Wise, who finished first in the boys pole vault at the regional meet in Tonganoxie with 13 feet, could not meet his potential in the state competition. Wise finished eighth with a jump of 12 feet, 6 inches.

Wise wasn’t the only Chieftain who was unable to meet personal expectations and medal at the state competition, though. The Tonganoxie boys finished 25th with eight points.

Wise’s best mark for the season was 13 feet. Going into state, Wise figured he could match that mark and was going to shoot for the school record of 13 feet, 6 inches. However, he never had the shot to make that happen.

Andale’s Dylan Schmidt topped out the 4A competition sailing over a height of 15 feet, 6 inches.

Even though Wise said the pressure didn’t really bother him, he had been unable to clear the height he had intended. With his freshly colored neon red hair, it wasn’t hard to miss Wise as he attempted to snap up and over the 13 foot bar. But after three tries at 13 feet, it was clear he was going home empty-handed.

”I just couldn’t think that high school was over until right now,” Wise said. ”I kept thinking that I could re-do it and make it over.”

At the first meet of the season, Wise only cleared 9 feet, 6 inches. Needless to say, he is happy with the improvement.

In the other six events that Tonganoxie qualified in, the results were similar, except in one event.

The boys 4×800-meter relay team almost broke the school record of 8:11.6 and received a silver medal, finishing the 3200-meter in 8:12.8 seconds. This was the highlight for Tonganoxie at state. Baldwin, which beat Tonganoxie at the regional meet, trailed with a third-place finish.

“That was probably the only event that we had a good chance to place in,” coach Phil Williams said.

Placing in other events turned out to be a struggle for the rest of the athletes.

Long jumper Joey Holek knew going into state that he would have to shoot for 21 feet to do well. He almost reached that distance at the regional meet with a jump of 20 feet, six inches. At state, however, Holek jumped 19 feet, 4.75 inches to finish 12th. The winning distance was 21 feet, 10.25 inches.

Senior Arrika Reeder qualified for state in three events but was unable to advance to finals in any of them at the state event. Reeder ran the 100-meter dash in 13.23 seconds. Her regional qualifying time was 13 seconds, which did not even reach her personal best time.

Marysville’s Courtney Bruna took the gold Saturday in the 100 with a time of 12.43 seconds.

Reeder also was part of the 4×100-meter relay team.

The girls ran the distance with a time of 53.55 seconds. Their regional qualifying time was 53.5 seconds. Reeder did not qualify for finals in the 200 meter, either.

Bryce Downey suffered a similar fate at the state meet. She was also part of the 4×100 relay team. Downey qualified in two field events but was only able to compete in the girls high jump after injuring her ankle while practicing for the triple jump earlier in the week.

Downey finished 12th, jumping 4 feet, 10 inches, which was the starting height for the girls and what she cleared at the regional meet. She made three unsuccessful attempts to clear 5 feet at state. Five feet, two inches was her goal to jump at the meet. The 12th place finish was not exactly a surprise to the senior, though.

”I did not expect to do well,” Downey said. ”I have been satisfied with my whole track career. I just wish that things could have gone a little differently for this meet.”

Downey was scratched from the triple jump competition because of her ankle. However, she mustered the strength and gutted out the pain for her leg of the relay team.