Wichita ? All Free State High senior Danny Schneider could do Saturday afternoon was hug and congratulate Wichita Heights senior Tevan Everett.

Schneider, the anchor leg of the Firebirds’ four-time defending state champion 3,200-meter relay team, made up ground but couldn’t catch his future Kansas State teammate.

“It kind of set in with about 200 yards to go that I wasn’t going to catch him, and we were about to lose,” Schneider said.

Indeed, the Firebird relay fell at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium for the first time in five years, but not without a fight.

Free State bested its school record by almost five seconds in a time of 7:50.99 and nearly broke the state Class 6A record of 7:50.33, but the Firebirds finally were dethroned when Everett, his twin brother, Tevas, freshman brother

Tyrell and Falcon senior teammate Ferrien Harris set the mark in a record time of 7:47.85.

“It took a state-record time to beat us,” Free State senior Alex Rock said. “We knew they were really quick, but we were right there on all the handoffs. And I thought Danny might be able to catch him at the end, but they had a great run today.”

Free State coach Steve Heffernan said his squad’s four-year reign on top wasn’t bad, either.

Free State High's Danny Schneider (705) battles for the lead in the 1,600-meter run. Schneider won the race at the state track and field meet Saturday in Wichita. He also ran the anchor leg of the Firebirds' four-time defending champion 3,200-meter relay team, but FSHS placed second after Wichita Heights' state-record time.

“It’s kind of weird how things work out in sports,” Heffernan said. “Today we lose, but we ran the best race out of the five. All four kids (junior Spencer Martin and senior Aaron Trent ran the second and third legs) had personal-record times today. I’m really proud of them because there was a lot of pressure on them and they were underdogs, yet they came out and did everything they could and were just a few seconds short.”

The city’s schools flip-flopped on team scoring as Lawrence High’s boys finished fifth with 40 points while Free State finished sixth with 36 points. Olathe North won with 81.20.

Free State’s girls placed 11th with 25.5 points, while LHS girls took 12th with 24 points. Leavenworth won the event with a score of 69.

While Schneider couldn’t catch Everett, he made up the 15 yards he needed to pass Emporia’s Shea Camien and win the 1,600.

“Obviously, I would love to trade my 1,600 title for a relay win, because all the guys worked so hard and deserved it, but I’ll definitely take a title when I can get one,” said Schneider, who jolted past Camien at the 100-meter mark to win the race in 4:22.72.

Schneider concluded his 1-2-3 day with a third-place finish in the 800 in a time of 1:58.08.

“Not a bad afternoon,” said the senior, who flashed a big smile.

Free State junior Alysha Valencia had a decent day too, winning the 3,200 and placing second in the 1,600.

“It was pretty cool,” said Valencia, who ran a personal-best 10:50.68 in the 3,200, “not so much even the placing as much as I really wanted to just come out here and prove to myself that all the hard work this season, the early morning training, eating right and just all those things were worth it.”

Lawrence High's Scott Penny puts the shot. Penny's heave of 52 feet, 53â4 inches placed first at the state track meet Saturday in Wichita.

She nearly proved herself twice after a second-place tally in the 1,600, finishing in 5:05.33. Blue Valley Northwest freshman Laura Roxberg won in 5:00.85.

“I was pretty surprised with how I did actually in the 1,600,” said Valencia, who also finished 10th in the 800. “I think I set myself up to be able to come back next season and have a really special day.”

For Lawrence High’s Amy Magnuson, Saturday was special because she finished first in the 100-meter high hurdles and second in the triple jump after she had overcome a seasonlong struggle with intense back pain that on some days kept her from running.

“I didn’t feel it too much today,” said the smiling sophomore, who won the hurdles in 14.82 and jumped 36-08.50, two inches behind the winning jump. “I can’t really explain it, I’m just so happy.”

Magnuson’s coach, first-year LHS skipper Scott Stidham, could sum up his standout’s journey from a second-place finish in the hurdles last year to a championship run.

“I remember a football practice last fall where it was just nasty and sleeting, and we look out on the track and there is Amy running the entire time we were practicing,” he said.

“One of our assistant coaches looked at me and said she was going to be a state champion. I guess that just goes to show that what you do from May to March does make a big difference.”

6Sports video: Free State relay team falls short

An offseason full of training certainly helped make LHS junior Scott Penny a champion shot putter. While Penny wasn’t completely happy with his gold toss of 52-05.75, he didn’t complain too much.

Free State High's Alysha Valencia leads the pack in the 3,200-meter race. Valencia won the event Saturday at the state track and field meet in Wichita.

“Something just didn’t feel right from the start today, which was kind of unfortunate because I wanted to come out and hit a really big throw,” he said. “But I’m definitely not complaining, plus it gives me motivation next year to come out and try to hit the 60-foot mark.”

Other city medalists included Free State’s 400 relay team of Austin Winn, Ryan Murphy, Christian Ballard and Brian Murphy, which finished third in 42.82.

Firebird seniors Nick Witmer and Ryan Rastok each ended up with fifth-place finishes. Witmer threw 171-09 in the javelin, while Rastok was fifth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 40.46.

Stidham said he was pretty fired up about his team’s fifth-place finish at his first state meet.

“We had a really good weekend,” he said. “To have three state champions is a pretty big accomplishment. You can never have a perfect state meet because the kids always want more, but as a whole it was pretty darn good.”