By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Some of the state’s top track and field athletes converged on Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium Thursday and Friday for the Pre-State Challenge. Several area athletes competed in the elite competitions. The Great Bend girls tied powerhouse Andale for the relays championship in the elite division. Lady Panther senior Valarie Luna broke a school record in the high jump, and Pawnee Heights senior Alec Carlson won three elite golds. Larned senior Jayme Hagerman also had a big day.
Luna was able to clear the bar at 5-6.5, breaking a 40-plus year old record at Great Bend High School. Luna won the elite competition by 6.5 inches and ranks No. 2 in all of Kansas this spring.
Lady Panther junior Addy Nicholson placed sixth in the elite 3200m run Thursday with a time of 12:08.42. Salina Central sophomore Katelyn Rupe posted the state’s best time in 11:13.80 for the win.
Junior Makenzie Premer cut seconds off her 300m hurdle time for third in the elite division in 46.98, a top-five time in Kansas this spring.
Thursday evening, senior Kyndall Blessing went against two future Div. I NCAA athletes in the javelin. Andale’s Mckenzie Fairchild expanded on her state lead at 155-9.75. Blessing reached 137-1 for third, just 18 inches behind Kansas-State bound Brooklyn Jones of Lebo. Macy Nachtigal also had a big throw of 119-2. Blessing’s throw is a top-five effort in Kansas this spring.
The Lady Panther 4x100 team placed fifth in the elite race in 52.01 to miss the bronze by a second. The 4x400 team finished second in 4:09.46, seven seconds behind Andale. Both are top-four times in Kansas this spring. The 4x800 relay team ran third in the elite race in 10:19.60, another top-10 time in Kansas this spring.
Stanton County senior Chesney Peterson, bound for the University of Tennessee, already owns the No. 4 time in Kansas history in the 800m run. She won Friday’s elite event in 2:12.09. Great Bend junior Eliana Beckham won the 4-6A division in 2:27.06.
Larned senior Jayme Hagerman had success in the sprints, but her elite triple jump of 37-7.75 beat the field by nearly two feet and ranks No. 1 in Kansas this spring.
Great Bend senior Madison Regehr won the 300m hurdle elite gold by nearly a second in 40.24. That is the second-fastest time in Kansas this spring. Regehr placed fifth in the elite 110m hurdle field in 15.75 to miss the bronze by just 0.07 seconds.
Panther senior Kaiden Esfeld ran in a pair of elite events. He finished second in the 800m run Friday in 1:59.37, a top-10 time in Kansas this spring, and ran the third in the elite 3200m run Thursday in 9:39.01, another top time in Kansas this spring.
Great Bend’s 4x400 team ran third in the elite division in 3:30.11, finishing behind an Oklahoma school and Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
Thursday evening, Panther senior Mathew Moeder placed sixth in the elite javelin on a throw of 167-1.5, one of just a handful of throws in Kansas this spring to surpass 165 feet.
Pawnee Heights senior Alec Carlson dominated the elite jumping events. He won the long jump gold by 10 inches at 21-10. He took the triple jump gold by nearly a foot at 44-3.5, a top-seven mark in Kansas this spring. Great Bend’s Oliver Dominguez placed fifth at 41-1.5. Carlson won the high jump by four-plus inches on a clearance of 6-6.5, the fifth-best height in Kansas this spring.