A first look at state track athletes to watch

Class 6A

▪ Record-setting runner Molly Born, a junior at Shawnee Mission Northwest, will not run at the state meet this spring due to a stress fracture. Born won both the 1600 and 3200 her first two seasons and holds the meet record in both events. Last year Born ran the fastest 3200 race in Kansas history in 10:07.96.

▪ Southeast junior Christal Mosley is poised for a big weekend in the sprints. She currently has the fastest time in Kansas in the 200 (24.34) and the 400 (55.48), which both rank Top-10 all-time in Kansas history. Mosley, who has been plagued by injuries in the past, will be looking for her first state title (or two). She has also cleared 5-6 in the high jump, which likely earn her a high medal.

▪ East senior Astrid Same won the shot put title as a sophomore, then finished fourth last year. She currently has the second-best mark in Kansas this season at 45-3, which is almost five feet further than the next-best in 6A. Same’s all-time best mark moved her up to No. 25 all-time.

▪ The City League’s best should once again produce title contenders in the sprints. South junior Philip Landrum has become near unbeatable in the 100 and 200 this season and has posted the state’s fastest times in both sprints this season. But he’ll have a stiff challenge from his own league in Southeast’s Ollie McGee, who should be a prime challenger in the 100 and 200. The South, East, and Southeast 400 relays will also be in contention for a high medal.

▪ Derby junior Adrian Brown has dipped his personal-best time to 39.44 in the 300 hurdles and will enter with the fastest time in the field. He also figures to be a factor in the 110 hurdles.

▪ Campus senior Federico Harvey came through with a personal-best mark of 45-6.5 in the triple jump to not only win his regional, but also move up the state-best list this season. Harvey could vie for a championship if he’s able to replicate the mark again at the state meet.

▪ Northwest sophomore Josh Carter has blossomed this season in the shot put and his season-best mark of 52-8 is second-best in the field headed to the state meet.

▪ Manhattan freshman Sam Hankins is the only thrower in Kansas who has cleared 200 feet this season, as his mark of 205-11 is 10 feet better than anyone else in the state as a freshman.

Class 5A

▪ Newton’s sprinters might have a historic weekend. Kalli Anderson (11.76) has registered a top-20 all-time race in the 100, while Savannah Simmons (24.52) and Anderson (24.82) have done the same in the 200. Newton’s 400 relay team of Simmons, Anderson, Taylor Antonowich, and Jen Andres also ran the fastest time in Kansas history earlier this season, breaking the 47-second barrier in a race clocking in at 46.98. Every sprint meet record will be in peril this weekend by the Railers.

▪ Valley Center senior Taylor Latimer will be a factor in all three of the throwing events, as she enters the state meet with the top shot put (44-4) and discus (152-7) mark in the field and is also competitive in the javelin (133-2). Latimer is the defending champion in the discus.

▪ Goddard’s Hannah Buller, a former state champion, has returned from injury and came through with the top regional clearance in the pole vault at 12 feet. It matched a personal-best for Buller and is the top mark in 5A this season.

▪ Newton senior Kade Remsberg has returned from injury this season and will be eyeing two more titles before he leaves for Air Force this summer. Remsberg has the top times in 5A posted this season in the 100 and the 200, but might receive a stiff challenge from Valley Center’s Keyon Saunders in both races.

▪ Heights senior Isaac Smallwood has had the top mark in the triple jump in Kansas for most of this season and improved on his own personal-best in a regional-winning performance of 47 feet even. Smallwood is looking for his first state title.

▪ Maize senior Konner Swenson has already entered the record books this season and now is looking for some state titles. Swenson owns the top marks in the state in both the discus (198-10) and the shot put (58-4.5). His mark of 198-10 in the discus ranks No. 10 all-time in Kansas and makes Swenson a challenger to break the meet record this weekend in the event as he chases his first state title.

▪ The race of the weekend might be in the 110 hurdles to decide the state title between the state’s two fastest hurdlers in Liberal’s Austin Mullens and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Noah Green. Earlier this season Green logged a time of 13.71, which ranks No. 2 all-time in Kansas history.

Class 4A

▪ After winning three individual championships in 5A last season, Maize South senior Kassidy Johnson has decided to focus on chasing the 4A titles in the 400 and 800. Johnson will have to knock off defending champions in the event, as Johnson will go head-to-head with El Dorado’s Sidney Howland again in the 400 and then the Maize South senior will square off with five-time state champion and record-holder Cailie Logue of Girard in the 800. Johnson enters with the best 400 time (58.31) in the field and the best 800 time (2:13.32), which ranks her No. 13 all-time. Maize’s South 3200 relay will also vie for the meet record, as Johnson will likely be on the team that attempts to crack the all-time list in the race.

▪ Andover Central senior Jewell Bolden will wrap up a stellar career with her eye on more state titles, as Bolden enters with the state’s fastest time in the 100 hurdles (14.59) and the state’s best mark in the long jump (19-4). Bolden has won at least two state titles at every state meet in her first three years.

▪ The area will likely be a factor in the boys distance races, as Maize South’s brigade of Ethan Kossover, Bryce Merriman, and Britte Manguson and Collegiate’s Lakelin Conrad figure to challenge for titles in the 800, 1600, and 3200. The Maize South 3200 relay team will also be attempting to break the meet record.

▪ Pratt senior Noah Myers has become a jumping sensation in his first season in the events, as he enters with the best mark in the field in the long jump (23-1).

Class 3A

▪ Hugoton’s Tony Kisner has cleared 6-10 in the high jump this season, which is the second-best mark in Kansas. Garden Plain’s Dylan Dreiling, who has cleared 6-7, is also a contender in the event.

▪ Hoisington senior Jonathan Ball has the state’s best mark in the pole vault, as he has cleared 15-3.25.

▪ Marion’s Tyler Palic enters with the best mark in the field this season in the discus, as his personal-best throw of 178-6 is the fourth-best mark in Kansas this season.

▪ Sedgwick senior Shae Ware will attempt a title run in the sprints, as she enters with the fastest regional-qualifying times in the 100, 200, and 400. Sedgwick’s 1600 relay team also has the fastest time in the field entering the state meet.

▪ Belle Plaine senior Jessica Heidel will be the favorite in the long jump and the triple jump, as she enters the state meet with the best 3A marks in both events this season. Heidel set a personal-best marks in the long jump (18-0) and triple jump (37-4.75) at the state meet and is also qualified in the 100.

▪ Cheney senior Miranda Ortiz has the fastest qualifying times in the 100 and 300 hurdles races.

Class 2A

▪ Washington County’s Jerrod Hoover has cleared 6-9.5 in the high jump, which is the third-highest clearance in the event this season in Kansas. Teammate Dawson Miller also ranks among the state’s best in the javelin, as his personal-best of 194-11 ranks him third-best in the state this season.

▪ Ness City’s Chandler Stiawalt has the third-best mark in the state this season in the triple jump at 45-7.

▪ Hill City’s Allyssa Miller has the state’s best throw in the discus this season at 153-9 and her all-time best of 158-0 ranks her No. 7 all-time.

Class 1A

▪ Some of the best boys distance running in the state can be found in 1A, as Olpe’s Kyler True, South Gray’s Luke Skinner, and Ashland’s Quanah Gardiner have all cracked 1:56 in the 800 this season and own the three best times in the state in the race this season. Olpe’s career-best time of 1:51.26 is the second-fastest time ever run in Kansas. True also has the state’s fastest times in the 1600 (4:10.69) and 3200 (9:21.57).

▪ South Gray’s Gilbert Peters has the third-best mark in the discus in the state this season at 179-11.

▪ Linn’s Shelby Ohlde has cleared 5-7 in the high jump this season, which is the third-best mark in the state this season.

▪ Dighton’s Jordan Speer owns the state’s best mark in the shot put this season, as her throw of 46-9.5 is No. 13 all-time in Kansas history.

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 8:27 PM with the headline "A first look at state track athletes to watch."