On the side of Chris Elniff’s tearaway track pants, safety pins go all the way down to the cuff.

After each track meet, the Baldwin High senior saved the track numbers and pins attached to his jersey, which identify each athlete. Since Elniff began collecting those souvenirs, the coaching staff has seen the middle distance runner develop from an average runner to a spectacular senior.

“As a freshman he was just a kid trying to figure out what the whole sport’s all about,” Baldwin boys track and field coach Mike Spielman. “He’s just improved so much from the beginning to the end.”

During this year’s Class 4A state meet, Elniff finished fourth in the 800 meters, third as part of the Bulldogs’ 4×800 relay and sixth as a member of the 4×400 relay, a well-rounded showing that led to his recognition as the 2007 All-Area Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Several reasons account for Elniff’s drastic improvement. A bout of knee tendinitis slowed him during his freshman year, particularly during cross country. From then on he soaked up his coaches’ tutelage, he became more mentally focused, he “busted his butt” during practice sessions and his body matured.

“Something just clicked physically,” Elniff said. “And all my times just went way down.”

During his 10th-grade year, Elniff showed his first signs of promise, serving as the lone sophomore on the state-winning 4×800 team, which featured three seniors. He would advance to state the next two years as well.

One of the best moments of the 2007 season occurred during regionals. When he received the baton during the 4×400, Chapman High’s team, the No. 1-ranked relay squad, enjoyed a 5-meter lead. But Elniff’s last-second push helped Baldwin edge the school by .6 seconds.

“I was able to catch the guy and just outkick him barely,” he said.

He also fondly remembers an incident at state, which demonstrates the camaraderie of the Baldwin team. Elniff and fellow senior Caj Kueffer were huddled close to last after the 125-meter mark of the 800. That, however, was by design. Several of the other runners pushed themselves too early, and coming around the last straightaway, the Baldwin teammates passed most of the pack en route to medaling during the 800.

“That was a neat experience,” Elniff said. “We were just stride for stride, running together, and it’s just cool because we’ve been running four years together.”

Elniff will spend the next four years at Kansas University, where he plans to major in aerospace engineering, an appropriately heady major for someone who scored a 32 out of a possible 36 on the ACT entrance exam.

“He’s a really sharp kid,” Spielman said.

Elniff recently decided he also will attempt to walk on to the school’s cross-country team, led by coach Stanley Redwine.

“I wasn’t sure until the Sunday after state, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to run now,” Elniff said. “I was thinking about giving it up and not having the running and not having anything to do athletically, and I didn’t like the idea.”