Free State senior Emily Venters and Lawrence High sophomore Evann Seratte run neck and neck with each other in the last leg of the 4x800-meter relay on Tuesday during the City Showdown track and field dual at LHS. Seratte and the Lions won the relay, but Venters went on to break her own school record in the 3,200-meter run while leading the FSHS girls team to victory.

Free State senior Emily Venters did not get her senior track and field season off to the start she had hoped for in the 4×800-meter relay in the City Showdown track and field dual Tuesday at Lawrence High, but she more than made up for it in the 3,200-meter run.

After being passed up by Lawrence sophomore Evann Seratte in the final leg of the 4×800 relay, Venters nearly lapped the whole girls and boys field in the 3,200 en route to breaking her own school record with a time of 10:26.2.

Venters and the Free State girls squad edged LHS, 79-66, to kick off the season.

“It felt really, really good. I’m really happy with that,” Venters said after setting a personal-best time by seven seconds. “In the 4×8 when I started out, my legs didn’t feel so good and I was like, ‘Oh no. We’ll see how this (the 3,200) goes,’ but once I got in my rhythm I just fell into it. I was able to just keep picking it up throughout the whole race.”

The Boise State signee had plenty of help clinching the dual-meet victory, including from fellow distance runner Abby Zenger. The Free State senior won the 800 and 1,600-meter runs with respective times of 2:35.2 and 5:40.7.

“That felt really nice,” Zenger said. “It was a good start to the season, and I’m excited for the rest.”

Malia Kema and Caylee Irving led the Firebirds in the field events. Kema claimed first-place finishes in the high jump (4-8) and long jump (15-5.5), while Irving won the shot put (34-10.25) and the discus (101-11).

Asjah Harris was the top individual performer for the Lions, as she won the 100 and 400-meter dashes with respective times of 13.2 and 1:04.3.

LHS boys best Free State

The LHS boys team had a balanced performance on the track and in the field events to defeat Free State, 85.5-64.5.

Lawrence won 12 of the 18 events, with Dante Jackson and James Reeder each earning two first-place finishes. Jackson won the high jump (5-6) and long jump (20-2) and Reeder swept the 110 and 300-meter hurdles with respective times of 16.8 and 43.7.

The Lions showed their depth in the throwing events as well with victories from Bryce Tibke in the discus (134-2.5), Hunter Krom in the javelin (161.98) and BJ Murry in the shot put (43-10).

“You can only go up from here,” Tibke said. “You’ve just got to take steps. Like coach (Jack) Hood says, every time you do anything any day, try and take a step forward. That’s what I just try and do.”

The four individual victories for the Firebirds came from Zach Venters in the 1,600-meter run (5:04.5), Avant Edwards in the 800-meter run (2:11.1), Nathan Thomas in the 200-meter dash (24.0) and Malachi Starr in the 400-meter dash (54.1).

City Showdown results (top-3)

Tuesday at Lawrence High

Girls

Team scores: Free State 79, Lawrence High 66

4×800 relay — 1. Hannah Stewart, Leslie Ostronic, Sophie DeWitt, Evann Seratte, LHS, 10:16.22; 2. Emma Hertig, Teresa Wright, Erin Liston, Emily Venters, FS, 10:20.52.

100 hurdles — 1. Kaitlen White, LHS, 18.0; 2. Caitlin Beckman-McAndrew, FS, 18.5; 3. Kaitlin Hollinshed, FS, 19.9.

100 — 1. Asjah Harris, LHS, 13.2; 2. Ashley Wildeman, LHS, 13.5; 3. Courtney Fritzler, LHS, 13.8.

1,600 — 1. Abby Zenger, FS, 5:40.7; 2. Kiran Cordes, FS, 5:45.0; 3. Erin Fagan, FS, 6:07.6.

4×100 relay — 1. FS, 55.2.

400 — 1. Asjah Harris, LHS, 1:04.3; 2. Sanders Barbee, LHS, 1:11.7; 3. Marlee Coleman, LHS, 1:13.2.

300 hurdles — 1. Caitlin Beckman-McAndrew, FS, 55.0; 2. Kaitlen White, LHS, 55.1; 3. Kaitlin Hollinshed, FS, 56.9.

800 — 1. Abby Zenger, FS, 2:35.2; 2. Emma Hertig, FS, 2:36.8; 3. Leah Wethington, FS, 2:50.3.

200 — 1. Myah Yoder, LHS, 28.7; 2. Ashley Wildeman, LHS, 28.7; 3. Cameryn Thomas, FS, 28.9.

3,200 — 1. Emily Venters, FS, 10:26.2; 2. Erin Liston, FS, 12:56.8.

4×400 relay — 1. LHS, 3:41.5; 2. FS, 3:45.0; 3. FS, 3:51.3.

Shot put — 1. Caylee Irving, FS, 34-10.25; 2. Baylee Unruh, LHS, 33-3; 3. Abby LaTessa, LHS, 30-0.5.

High jump — 1. Malia Kema, FS, 4-8; 2. Bella Crawford-Parker, 4-6; 3. Liliana King-Wilson, FS, 4-6.

Discus — 1. Caylee Irving, FS, 101-11; 2. Lexi Anglin, LHS, 93-11; 3. Kiara Green, LHS, 90-5.

Javelin — 1. Lexi Anglin, LHS, 111.00; 2. KK Cordova, LHS, 102.77; 3. Makenzie Ruder, LHS, 102.48.

Long jump — 1. Malia Kema, FS, 15-5.5; T-2. Cameryn Thomas, FS, 15-2.5; T-2. Lili King-Wilson, FS, 15-2.5.

Triple jump — 1. Auna Ress, FS, 35-1.25.

Pole vault — 1. Josie Hickerson, LHS, 8-6; 2. Kenzi Tochtrop, FS, 7-0; T-3. Nia Hughes, FS, 6-6; T-3. Landon Prideaux, FS, 6-6.

Boys

Team scores: Lawrence High 85.5, Free State 64.5

4×800 relay — 1. Will Benkelman, Grant Holmes, John Loos, Avant Edwards, FS, 8:59.20; 2. Jackson Hoy, Garrett Prescott, Carson Jumping Eagle, Ben Otte, 9:06.09.

110 hurdles — 1. James Reeder, LHS, 16.8; 2. J. Moore, FS, 17.7; 3. C. Drewel, FS, 18.8.

100 — 1. Zach Wilson, LHS, 12.5; 2. Dante Jackson, LHS, 12.0; 3. Santino Gee, LHS, 12.0.

1600 — 1. Zach Venters, FS, 5:04.5; 2. Aiden Goertz, FS, 5:05.1; 3. Carson Jumping Eagle, LHS, 5:09.9.

4×100 relay — 1. FS, 45.4; 2. FS, 48.1; 3. FS, 49.4.

400 — 1. Malachi Starr, FS, 54.1; 2. Cole Phillips, FS, 55.4; 3. Dre Bridges, LHS, 58.7.

300 hurdles — 1. James Reeder, LHS, 43.7; 2. Santino Gee, LHS, 45.7; 3. C. Drewel, FS, 45.9.

800 — 1. Avant Edwards, FS, 2:11.1; 2. Will Benkelman, FS, 2:12.1; 3. Erik Shackelford, LHS, 2:14.4.

200 — 1. Nathan Thomas, FS, 24.0; 2. Tanner Cobb, FS, 24.0; T-3. Ben Otte, LHS, 24.6; T-3. Zach Wilson, FS, 24.6.

3,200 — 1. Garrett Prescott, LHS, 11:04.6; 2. Cole Shupert, LHS, 11:06.7; 3. Caelen Cordes, FS, 11:26.4.

4×400 relay — 1. LHS, 4:20.3; 2. FS, 4:34.8; 3. FS, 4:37.8.

Shot put — 1. BJ Murry, LHS; 43-10; 2. Kristian Russell, LHS, 42-7; 3. Bryce Tibke, LHS, 42-5.5.

High jump — 1. Dante Jackson, LHS, 5-6; 2. Myles Phillips, FS; 5-6; 3. Joey Schmidt, FS; 5-6.

Discus — 1. Bryce Tibke, LHS, 134-2.5; 2. Amiri Bledsoe, LHS, 130-0; 3. Sam Hambleton, FS, 112-11.

Javelin — 1. Hunter Krom, LHS, 161.98; 2. Tyler Winsor, FS, 155.66; 3. Nathan Spain, FS, 140.50.

Long jump — 1. Dante Jackson, LHS, 20-2; 2. Van Dave Jacob, LHS, 19-5.5; 3. Tanner Cobb, FS, 19-2.75.

Triple jump — 1. Azariah Lebrun, LHS, 37-8.5; 2. Andrew Williams, LHS, 34-11.75; 3. Anton Bratton, 32-6.

Pole vault — 1. Declan Forth, LHS, 10-0; 2. Ben, FS, 9-6; 3. Relle Dye, LHS, 9-0.