Five things to watch at Kansas high school track and field state meet
The Kansas high school track and field state meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Wichita. Here are five things to watch during the competition.
1. Repeat for Molly Born?
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Molly Born won both the Class 6A 1,600- and 3,200-meter events last season as a freshman, and she is on track to repeat. She has the top seed time in both events. At the KU Relays in April, Born won the 3,200 in 10:28.16. If she runs a similar time on Friday at the state meet, Born could break the 6A state meet record for that event (10:32.40).
2. Isaiah Simmons’ long jump
One of the few returning individual champions among the Class 6A boys is Isaiah Simmons of Olathe North. He won the long jump last year with a distance of 22 feet, 10 inches. His seed distance is only 22-7, but he got second place in April’s KU Relays with a distance of 23 feet, 10-3/4 inches. Two Olathe Northwest seniors could be Simmons’ toughest competition — Brendan Watkins and Tremaiine Robinson.
3. Jenna Gray going the distance
Another state record could fall in the Class 5A girls javelin throw. St. James Academy senior Jenna Gray, who won last year’s state meet with a distance of 145 feet, 5 inches, is heavily favored to win again. Her seed distance is 13 feet farther than the second-longest, from teammate Alexandra Webb. If Gray can throw similarly to her seed distance (153-09), she could break the state meet record of 151-01.
4. A chance at a three-peat
Jacqueline Darby will be vying for her third straight 200-meter dash title in Class 6A this year. The Olathe South senior also won the 100-meter dash in 2015, and she’ll be hoping to add to her medal pile this weekend. Darby’s Olathe South teammate, Grace Williams, could be right behind her, with strong seed times in both events.
5. Jacoby Greenwood hurdling towards repeat titles
As a junior, Osawatomie’s Jacoby Greenwood won three events in Class 4A (200-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles). With a 22.41 seed time for the 200-meter dash, though, Greenwood could see a lot of competition for a second title, including from Bishop Miege’s Denvoir Griffin (22.19) and Jafar Armstrong (22.37). Greenwood is still the favorite to repeat in both hurdles events.
This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Five things to watch at Kansas high school track and field state meet."