Chieftain pole vaulters are dominating on the boys’ side early in the track season.
And soon, they could be joined by another high finisher.
Tonganoxie once again had three placers in a meet, this time it was Friday at the Eudora Invitational. Dustin Schultz took first (12-6), Travis Andrews fifth (10-6) and Mark O’Brien (10-0). Karl Cleavinger, who’s expected to return from an injury this week, usually vaults at 12 feet, THS coach Phil Williams said.
“We’re pretty consistent,” Williams said. “It should increase vaulting points when he comes back.”
The team won the nine-team invitational in Eudora with 114 points, while Perry-Lecompton was second with 106 points.
“I was pleasantly surprised, especially at Basehor,” Williams said, referring to the Bobcat Relays, a meet the Chieftains won April 5.
Tonganoxie will look for another win Friday in Eudora. This field will have more teams and feature new competition. Baldwin, Sabetha and Wellsville are expected at this year’s meet. Baldwin won last year’s 4A State Meet.
Williams said this week would be much tougher.
“I’d be surprised if we’ll win that,” Williams said, adding he hopes his team finishes in the top three.
Tonganoxie has been getting strong performances. Alan Davis again won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, while Matt Madeira ran his best times in the 200 and 400. The sophomore took second in the 400 and third in the 200. Jacob Walker won the long jump, while Joe Calovich took second in the high jump. The 4×800 relay of Kyle Norris, Tommy Powell, Nathan Bailey and Tony Aligo took first as well with a time of 8 minutes, 44.87 seconds.

Girls’ track
On the girls’ side, Erin O’Brien took first in pole vault, while THS won the team title with 107 points. Eudora was second with 90. Osawatomie was third with 87 and Perry-Lecompton fourth with 85.
“It was a good meet for us,” said Bill Shaw, THS girls’ coach. “Competition was a lot stiffer than we anticipated.”
Traditionally, the Eudora meet has four teams with unlimited entries. This year, the invitational had nine teams with restricted entries.
O’Brien also won the discus, while Laura Jeannin took first in the 800. The 4×800 team Keri Walker, Madison Weller, Katie Jeannin and Laura Jeannin also nabbed gold. Erin Seymour was the team’s other first-place finisher, winning the 3,200 meters in 13:31.38.