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Duo Damsel: Rienbolt wins State 1,600, giving her distance double
WICHITA -- When Katren Rienbolt won the Class 4A 3,200 meter State championship at the Kansas State Track and Field Meet Friday, she was caught up in traffic at the start but went on to win by a wide margin.
Saturday, she was even farther back in the pack after one lap of the 4A 1,600-meter championship race. In fact, according to the official results, she was in ninth place.
But by the end of the second lap, the Fort Scott High School junior was in the lead and she was the only one in the race who ran each of the last three laps in less than 1:22. She went on to finish the race in 5:16.37, over five seconds better than runner-up Mary Kate Franklin of Topeka Hayden.
"My coach (Tracey Bogina) says you can't coach running," Rienbolt said. "You can't teach how to run a race but the one thing she tells me is to get a good start. (Friday), my start was a lot better. Luckily, I was able to get around people."
Rienbolt ended the year undefeated against Class 4A competition. The only runners who finished ahead of her in any race were from a Class 6A school and a school in Oklahoma. Franklin came into this race with the best 1,600 time in Regionals and the best in the state this season. But they had not competed in the same meet until Saturday's race (Franklin did not qualify for the 3,200)
"The 1,600 always seems tougher," Rienbolt said. "I like the 3,200 better. By the third lap, I felt pretty comfortable. It was a tough race but it was fun, every minute of it."
Rienbolt is now one of a few people who have won State cross-country, the 1,600 and the 3,200 in the same school year. She won cross-country at Wamego in October.
"I still can't believe it," Reinbolt said when reminded of her accomplishments. "I didn't expect any of it. I'm without words, speechless."
Junior Chris Allen won his first State medal Saturday as he finished in sixth place in Class 4A boys' javelin based on his first throw of finals, which went 166 feet, 3 inches. Andrew Henn of Paola was the winner at 191' 5".
Junior Jillian Lattimer had a throw of 109' 1" on her first attempt of Class 4A girls' javelin but was not able to better that mark and did not advance to finals. She finished in 10th place, 7 inches shy of reaching the finals.
Freshman Nick Woods was Fort Scott's other entrant. He finished 16th in 4A boys' discus on Friday. His account as well as the story of Rienbolt's performance in the 3,200 were included in Saturday's edition.
NOTES -- The 20 points Rienbolt scored in her two wins gave Fort Scott a top-10 finish in team standings. The Tigers tied with Tonganoxie, Rose Hill and Hugoton. Baldwin won the girls' team title while Andale was the boys' champion....
There were four other State champions from Southeast Kansas League schools. Coffeyville's boys and girls swept the 4x100-meter relay titles and James Newton won the 100-meter dash. Chanute's Haley Taylor won girls' javelin with a throw of 124' 11"....
Coffeyville was the highest-finishing SEK team on both the boys' and girls' sides of the meet as each team finished seventh. Baldwin's girls won their second title in three years, tying with Colby in 2011. Andale won its first title since 2008, when it tied with Andover....