Garden Plain, Andale girls track and field teams win Kansas high school state titles
If not for the pandemic wiping out her sophomore track and field season, Garden Plain’s Brooke Hammond would have likely gone down as one of the winningest runners in Class 2A history at the Kansas high school state meet.
Even missing a season, Hammond still ended an illustrious career on Saturday as a 10-time state champion who powered Garden Plain to three consecutive team championships.
After completing the same gold-medal sweep in her three events — the open 100-meter and 200-meter races and the 400-meter relay — for the third straight year, Hammond took some time to reflect on all of the memories at Cessna Stadium.
“It’s crazy to think that I’m done here at this meet,” said Hammond, who never lost a race in the 100, 200 or 400 relay at the state meet. “This is my last race in a GP uniform. I still got four more years to go (in college), but my high school career is definitely something I’ll always remember.”
After fully extending herself to capture a four-gold performance at last year’s state meet, which included a surprise win in the 400, Hammond decided not to chase a four-peat and instead focus on her specialty: the short sprints.
Hammond was far from her best times in the 100 (12.41) or the 200 (27.89), but she didn’t have to be: she won both races comfortably. The same was true for her leg on the 400 relay, as Garden Plain was already in front when she took the baton on the anchor leg and she finished off the winning time of 50.65.
“I just think about all of the hard work I put in at practices and in meets over the years,” Hammond said. “I’m always looking to improve something, whether it’s with my start or my endurance. I always wanted to get better.”
Hammond’s 20 points from her open races and her anchor leg ensuring another 10 on the 400 relay, which included Celia Puetz, Abby Redmon and Ryleigh Stuhlsatz, was once again good enough to come out on top of the 2A team race with 58 points, which barely edged Wabaunsee (55) and Stanton County (50).
Garden Plain also scored points with Naomi Dooley (fourth in javelin and fifth in discus), Sophie Smith (fourth in triple jump), Sydney Puetz (fifth in pole vault), Molly Zoglman (fifth in javelin), Celia Puetz (fifth in 100 hurdles), Redmon (eighth in 100 hurdles) and Haidyn Thompson (eighth in 100).
After a stellar high school career, Hammond will continue her track career in college at Emporia State.
“I’m already looking forward to running over the summer with my dad,” Hammond said. “He’s the one who’s trained me and helps me with my endurance and getting out of the blocks quicker. It’s a continuous process. I’m never satisfied with it, so it won’t stop now.”
Andale girls win half of events for most dominant team title yet
It’s nothing new for the Andale girls to win the Class 4A state track and field team championship, which the Indians have now done five times in a row, but Saturday’s title was the program’s most dominant to date.
In an incredible display of depth and talent, Andale won nine of the total 18 events at the state meet and scored 152 points — more than any other team, boys or girls, at any other level at the state meet.
No KSHSAA records are kept for most team points scored at the state meet, but Andale’s 152 points on Saturday would surely challenge the all-time mark.
“We just have kids that buy into what we do,” said Andale junior McKenzie Fairchild, who was a three-time gold medalist over the weekend. “We all want to work hard and win as a team. It’s an amazing feeling for the girls and the boys to both win the team titles, knowing you did what you could for your team.”
While Fairchild didn’t set a personal-best in any three of her events, that is more of a testament to how prolific she has become as just a junior. Her career-best javelin mark of 169-4, set earlier this season, ranks No. 5 in Kansas history.
Even without a PR, Fairchild still managed to win the discus (130-1), shot put (40-3¼) and javelin (163-3) titles with ease.
There was some guilt left over from last year’s state meet, where she upset her older sister, Katelynn, in the discus to prevent her from becoming a three-time state champion at the same meet.
“She got cheated out of it… by me,” McKenzie Fairchild said. “But it is nice to be able to do it because you don’t hear much about it being done. I take pride in what I do and I’m happy with how this weekend turned out. Most importantly, I did it for my team.”
Another standout for Andale was junior Maddie Schrandt, who doubled up as a state champion by winning her signature race, the 400, in 59.09 seconds, then dropping down to claim another gold in the 200 with a time of 26.21 seconds.
After winning the 200, Schrandt didn’t have much recovery time but still anchored Andale’s title-winning 1600 relay team, which also featured Ava Steven, Betsy Reichenberger and Camryn Winter, with a 59-second final lap to win in 4:09.89.
“It’s awesome because it’s nice to see all of the hard work we’ve put in as a team pay off,” Schrandt said. “I love winning it with my team because we all push each other so hard. This is like a dream come true.”
Other state champions were Lexi Horsch (high jump) and Annabeth Baalman (pole vault), while the 400 relay team also won gold with Winter, Cali Kerschen, Piper Camp and Reichenberger in a time of 49.73.
Reichenberger added medals in the 200 (second) and 100 (third), while Kerschen also doubled up in the 100 hurdles (second) and 300 hurdles (sixth), as did Camp in the 100 hurdles (fourth) and 300 hurdles (fifth). Other state medalists included Emery May (second in discus), Claire Rowland (second in pole vault), Jenna Kuepker (fourth in javelin), Jessa Jarmer (fifth in discus), Mary Meyer (sixth in pole vault) and Grace Rowland (eight in triple jump).
.jpg)