photo by: Submitted photo

The Lawrence High track and field team stops for a picture after getting off the bus in Wichita.

Six area schools were in action at the state track and field championships in Wichita over the weekend. The two-day event, often regarded as the largest high school track meet in the country, saw over 200 programs make the trip to Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State.

As usual, all six of KSHSAA’s classifications completed a slug of events within 48 hours. Here’s a rundown of the biggest stars from the weekend:

Class 6A

LHS highlights:

• Junior Paige Platt placed second in the girls high jump. Platt went on to place third in the javelin throw.

• Senior Tyrell Reed placed third in the boys 100-meter dash.

• Senior Lance Bassett placed fourth in the boys shot put.

• The Lions’ boys 4×100-meter relay team – Riley Howell, Colin Sandefur, Sam Sedo and Tyrell Reed – placed fifth (00:42.85), sliding just past Garden City by .01 seconds.

Free State highlights:

• Senior Reese Hulcher placed third in the girls high jump and fifth in the long jump. Hulcher went on to finish fourth in the 100-meter hurdles.

• Senior Cason Cregg placed ninth in the boys javelin throw.

• The Firebirds’ boys 4×800-meter relay team – Grant Lichauer, Ryan Whittlesey, Jake Hedges and Jake Loos – placed fifth (08:10.41), beating out Liberal by nearly two seconds.

Class 4A

Eudora highlights:

• The Cardinals’ 4×800-meter girls relay team – Phoebe Fletcher, Jayla Erpelding, Hanna Keltner and Sydney Owens – placed first (09:56.83), standing two points ahead of runner-up Wamego.

• Junior Matthew Magette placed second (00:10.96) in the boys 100-meter dash.

• Sophomore Hannah Keltner placed third (11:24.79) in the girls 3,200-meter run; junior Sydney Owens placed fourth (11:57.84).

• Junior Kole Manley placed third in the boys javelin throw and fourth in boys pole vault; senior.

• Senior Conor Dunback placed second in the boys 300-meter hurdles (00:38.43), fifth in the boys 400-meter dash (00:50.69) and fifth in javelin.

• Junior Zach Arnold placed fourth in the boys 1,600-meter run (04:31.91). Arnold went on to place fifth (09:53.53) in the 3,200-meter run.

• Junior Brennan Moeckel placed fifth in the girls shot put, setting a new personal record (39-6.25).

• Sophomore Adalyn Hemphill placed fifth in the girls triple jump.

Baldwin highlights:

• Senior Caden West placed third in the boys discus throw.

• Senior Chaney Barth placed fourth in the girls high jump.

• Junior Fisayo Afonja placed fifth (00:12.82) in the girls 100-meter dash.

• Junior Harper Schoendaller placed fourth in the girls javelin throw.

• Sophomore Nick Johnson placed fifth in the 800-meter run.

Tonganoxie highlights:

• Senior Eli Gilmore won the boys 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Gilmore added to his big state resume by winning the boys 400-meter dash and 800-meter run.

• Junior Kasia Baldock tied for first in the girls high jump.

Class 3A

Perry-Lecompton highlights:

• Senior Kael Gorski won the boys 110-meter hurdles race, setting a new personal record (00:15.03).

• Junior Taylor Damme placed fifth in the girls javelin throw.

Baldwin girls soccer finishes fourth at state

The No. 1 Baldwin girls soccer team fell to No. 2-seeded Wichita-Trinity Academy 2-1 on penalty kicks in the Class 4A-1A state semifinal on Friday in DeSoto. The Bulldogs, finishing the season 14-7, fell to top-seed Topeka-Hayden in the third-place match on Saturday morning.

Baldwin coach Andrew Ising said the semifinal loss tested his team’s endurance in a match that called for nearly everything his girls had.

“I was really impressed,” Ising said. “By the time we got on the bus to get back to DeSoto (on Saturday), they were ready to go even after 110 minutes and some pretty real heat the night before.”

Baldwin took down Olathe-Heritage Academy 3-0 at home in the Class 4A-1A regional championship last week.

Eudora softball takes third at state

The No. 4 Eudora softball team claimed the third-place title, defeating 6-seed Clearwater 9-5 in the Class 4A state softball championship on Friday in Salina.

The Cardinals, finishing the season 17-6, opened the tournament with a 12-2 romp over 5-seed Andale/Garden Plain in the quarterfinal round. Eudora missed out on a chance at the state title with a slim 1-0 loss to top-seed Wamego in the semifinal round.

Even with a disappointing loss, Eudora coach Bill Finucane said his team knew they had a job to finish in the third-place finale with Clearwater.

“They still wanted to come win the third game and prove that, ‘hey, we’re a good team,'” Finucane said. “We didn’t have to get them motivated to come back out and play that game.”

Eudora punched its ticket to the state tournament with a win over Altamont/Labette County 10-8 at home in last week’s regional championship.

Finucane shined a light on his two seniors — Addison Woods and Sarah Watts — for leading the program to the state championship and raising the program’s ceiling heading into next year.

“They knew what their role was and did best they could to live up to that,” Finucane said. “Both of them did a really good job of setting an excellent example for everybody else on that team.”

Area golfers shine at Class 6A and 4A state tourneys

Eudora sophomore Tyler Deterding placed 14th individually shooting 18-over through 36 holes at the Class 4A state tournament on Monday at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Winfield. Deterding tied with Jerry Mattes of Independence for the final round, and finished just one stroke behind Bishop Miege’s Justin Walls, overall.

Another area golfer, Free State junior Jack Randall, was in action on Monday. Randall tied for 24th individually shooting 5-over through 36 holes at the Class 6A state tournament in Newton.

Randall, tying for 24th at state with Max Peterson of Blue Valley Northwest, was the sole Firebird to make the tournament after slipping into the top 10 at regionals last week in Olathe.