Jayhawk-Linn freshman wins long jump

WICHITA, Kan. -- Jayhawk-Linn freshman Taylor Dawson's mark of 17 feet, 5 1/4 inches won the Class 3A long jump championship Friday, leading the way for the three Kansas area rural schools at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships.

Dawson had just the eighth-best mark of all the qualifiers in regionals, a mark of 16 feet, 1/4 inch at Fredonia last weekend. She went 16-6 1/2 on her first attempt, then went 16-10 1/2 on her second to take the lead.

Dawson cleared 17-1 on her third jump but Sara Wetzel, a junior from Silver Lake, took the lead in that round with a mark just 1/4 of an inch better.

Dawson's first jump of finals was just 15-1 1/4. Julia Zeiner, a freshman from Marion-Florence, took the lead by going 17-3 1/4. Dawson recorded her winning mark on her fifth jump. She fouled on her final jump but it didn't matter as only Hannah Marsh of Hillsboro was able to even reach 17 feet. Zeiner finished in second place while Wetzel was third and Marsh, a senior, ended up fourth.

Several other field finals were held Friday, with more to come Saturday. On the track, preliminaries were held to determine finalists for Saturday's sprints, with the exception of the 100 meters. A schedule change this year has both the prelims and the final of that event on Saturday.

Uniontown athletes won three field medals Friday. Sophomore Brandon Boyd won two of them, taking third Class 2A long jump and tying for fifth in high jump.

Boyd's mark in long jump was 20-7 1/4, which tied with Sublette sophomore Brandon Wade. Boyd had the better second- best mark of 20- 6 1/ 2 while Wade's second best was 20-6 1/4.

Boyd and Solomon sophomore Jackson Brown both cleared 5-10 in high jump. The number of attempts it took each to clear it were equal, so the tie could not be broken.

Boyd had a chance at a third medal as he advanced in the 200 meters. His time in Friday's preliminary was 23.23 seconds, third best in the first heat and fifth best overall. Senior Kenton Lonberger of Minneapolis had the best time in prelims of 22.30 seconds.

Senior Dominick Robinson won Class 2A boys' shot put with a mark of 48- 1 3/ 4. Josh Hildebrand of St. JohnHudson was the winner at exactly 50 feet while Cole Elbert of Ellis was second with a mark of 49 9 3- 4.

Robinson had a chance at a second medal as he and teammate Heath Clayton were scheduled to compete in discus on Saturday.

Freshman Steven Mann won two more medals for JayhawkLinn. He finished fourth in Class 3A triple jump at 42 feet, 8 1/ 4 inches, which he recorded on the second jump in preliminaries. Senior Nathan Nonhof of Holcomb soared to 45- 7 on his first jump of the day and passed on taking any more attempts. That was a good move as it held up as the winning mark with Chance Chelemedos of Scott City taking second at 43- 9 1/ 4 and Logan Dold of Garden Plain coming in third at 43- 7 1/ 2.

Mann's other medal came in long jump as he was sixth at 20-8, which he picked up on his third attempt. Tyrell Reed of Burlington had the winning distance of 22-5 1/4.

Pleasanton's only medal in Friday's session was picked up by junior Megan Allen in triple jump. She finished seventh with a mark of 33-5 1/2, missing out on sixth after tying with freshman Kayla Sholtz of Rock Hills. Sholtz's second-best mark was 32- 9 1/ 2 while Allen's was 32-8.

Allen finished 12th in the preliminaries of the 200 meters in 27.87 and did not advance but still had a chance for a medal in the 100 meters since that prelim was not until Saturday morning.

Other final results for area athletes were as follows: * Pleasanton junior Michelle Mitchell tied for ninth in Class 2A girls' pole vault as she cleared eight feet even.

* Uniontown junior Jamie Shelton was ninth in 2A boys' javelin with his mark of 152-5 and finished tied for 13th in high jump at 5-8.

* Jayhawk-Linn sophomore Sylvia Grant finished 10th in 3A girls' 3,200 meters with a time of 12: 52.22. Teammate Madison Beckman, also a sophomore, was 12th in that race in 13:01.89.

* Uniontown sophomore Katie Spainhoward placed 12th in 2A discus with a mark of 100-9.

* Jayhawk senior Clint Johnson was 14th in triple jump at 39-5 3/4.

* Uniontown senior Kylie Shepard was 16th in 2A girls' javelin with a mark of 93-3.

* Jayhawk-Linn Amory Miler finished 16th in 3A girls' javelin at 89-3.

* Jayhawk senior Alex Horttor was 16th in 3A girls' discus at 93-4.

Seven other area entries advanced to track finals that were scheduled for Saturday including: * Uniontown's boys' 4x100meter relay team, which won its heat in 44.82 seconds. Minneapolis won the other heat with a time of 43.78.

* Eagle senior Kaity Smith had the third-best time in 100meter hurdles prelims at 16.87 seconds. Sumr Robinett of Sublette had the best time of 16.66 seconds while Dana Loganbill of Moundridge was next at 16.76.

* Uniontown junior Gage McKinnis advanced in the boys' 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.01 seconds that was fourth-best among qualifiers. Issac Bradshaw of Jetmore had the best time of 41.05 seconds. * Jayhawk-Linn freshman Morgan Eastwood moved on in 3A girls' 300-meter hurdles in 47.82 seconds, fourth best on the day. Katie Guevel of Burlington had the best time of 44.87 seconds.

* Jayhawk's Dawson had a time of 1: 00.52 in the 400 meters, which was sixth best. Lauren Eck of Beloit had the best time of 58.08.

* The Jayhawk-Linn girls' 4x400-meter relay team moved on with a sixth-best time of 4:11.29. Beloit had the best time of 4:01.31.

* The Jayhawks' 4x100 girls' relay also advanced, it's time of 51.91 seconds seventh best. Wichita Independent was the only team under 50 seconds, finishing in 49.76.

* Jayhawk Briar Snyder advanced in the 300-meter hurdles in 15.73 seconds. Cooper Hanning of Wichita Trinity ran a 14.84 in recording the best time.

Unable to advance were Uniontown's Abbie Smith in the 300-meter hurdles; Pleasanton's Alex Richmond in boys' 400 meters; Jayhawk-Linn's Snyder in the 300-meter hurdles and Brock Johanning in the 110s and the 300s; Eastwood in the girls' 100 hurdles and Cassie Rockers in the girls' 200; Pleasanton girls' 4x100 and 4x400 relays; and JayhawkLinn girls' 4x100 relay.