On the last day of school, Free State High track standout Danny Schneider finally made up his mind.

Schneider, who has the fastest 1,600-meter clocking in the state high school ranks this spring, penned a letter of intent Tuesday with Kansas State.

“I had talked to KU, Nebraska and K-State,” Schneider said. “And K-State told me they weren’t sure how much they could offer. Then their coach called last week and said they had a little left.”

A little, in Schneider’s case, is one percent of tuition, fees, books and room and board. That isn’t much, but Schneider understood.

“With only 13 or 14 scholarships, track coaches have to spread the money out,” he said. “The money is a nice plus, but it was more than that.”

Hiral Bhakta, a former Free State discus thrower now on KSU’s track team, played a role, too.

“I really connected with the coaches and (future) teammates,” Schneider said. “And Hiral Bhakta made it really feel like home.”

Recent Free State High graduate Danny Schneider dons a Kansas State hat before signing a letter of intent. Schneider, shown Tuesday at FSHS, will run track for the Wildcats.

Schneider’s 4:18.30 clocking at the Seaman Relays is the fastest 1,600 time in the state this spring by more than four seconds. Schneider also owns the state’s third-fastest 800 time at 1:57.2.

“Danny gives K-State great versatility,” Free State track coach Steve Heffernan said. “He has enough speed that he can help indoors and outdoors, and he can also run cross country. He has a good upside.”

At this weekend’s state track and field meet in Wichita, Schneider will run the 800 and 1,600 as well as with the Firebirds’ perennially potent 3,200-meter relay team. Free State’s 3,200-meter baton unit has won four straight Class 6A titles and will be favored again this year, thanks in large part to Schneider.

Last year, he ran the third leg in the gold-medal relay. Schneider was 20 yards behind when he took the stick and 20 yards ahead when he handed it to the Firebirds’ anchorman.

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In individual events, however, Schneider settled for sixth place in the 1,600 and seventh in the 800 at Cessna Stadium in Wichita.

“Each of those races were very tactical races,” Heffernan said, “and he got caught in the wrong spot. This year, he’s learned a lot about tactical racing.”

Learning obviously comes easy for Schneider. He graduated having earned a 3.8 grade-point average, was an officer in the Spanish Club and sang in the school choir. Later this week, Schneider will be honored by Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 as its Hy-Vee high school athlete of the month.