photo by: Zach Tuttle/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence High School's JD Woods competes in the 4X100 relay at the Kansas state track meet, on Saturday in Wichita.

Wichita ? Lawrence High senior JD Woods left it all on the line for the Lions in final meet for LHS, but it was a painful ending to a standout career for the Missouri Western football signee.

With Shawnee Mission North leading Lawrence High by one point going into the 4×400-relay, Woods took the baton on the anchor with a state title in reach. North’s Noah Stevenson was able to hold off Woods down the home stretch, though, and the Lions settled for a second-place finish.

“I knew he had to get one point (better than North), and I was just trying to stay with him the whole time,” Woods said. “He edged me out by about five, 10 meters and I couldn’t keep up with him.”

While Woods knew right once he crossed the line that the state title was that close, junior Trey Moore — who led off the relay — said the LHS senior had nothing to have his head down about.

“JD made himself a legendary career in his four years at LHS,” Moore said. “So many people, including me, look up to him and try to follow in his footsteps and understand his teachings. He left his mark in a good way, and did his best.”

Moore did his part in helping the Lions to be state runners-up, as he claimed two second-place finishes in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

“I did good. I just wish I would have got first in one of them because that would have changed the whole game,” Moore said.

Senior Amani Bledsoe led Lawrence High on the second day with a first-place finish in the shot put. Although Bledsoe is going to the University of Oklahoma to play football in the fall, he said track and field has been something he’s cherished. Bledsoe said that an individual state title was a nice way to end his time at Lawrence High

“It’s really nice. All athletes can ask for is another chance to compete,” Bledsoe said.

The Lions finished with 55 points, while the Indians won their first track and field title since 1973 with 57 points.

Lawrence High girls four-repeat in 4×4

While the Lions’ boys 4×400 was crushed after the end of its race, the Lawrence High girls 4×400 relay was on cloud nine after winning the event for the fourth straight year.

Three of the four faces from Lawrence High’s 4×400-meter relay team did not return from last season, but the one Lion who returned made sure that the precedent was still set for LHS.

A year removed from wrapping her arms around Leah Gabler, Jensen Edwards and Marissa Pope after winning a third straight Class 6A championship in the 4×400, senior Kyleigh Severa led the charge to help Lawrence High to a four-repeat in the event as the state track and field championships concluded Saturday at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Severa said. “This relay means so much to me, so much to my team and so much to our school. I’ve never been so proud to wear Lawrence Lions across my chest.”

After Gabler, Pope and Edwards graduated last spring, Severa and last year’s first alternate — junior Myah Yoder — still provided an experienced two legs of the event, but freshmen Hannah Stewart and Evann Seratte added to fresh faces to the mix.

The complexion of upperclassmen and youth meshed perfectly, as the Lions won the relay with a season-best time of 3:57.07.

“It’s an enormous amount of pressure on them this year to run 58s and run under four minutes and to get the four-peat this year, and they handled the pressure extremely well,” Severa said.

Severa and Seratte also did some damage in their individual events as well. Seratte placed third in the 400-meter dash, while Severa clocked in at fourth in the 200-meter dash.

Severa was overcome with emotion again after the meet with her time at Lawrence High coming to an end, but the state meet offered a nice transition for Severa to the next level. The Wichita State signee will continue to call Cessna Stadium home as she competes for the Shockers next year.

“I’m going to leave it all on this track as a Chesty Lion, and in four years, and I’m going to leave it all on the track as a WSU Shocker,” Severa said.

The LHS girls squad finished 10th in the team standings with 30 points.

FSHS’ Donley doubles up in 800, 1600

Free State senior Ethan Donley had his coming out party at state last year after winning the 800-meter run, and he repeated as the state champ in the event in his final meet as a Firebird.

Donley clocked in with a time of 1:53.95 on his way to a first-place finish, but that was just a part of what made the day special for the Kansas University signee. Earlier in the day, Donley also won the 1600 with a time of 4:15.64.

Donley said that his victory in the 1600 helped set the table for his win in the 800.

“It feels good. Last year, I had a rough mile and kind of went out in the 800 and wasn’t really sure,” Donley said. “So to be able to have a good race early on, I think that really set me up for this to just give me the confidence to finish out the day strong in my open events.”

The two victories for Donley accounted for 20 of the Firebirds’ 35 points, as Free State placed sixth in the boys team standings.

Venters paces FSHS girls to sixth place

Another distance runner set the tone for the Free State girls squad in Emily Venters. The FSHS junior was the state runner-up in the 1600, and added a seventh-place finish in the 800.

Venters hung on to eventual state champion Molly Born of SM Northwest for 1,300 meters, and clocked in with a time of 4:56.93 — which was a familiar feeling for the Firebird.

“That is actually the fourth time I’ve ran that this year,” Venters said. “It felt good to get that again, three times. Hopefully I’ll get there next week at the the Festival of Miles in St. Louis, Missouri.”

Caylee Irving added a seventh-place finish in the discus with a throw of 111 feet, 2 inches to help Free State place sixth in the team standings with 34 points.

State Meet

Saturday in Wichita

6A boys team scores — 1. Shawnee Mission North, 57; 2. Lawrence High, 55; 3. Olathe East, 51; 4. Garden City, 37; 5. Derby, 36; 6. Free State, 35.

6A girls team scores — 1. Olathe East, 61; 2. Olathe Northwest, 47.33; 3. Olathe South, 44.50; 4. Hutchinson, 44; 5. Dodge City, 39; 6. Free State, 34; 10. Lawrence High, 30.

Lawrence High

Boys

100 — 2. JD Woods, 11.43.

200 — 4. JD Woods, 22.33.

4×100 relay — 3. J’Mony Bryant, Jalen Dudley, Trey Moore, JD Woods, 42.77.

4×400 relay — 5. Trey Moore, Ben Otte, Nichalus Williams, JD Woods, 3:24.88.

Discus — 10. Amani Bledsoe, 138-10.

Shot put — 1. Amani Bledsoe, 52-06.

110 hurdles — 2. Trey Moore, 15.38; 3. Tayvien Robinson, 15.46.

300 hurdles — 2. Trey Moore, 39.74.

Girls

200 — 4. Kyleigh Severa, 25.72.

400 — 3. Evann Seratte, 57.52.

4×400 relay — 1. Hannah Stewart, Evann Seratte, Myah Yoder, Kyleigh Severa, 3:57.07.

4×800 relay — 8. Hannah Stewart, Anna DeWitt, Sanders Barbee, Evann Seratte, 1:01.51.

Discus — 12. Lexi Anglin, 101-00.

Free State

Boys

100 — 14. Ronald White, 11.68.

800 — 1. Ethan Donley, 1:53.95.

1600 — 1. Ethan Donley, 4:15.64; 4. Tanner Hockenbury, 4:21.24.

4×400 relay — 8. Nathan Thomas, Ethan Donley, Tommy Jacobs, Jordan Patrick, 3:28.63.

4×800 relay — 16. Avant Edwards, Grant Holmes, Landon Sloan, Jared Hicks, 8:45.36.

Pole vault — 11. Cameron Hodge, 12-00.

Girls

800 — 7. Emily Venters, 2:19.02; 14. Abigail Zenger, 2:28.08.

1600 — 2. Emily Venters, 4:56.93.

4×800 relay — 16. Abigail Zenger, Teresa Wright, Kiran Cordes, Cameryn Thomas, 10:39.26.

Discus — 7. Caylee Irving, 111-02.