Lawrence High's Alexeis Scheibler, left, hands off to Shelby Clark during the girls 4x800-meter relay. The two joined Jennifer Taylor and Kristina Taylor to place fourth in Class 6A.

In all, more than 40 athletes from Lawrence High and Free State made the trek to Wichita last weekend for the state track and field meet.

And that’s to say nothing of the dozens more from other high schools around the area.

Known by many as the largest track meet in the world, the event featured a variety of ups and downs from local competitors. From top times and state championships to tough breaks and unfulfilled expectations, this year’s meet was as wild as any.

Although LHS and Free State fell short of making much noise at the top of the teams standings – LHS: girls 12th, boys 13th; FSHS: girls 24th, boys 21st – both made plenty of noise individually.

Between the two schools, they had one state champion (Kristina Taylor, LHS, 400), two second-place finishers (Tim Malcolm, FS, pole vault, and Chebon Dawes, LHS, discus), a third, two fourths, two fifths, two sixths and two sevenths.

In addition, Emily Ballock, of Eudora won the 300 hurdles for the fourth straight season, and Heather Garcia, of Baldwin, capped her career with three state titles, winning the individual 1,600 and 3,200 and also the 4×800-meter relay.

Tonganoxie javelin thrower Roxi Grizzle also won a state title, out-throwing all competitors by more than seven inches.

Team-wise, the top area finish belonged to the Mill Valley High girls, who finished second in Class 5A. Mill Valley’s boys finished sixth.

Tonganoxie’s girls took fourth in Class 4A, and Baldwin’s girls finished fifth in 4A.

The De Soto boys were the top boys finisher at fifth in Class 4A.