Wave the wheat🌾
big week behind us and an even bigger week on the horizon (today)
The Shocker Pre-State Challenge🌾
Last week, over three thousand high school and collegiate athletes walked through Cessna Stadium’s gates, the same venue that will host the nation’s largest high school track and field meet next month. With that number of athletes, there obviously had to be modifications in place to accommodate the many competitors. Each event was split up into three separate divisions, consisting of the ‘Elite,’ ‘4A-6A’ and ‘1A-3A’ divisions. Some quick math would get you to 114, the total number of events/races that spanned across both Thursday and Friday. Obviously the easiest thing for me to do would be to include a link to the results and call it a day, but there are nine eye-catching performances (with many more that I couldn’t include) that deserved more context than a bulleted list. So, here is a bulleted list with context.
Chesney Peterson — After training through the first two weeks of the crisp new season, Stanton County superstar and future Volunteer finally made her season debut, and shockingly kept her winning streak alive. Since you can’t read the sarcasm in my voice, maybe adding in some air-quotes with the word ‘shockingly’ will get the point across. The most dominant athlete in the state has now won 57 races in a row and increased her winning percentage to roughly 94%. I’ve mentioned this many times, but four of her five losses came during her freshman cross country season, with just a single loss since. In two of (most likely four) events she’ll run again at Cessna in May, Peterson picked up the victory in both the 1600m and 800m in the ‘Elite’ divisions, solo’ing a 4:50 and following that up with a 2:12 two-lap sprint the next day. This weekend, Peterson will be running both distances again, this time at the Kansas Relays, and I imagine the ten-time state champ will be doing so in the fastest heats.
Eli Gilmore — The 2022 4A cross country state champion is off to a hot start in his senior year, winning both the 3200m and 800m, while stepping down and winning the 400m as well. After finishing 3rd in the 1600m and 800m at state as a junior, Gilmore returns as the top returner, and additionally as the man to beat. He’s been nothing short of dominant in his final year as a Chieftain, setting school records both on the grass and polyurethane. In the eight-lap slug fest, Gilmore as runner-up in 9:35, broke the school record that was set way back in 1984. And no, it wasn’t held by George Orwell. In the 800m, he dropped the fourth quickest time in the state, and is one of seventeen boys to dip under the two-minute barrier. In a display of his pure speed, Gilmore won the 400m in 50.54, the sixth fastest time we’ve seen this season.
Alec Carlson — Pawnee Heights is one of the smaller schools in Kansas, placed in 1A with an enrollment of 134 students. It turns out that one of those students is one of the most talented all-around field athletes in the state. The defending triple jump state champion seems to have set his sights on expanding his resumé, with one similar to that of 2018 Triple Crown winner Michael Hoffer, who won the long, triple and high jump at the 5A state championships his senior year. At Cessna, Carlson swept all three jumps, winning the triple with a season best of 44-3.5, along with another win in the long jump, jumping 21-10. He also won the high jump with a new PR of 6-6.5. Carlson sits atop the 1A rankings in both the triple and the high jump, but sits a few feet (2.75 to be exact) behind Axtell’s Brandon Schmelzle. Carlson has a strong shot at pulling off the same feat of Hoffer, and will have to inch closer to Schmelzle to do so.
Lillian Harris — Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s standout sprinter got back to work at her second meet of the season, winning the sprint triple of the 100m, 200m and 400m. Harris, the defending 5A champion in the 100m and 200m, is no stranger to winning and knows that the target is on her back. Though, it doesn’t seem like Harris notices that, let alone cares that everyone’s eyes are on her. She’s already run 12.15 in the 100m, and followed that up with a 12.32 this weekend. She also ran 25.34 and 58.23 to complete the sweep and successfully find a reason to pull out the brooms.
Hayley Trotter — The Clearwater senior and five-time 4A state champion had herself another great weekend at Cessna, on a track that has been very good to her over the years. Trotter, primarily a 1600m/800 doubler, ran the 800m for the second time this season, and made her debut in the layman’s mile. After running 2:12 in California last summer, the sky was the limit in terms of how close to 2:10 Trotter could get, and a 2:17 in the first weekend of April is a great step to getting there. Her 5:15 in the 1600m was not a PR, but was one of her five fastest times since 2021. The defending champion will have many more chances to lower her PR’s this spring.
Mckenzie Fairchild — Whatever it is that’s in the water in Andale, I need it. One of the many great throwers and athletes that has come from the 4A-sized town. Fairchild comes into her 2023 campaign as the girl to beat, and continue the reign of dominance that her older sister Katelyn began in 2021. In her two seasons of high school track & field, the younger of the two Fairchild sisters has tallied four state titles, with three of those coming in her ‘Throw Sweep’ at the 2022 4A State Championships. Sitting all by herself, separated from the rest of 4A, Mckenzie already leads the classification in all three throwing events. Her throws of 129-0, 155-9.75, and 39-2 in the discus, javelin and shot put are all 4A season leads.
CJ & Will Meyer — To my knowledge, the fastest distance running brothers in recent memory would have to be Belesti and Alex Akalu from Shawnee Mission North, who displayed their talent during the 2015-2016 season. However, the Meyer boys are looking to give them a run for their money. Last fall, the pair put up 5k times of 15:29 ( CJ) and 16:00 (Will), on their way to a 3-4 finish at state. So far this year, they’ve already thrown down 4:20/2:00 and 4:21/2:02, putting them in a good spot this early into the season. The brotherly duo went 1-2 in the ‘Elite’ division at Cessna, putting them in the top two spots in 3A.
What can’t he do?🇮🇳
Ten events over the course of two days is not for the faint of heart. Since their inception, the multi-events have pitted the world’s most talented athletes against one another, putting their body and mind through the wringer. I present to you, the Decathlon.
On day one, your body is well rested and prepared for the first half of the competition. In order, competitors start the day with a 100m, followed by long jump, shot put, and high jump, ending the day with a 400m. On the second day, the body is almost positively exhausted, hurting, and significantly weaker than it was twenty-four hours prior. That day consists of 110mH, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500m run, which typically consists of a bunch of men who are not 1500m specialists, to find a way to cross the line as fast as they can. For Tejaswin Shankar, former Kansas State Wildcat and multiple-time national champion in the high jump, a new challenge was precisely what he had been searching for.
“I needed something to bring me to my knees and at the same time give me the feeling that I gave it everything I could. After a decathlon, for one week you don’t want to look at your training shoes. That was the feeling I was craving” (The Indian Express).
It was a feeling Shankar was no stranger to, but after a huge breakthrough during last week’s competition, this experience stood out from the rest. At the Jim Click Shootout, Shankar competed in just his second ever Decathlon, surpassing his score of 7500 that came last spring at the 2022 Big 12 Championships; this time he totaled 7648 points, just ten shy of the Indian national record. Here’s how his point differential looked with roughly a year in between both competitions.
The future is bright for Shankar in both the high jump and the decathlon, and he’s one of the many bright spots and future stars representing the Athletics Federation of India.
Sunflower State Highlights🌻
Jaybe Shufelberger, former Kansas State Wildcat and a state champ while she attended Washburn Rural, won the 5000m at the Joe Walker Invitational, hosted by Ole Miss. Shufelberger won in a new lifetime best of 16:36.82, the third fastest time in Arkansas State history.
Jackson Caldwell, part of the powerhouse that was Olathe North just a few years ago, won the 10,000m at the KT Woodman Classic on his home track. Caldwell became the 7th fastest Shocker in program history, with a winning time of 29:58.24. Since I met Jackson when he was a freshman at Baker, I knew he was capable of big things, and I couldn’t think of a more deserving person. Congrats my guy!
2022 3200m 6A state champion Paige Mullen threw down the fastest time in the state last week, running 10:42.97 to win the Blue Valley Relays. Mullen has already dropped 5:00.99 for the 1600m as well, and, let’s just say, she’s in tremendous form. She is the 6A top dog in both distance events. With one state title to her name, I’m sure she’s itching for a few more.
Olathe West duo Bree Newport and Charis Robinson are yet again, just two of the many girls of Olathe West who are on an absolute tear. Newport, just a junior, has already run 2:16, 5:05 and 10:59 for the 800, 1600, and 3200, while Robinson has run 2:15 and 5:04 in the 800 and 1600. Certainly be on the lookout for this pair and the rest of the Owls throughout the rest of the season
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