913 area athletes excel at Kansas Relays

The journey back for Kelly McKee of St. James Academy made her victory in the girls long jump and fourth-place finish in the triple jump at last Friday’s Kansas Relays even more rewarding.

Last spring, McKee seemed on track to contend for — and maybe win — a couple events at the Kansas Class 5A track and field state meet.

However, after she qualified for four state events at regionals, McKee was sidelined with a back injury and missed the state meet.

“She worked hard in the offseason, obviously, to get healthy, and did a lot in terms of training and working with her club,” Thunder coach Rich Weitz said. “She is a really talented kid and has the motivation after last year.”

McKee won the long jump at the Kansas Relays with a final mark of 18 feet, 3 inches. She added a 10th-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.51 seconds.

Allie Webb, meanwhile, of St. James Academy threw a season-best mark of 133-07 in the javelin and placed fourth. Teammate Braxton Lewis finished seventh in the 400 with a time of 49.78 seconds.

Mill Valley boys grab spotlight

When Mill Valley boys track and field coach Chris Dunback calls his boys thoroughbreds, he is not just talking about their talent level.

He said that, often in practice, he and other coaches have to rein them in and even slow them down because they are so excited to race each other.

“It’s pretty neat when you have that practice situation where they are pushing each other and challenging each other and everyone is trying to stay on each other’s hips,” Dunback said. “That is when you get some pretty neat things happening.”

That is the kind of motivation that sparked Mill Valley to a successful Friday at the Kansas Relays.

Kurt Loevenstein, who was the top Kansas finisher in the 800-meter run, placed third with a program-best time of 1 minute, 54.98 seconds. He also ran for the fourth-place 3,200-meter relay team and the fifth-place 6,400-meter relay squad.

The other runners on both relays were Derek Meeks, Teddy Gillespie and Jakob Coacher.

“They realize now what they are capable of doing,” Dunback said. “I think they knew they were pretty good, but to compete that well against all those studly teams gave them even more confidence.”

Loevenstein hopes to repeat as the Kansas Class 5A 800-meter state champion and lead the Mill Valley 3,200-meter relay team to its second straight state title.

More notable performances

Olathe North’s Isaiah Simmons, the Kansas Class 6A defending state champion in the long jump, won the event at the Kansas Relays with a leap of 23 feet, 2 1/2 inches.

Simmons also was part of the Eagles’ second-place effort in the 400-meter relay with a time of 42.84 seconds and fourth-place spot in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1 minute, 30.09 seconds. The relays’ other members were Venus Triplett, Blake Johnson and Cole Murphy.

Simmons and Cole Murphy ran the 1,600-meter relay, along with Micah Lee and Bryant McCoy, and finished 13th with a time of 3 minutes, 28.66 seconds.

Blue Valley North’s Wumi Omare won the 400-meter run in 57.09 seconds. Her 1,600-meter relay team placed 11th. In addition to Omare, Madison Hines, Sophie Scott and Coleen Buchanan also were members of the 1,600 relay.

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "913 area athletes excel at Kansas Relays."