Mill Valley runs past Chieftains at league
The Tonganoxie girls track team blew past Lansing and Perry-Lecompton at the Kaw Valley League meet Thursday at Mill Valley, tallying more than the two other teams scored combined.
That, however, was part of the problem for THS.
The Chieftains scored 116.5 compared to Lansing’s 60 and Perry-Lecompton’s 54.5, but the lower-scoring teams couldn’t take enough points away from Mill Valley, which ran away with the meet with 184 points.
Tonganoxie, meanwhile, had to settle for second place as a team.
“Overall, the majority of the girls did a great job competing,” THS coach Chris Weller said.
Ali Pistora broke her own school record in the javelin again with a throw of 134 feet, 8 inches, while Jennifer Wagner set a new school record in the 300-meter low hurdles. She finished in 48.43 seconds, good for second behind Lansing’s Takeisha Jenkins, who had a time of 47.90.
The 4×800 relay team had a standout day as well, finishing second with a season-best time of 10:52.90.
The team of Ashley Koch, Laura Jeannin, Christy Weller and Tana Lloyd placed second to Mill Valley, which registered a 10:38.56 time.
Tonganoxie again placed well overall in the field events. Sarah Hartshorn finished second in the discus (108-4), while Elizabeth Baska placed sixth (82-9.75).
Tracie Hileman placed fourth in the triple jump (30-7.5) and second in the long jump (15-1.75) as Hartshorn also placed in the shot put (34-4).
In pole vault action, THS finished third, fourth and fifth thanks to Rachael Weston (8-0), Jennifer Wagner (8-0) and Christy Weller (7-6).
The high jump was a big highlight as well as Pistora (5-0), Hileman (4-10) and Weston (4-8) took the top three spots in that event.
In the 100-meter high hurdles, Weston and Wagner were a close second and third. Weston won a silver with a 16.43 time, while Wagner finished with a bronze at 16.90.
Weller again performed well in the 800, finishing second with a 2:29.75 time, just behind Mill Valley’s Sarah Karcher (2:28.09).
THS will have equally stiff competition at its Class 4A regional Friday in Tonganoxie.
“We’ve got Eudora and Baldwin,” Weller said. “Eudora is peaking right now and is doing extremely well.
“We don’t have to contend with Mill Valley or Lansing because they’re 5A.”
The top four finishers in each event at regionals will move on to the State Track and Field Championships beginning May 27.
Coach Weller looks for his team to perform well on its own track.
“We should be in the top four if everything goes right,” Weller said.
BOYS TRACK
A rain delay pushed the Kaw Valley League meet back from its original start time Thursday afternoon at Mill Valley.
In the process, Mill Valley and Bonner Springs shoved the Chieftains out of contention for a second consecutive league title.
Mill Valley scored 134 points and won the KVL title, while Bonner Springs scored 116. Tonganoxie had to settle for third with 88 points.
Tonganoxie’s 3,200-meter relay team nabbed Tonganoxie’s lone gold medal at the meet. The team of Matt
Chenoweth, John Davis, Levi Huseman and Justin Smith finished with an 8:39.66 time. The 4×400 team also performed well at the meet, taking second with a 3:37.28 time. Robert Kirch, Kaleb Lawrence, Travis Schultz and Huseman make up the relay team.
In other events, Andy Kolman placed second in the 1,600 (4:53.02) and the 3,200 (10:59.52). Colin Perkins placed sixth in the 3,200 with an 11:20.49 time.
Other top performances included Sam Mitchell (19-9.75) and Robert Kirch (19-4) taking third and fourth respectively in the long jump. Jeff Hughes also placed fourth in the triple jump with a 38-3.5 leap.
In throwing events, BT Fleming finished fourth in discus (116-10.75) and Kent Fleming took fourth in shot (48-0).
In the 800, Tonganoxie scored two placers as Huseman (2:09.58) and John Davis (2:10.46) finished third and fourth.
Short distance races saw Micah Titterington take fourth in the 110 high hurdles (17.13) and Kaleb Lawrence fifth in the 100 (11.55). Lawrence also finished fourth in the 200 (23.52).
In other events, THS placed sixth in the 4×100 (46.46) as Zach Ditty, Lawrence, Mitchell and Schultz all ran for THS.
And in the 300 low hurdles, Sam Mitchell (45.15) and Micah Titterington (45.56) placed fifth and sixth.
The Chieftains now turn their attention to their 4A regional Friday in Tonganoxie.
Field events begin at 3 p.m., while prelims start at 4:30 p.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.