Brooks claims fifth in 4A 3,200

WICHITA — Fort Scott’s Devin Brooks, returning to State after qualifying in the 3,200 meters as a sophomore, won his first State medal by taking fifth place in Class 4A at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships at Wichita State University.

Brooks, a senior, missed out on qualifying last season, perhaps making this medal a little bit sweeter. He turned in a time of 9:59.29 — the last finisher under 10 minutes.

Eathan Kossover of Maize South was the winner in 9:34.57. He was third after three laps and second after four. He took the lead in the fifth lap and never gave it up. Jack Thomas of Scott City was second in 9:38.35 and Robert Schmidt of Topeka Hayden was third in 9:46.01.

Sophomore Gracie Krokroskia finished 14th in the preliminaries of the 300-meter hurdles and did not advance to today’s final. Her time was 49.93 seconds. Abby Smarsh of Andale had the best time of 45.62. The slowest time to advance to the finals was 48.91.

The top eight times in preliminaries advance to finals.

Paxsten Eads came in 12th in her first State appearance, finishing the girls’ 3,200 in 12:53.57. Callie Logue of Girard won this event for the fourth time, setting a new meet record — breaking the one she set last year — in 10:28.80. Renee Trout of Independence was second more than a minute behind, 11:29.52.

Two more events are on tap today for Fort Scott athletes. The girls’ 4x800-meter relay team will compete sometime between 10:30 and 11:40 a.m. Brooks will run in the boys’ 1,600 meters — the first time he will compete in this event at State — sometime around 2:30.

Girls

300-meter hurdles preliminaries (top 8 to finals): 1. Abby Smarsh, Andale, 45.62; 2. Abby Ogle, Baldwin, 46.25; 3. Elizabeth Holmes, Abilene, 47.18; 4. Cydney Bergman, Concordia, 47.87; 5. Aziza Patillo, Paola, 47.91; 6. Kynzie Underwood, Wamego, 48.70; 7. Stephanie Riechenberger, Pratt, 48.83; 8. Meredith Galloway, Lindsborg-Smoky Valley, 48.91; 14. Gracie Krokroskia, Fort Scott, 49.93.

3,200-meter run: 1. Callie Logue, Girard, 10:28.80 (new meet record); 2. Renee Trout, Independence, 11:29.52; 3. Sierra Moretnson, Maize South, 11:30.62; 4. Destini Eskridge, Maize South, 11:32.19; 5. Hannah Honeyman, Carbondale-Santa Fe Trail, 11:55.74; 6. Spencer Jacobson, Towanda-Circle, 12:04.41; 7. Jenna Ramsey, Buhler, 12:13.90; 8. Karrin Larson, Clay Center, 12:17.03; 12. Paxsten Eads, Fort Scott, 12:53.57.

3,200-meter run: 1. Eathan Kossover, Maize South, 9:34.57; 2. Jack Thomas, Scott City, 9:38.35; 3. Robert Schmidt, Topeka Hayden, 9:46.01; 4. Lakelin Conrad, Wichita Collegiate, 9:05.74; 5. Devin Brooks, Fort Scott, 9:59.29; 6. Aaron Modrow, Chapman, 10:04.49; 7. Grant Sinclair, Andover Central, 10:08.20; 8. Alex Barbosa, Ulysses, 10:20.74.