Knopp second in high jump on tie-breaker

WICHITA, Kan. -- Defending Class 4A State high jump champion Griffin Knopp of Fort Scott was again able to jump the highest as he set out to defend his title at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships here Friday.

However, Kerry Graber, a senior from nearby Maize South, was also able to clear the same height, 6 feet, 8 inches, and was declared the 2011 State champion on the tie-breaker -- it took him at least one fewer attempt to clear 6' 8" than it did Knopp -- while the Fort Scott senior had to settle for second.

Knopp earned a medal each of the three years he reached State in this event, taking fifth as a sophomore.

Fort Scott junior Brady Fink tied for seventh in high jump at 6 feet even along with three others. Colton Mays of Rose Hill and Will Frank of Lenexa St. James were eliminated from on tie-breakers. Fink and Parsons junior Wes Krull cleared 6 feet in the same number of attempts, which left them tied and sharing the seventh-place medal.

Also earning a medal -- her first -- was senior Megan McDermed. She finished sixth in javelin with a mark of 115' 3" inches. Haven senior Katie Ostlund, the only returning medalist from last year in this event, won the title with a throw of 125' 7", which she recorded in her first throw of the preliminary round. She was able to hold the lead even though she fouled on all three throws in the final.

Senior Marliss Allen finished eighth in the event at 112' 10".

Sophomore Paige Denton finished 10th in the 3,200-meter final with a time of 12 minutes, 22.60 seconds. El Dorado senior Molly Milbourn, the defending champ in this event and the 1,600, finished in 11:09.49 while Emilea Finley of Colby was second in 11:20.75.

Denton will participate in the 1,600-meter run today at approximately 1 p.m.

Junior Mallory Shelton finished 16th in girls' high jump. She cleared 4' 8". Tonganoxie sophomore jenny Whitledge cleared 5' 4" to take the title away from defending champion Coleen O'Brien of Louisburg, who went 5' 2".

All other Tiger results Friday were in track preliminaries. Fink qualified for today's 400-meter dash finals by finishing fourth in his heat Friday in 51.58. He has the eighth-best time of the finalists with Louisburg senior Mark Sitek recording a 49.44 and Wichita Trinity senior Morgan Burns -- who had the best time of the season going into this event and was last year's runner-up -- turning in a 50.34.

The 400-meter final will be held today at 3:55.

Junior Dezmund Willard finished sixth in his heat and the 13th best time overall, 53.12.

Freshman Katren Rienbolt finished fifth in her heat of the 300-meter hurdles and 11th overall in the preliminaries in 48.91 and did not reach the finals. The top three finishers in this event last year had the best three times in prelims -- and in the same order to boot. Defending champ Tyler Sloan, a senior from Kansas City-Sumner Academy, recorded a time of 45.47 in winning the first heat. Last year's runner-up, senior Jill Kurtz of Chapman, won Rienbolt's heat in 46.24. And last year's third-place finisher, senior Ramie Burkhart of Baldwin, was second in Sloan's heat in 46.92.

Denton and Fink are the only Tiger athletes with events remaining in Fort Scott's contingent.