend senior Mathew Moeder placed fourth on a throw of 45-7.
Hays senior Wyatt Waddell, ranked No. 2 in the 5A javelin, won by 13 inches at 170-5. Moeder, ranked No. 3 in 5A, won the bronze with a throw of 163-6, six feet shy of the silver.