Free State's Tim Muetz jumps the second to last hurdle on his way to third place. Muetz ran a time of 16.25 in the hurdles Thursday at the Free State track.

Free State High track coach Steve Heffernan was a busy man Thursday afternoon. Whether he was compiling times, pep-talking runners or herding others to their next event, he did his best to rein in the chaos of the Firebirds’ first track meet of the season.

Even more hectic for him may have been attempting to determine what runners were participating in which events.

“They just show up and run,” Heffernan said. “Then we try to figure out what happened.”

The brightly colored pieces of paper with times posted that featured last names only and rankings out of order made that clear enough.

But while Free State’s three-team meet with Olathe North and Olathe Northwest was an exhibition where runners could pick and choose their races at any time, the Firebirds said they got plenty out of the afternoon.

“For new people, it’s really helpful if you don’t know how track meets work,” said sophomore Drue Davis, who won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.07 seconds. “These just help you get into the flow of things. Just simple rules to get set in your head. It’s not really about the competition. I don’t even think we’re keeping score, really.”

Davis said the exhibition allowed her to try a new event without any pressure: the pole vault. She was among six Firebirds to place first in at least one event.

FSHS junior J.D. Wiebe was one of those half-dozen.

Wiebe won the boys 800-meter race after dropping to second with 300 meters to go.

“Our coach always says, ‘You can do anything for 100 meters,’ so I was thinking ‘Give it my all,'” Wiebe said. “I was only a few meters behind, so it wasn’t too far.”

Like Davis, Wiebe said the exhibition was more of a tune-up for future meets. It was just Wiebe’s second week running since joining the team after basketball season.

Other Free State winners included John Bergman in the boys javelin, Shaun James in the boys 400-meter race, Kyra Kilwein in the girls 200 meters and Gabe Moss, who won the boys two-mile and one-mile races.

Heffernan said in the past, his team always had competed at indoor events this early in the season. But this year, he chose to hold an outdoor event on the first day the state would allow it.

“What you’re trying to do today is get the new kids out into a track meet and let them see what it’s like,” he said. “And at the same time, give the veterans a low-key meet to shake off the rust and have some fun. I think they did pretty well.”

Free State next will compete at the Lawrence High triangular on March 25.