An hour before a downpour delayed the Kansas Relays on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Free State High poured it on during the two-mile relay.

Adrian Ludwig, Hiral Bhakta, Nick Ens and Justin White combined for a 7-minute, 58.81-second time in the 3,200-yard relay to take second place.

FREE STATE'S Adrian Ludwig, right, hands off to Hiral Bhakta in the two-mile relay. The Firebirds placed second in the event Saturday at the Kansas Relays.

“It’s all right,” said White, Free State’s anchor leg. “Second place is not that bad.”

The Firebird foursome finished nearly a second behind Lockhart, Texas, which won in 7:57.79.

“They’re in peak condition,” White said of Lockhart. “We run 55 to 70 miles a week and they’re doing 100 miles a week.”

Free State’s relay was the lone Kansas school to finish in the top six. Buhler placed seventh in 8:13.85. Wichita East, 10th at 8:17.15, was the second-best Class 6A relay behind the Firebirds.

“If we all run our best races, we can get the second fastest time in state history,” said White, who said he hoped the Firebirds would break 7:50 by year’s end.

The second-place finish by the relay was Free State’s best performance at the Relays, which was called off at 4:15 p.m. after a two-hour rain delay.

“If we do the conversion, it’s a little bit longer (distance) than we normally run and it’s right at our school record,” Free State coach Steve Heffernan said. “We didn’t feel like we had our best day. We’re happy but not satisfied.”

White led briefly with 300 meters left before dipping to second, where he remained the rest of the way.

Ens, Free State’s third leg, led after his first lap and was in second before handing the baton to White.

“They pushed me pretty hard at the end,” Ens said.

Ludwig, the first leg, was second after one lap and fifth after two laps.

“I should have went out a little faster,” Ludwig said. “When I came in the backstretch I got a little tired and lost it a little bit.”

Mumford second in long jump

Lawrence High senior Richard Mumford made the most of his three good long jumps.

“I scratched a lot (three times), but once I got my mark I felt good,” said Mumford, who placed second with a personal-record jump of 21 feet, 11 3/4 inches.

Entering the Relays, Mumford was seeded 25th out of 32 jumpers.

“I knew he could do it,” LHS jumps coach Cheryl Hamilton said of the second-place finish. “We want him to peak every meet.”

Mumford has his eye on the school record of 23-2 1/4, set by Brad Meade in 1990.

“Hopefully, by state I can get it,” Mumford said.

Eudora’s Durkin runner-up

A day after winning at the Cardinal Relays in Eudora, Eudora High junior Jenny Durkin placed second in the high jump with a 5-4 1/4 mark.

“She’s been jumping really well,” said EHS coach Dave Durkin, Jenny’s uncle.

Jenny Durkin, Eudora’s lone entry at the Kansas Relays, broke her own school record by a 1/4 of an inch.

“I didn’t expect to get second place,” Jenny said.

Salina Central’s Jessica Jones won with a 5-5 1/4 jump.

Durkin nearly cleared 5-5.

“She was real close,” the EHS coach said. “I think she knocked the bar off with her ponytail. We needed a haircut or bonnet for that one or we would have had 5-5.”

LHS relays medal

Lawrence High’s 1,600 sprint medley relay and 800 relay both placed fifth to receive medals. Shari Lassiter, Lindsay Garito, Audrey Pope and Meg Gentry formed the medley relay and finished in 4:28.87. Lassiter, Alicia Waymaster, Garito, and Pope were timed 1:49.28.5 in the 800.

Rain dashes hopes

LHS junior Chris Fulton never had a chance to become the first Lion to win the boys 100-meter dash since Kendall Meade in 1990. Rains deluged the Relays before the 100 finals. Fulton’s 11.01 in Friday’s prelims ranked second.

Free State’s boys 4×400 relay team of Ludwig, Ens, White and Damian Harden also didn’t get to run in the finals because of the rain. The Firebird relay placed sixth in prelims on Friday with a 3:26.93 time.