Moment of the Year: Hutch hurdler comes home with pair of state championships
Varsity Kansas has introduced a new series, Moment of the Year. The series will highlight the top moment or performance from the 2017-18 high school sports season for each of the Wichita-area schools. And now, the Hutchinson Salthawks.
In a year that could be deemed a rebuild in team sports at Hutchinson, sophomore Tayezhan Crough offered a few seconds of excellence.
Crough won the Class 6A boys 110- and 300-meter hurdles at the Kansas high school track and field meet. He did both with seeming ease.
Crough won the 110 hurdles at 14.45 seconds, topping Washburn Rural’s Marquel Russell by almost a half-second. A couple of hours later, he won the 300 at 38.66 seconds over Olathe South’s Emmanuel Okwuone, who finished at 38.78.
Before Crough’s 110-meter final, a Class 5A hurdler said he always dreaded seeing the Hutch star in his races because he knew he had little chance of beating him.
Hutch had no state championships and only two regional championships in the 2017-18 school year. The Salthawks had four individual state titles, and Crough took half of them.
Crough, who also plays running back and will likely line up at defensive back for the Hutch football team, cruised over the hurdles. He glided past the field to become the only two-time 6A boys champion in 2018.
Crough entered this season as one of the favorites in the 110-meter hurdles. As a freshman, he finished fourth at the state meet at 15.03 seconds – just three tenths of a second off a title in his first state appearance.
In the 300, he wasn’t on the radar, at least by last season’s results. Crough did not qualify for the state meet, but he would have won the 2017 title with his sophomore time.
Other Key Moments
- Salthawk senior wrestler Brian Gates wins the 113-pound state championship, topping Manhattan’s Tate Sauder with a 4:58 fall.
- Hutch junior Jayla Bynum wins the 6A girls shot put with a 42-foot-4.25 toss. Bynum also comes runner-up in the 6A girls discus at 123-3.
- Janeia Wren, a Hutch senior, comes second in the 6A girls 110-meter hurdles at 14.75. Wren also finished third in the 300-meter hurdles at 46.18.
- Salthawk junior Riley Smith finishes second in the6A wrestling 182-pound bracket behind Olathe South’s Nick Jouret by a 13-4 major decision.
- Hutch’s Hunter Degarmo comes runner-up in the 6A boys discus at 164-11. The Salthawk senior was about a foot behind Blue Valley North’s Nicholas Orr for a state title.
- Hutch girls track and field team finishes fourth in the team standings with 50 points, just 32 points behind Lawrence.
- Hutch volleyball team wins 6A sub-state tournament to clinch spot in the state tournament. Salthawks lost to Olathe Northwest, Blue Valley North and Manhattan at the state tournanment.
- Salthawk sophomore Eleecya Birney comes fourth in the 100-meter dash at 12.36 seconds. Birney also came third in the 400 meters at 58.76.
- Hutch sophomore Izaiah Delvalle finishes fifth in the 6A wrestling 126-pound weight class.