Mike Courson
Approximately 200 runners from eight states converged on Wichita's Trinity Academy Saturday evening for the inaugural Kronos Distance Night, an event designed as an opportunity to bring in top runners from the region to break records and qualify for other national meets.
The event, which included fireworks and a small flyover during the national anthem, featured 800, mile, and 5000m races. Tavon Stroup, an upcoming senior at Great Bend High School, was among the field in three mile races.
Stroup recently finished 11th in the Class 5A 1600m race. He entered heat two of Saturday's race as the top seed with an entry time of 4:29. On a warm and humid night, Stroup finished 13th overall in 4:37.73."I thought it would be fun to do and get another race in," Stroup said.
One draw of the night was the use of Wavelight technology around the track. Seen at professional meets, the series of lights are programmed to help runners maintain a specific pace."(I paid) attention the first 800 meters probably," said Stroup. "It was really cool to run with. I'd say the first 800 really kept me on pace for 4:25."The other draw of the evening was a push for a 4-minute mile. Wichita East's Jim Ryun became the first high school runner in the nation to accomplish the feat in 1965. He remains the only Kansas high school runner to break four minutes, though Wichita Trinity standout Clay Shively hit 4:00.02 shortly after graduation in 2024.Shively was on hand Saturday to pace the elite mile, running two laps in two minutes. Kapaun's Daniel Enriquez, who recently posted the fourth-fastest 1600m run in state history in 4:06, stayed with Shively for a while before finishing in 4:09.65 to win by 0.14 seconds.
"The main thing was trying to see if my body was up for a sub-4," Enriquez said. "I could tell two laps in I was pulling off the pace lights and I knew it wasn't quite in the cards. Then it became a matter of just pushing and trying to PR if I could."
Katelyn Rupe, a recent graduate from Salina Central High School, has been a regular winner at cross country and track meets hosted by Great Bend High School. Saturday night, she had the rare opportunity to run an outdoors 5000m race, winning by 25 seconds in 16:42.40. The previous state record of 17:14.40 was set by Olathe South's Amanda Pape in 2000.