By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- No track athlete ever goes into a state meet knowing exactly what is going to happen.
Shawnee Heights senior Jackson Esquibel (2) clocked a time of 9:21.31 Friday morning to win his second straight Class 5A 3,200 meters state title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Shawnee Heights senior distance star Jackson Esquibel knew one thing for sure about Friday morning's Class 5A 3,200 meters -- that he wasn't going to make it easy for any of the other 15 competitors.
"I always say, if someone wants to beat me they've got to beat my best because it's not going to be given, you've got to earn it,'' said Esquibel after he captured his second straight 3,200 championship in a time of 9 minutes, 21.31 seconds at Cessna Stadium.
"That's one thing about this sport that I find really true is that everything is earned, nothing is given, so going out today was about trying to start the weekend off strong and I'm just glad I got the victory.''
Esquibel, who also won the 5A state cross country title last fall, said he decided before the race, run about 8:30 a.m. in windy conditions, that he wasn't going to press the issue before it was 'go time.'
"Coming here to Wichita yesterday I kind of saw the weather was going to be a little windy,'' said the Kansas State signee. "So today I was just trying to tell myself to be patient and then Lap 5 I kind of decided, 'Alright, I can make a gap.' And then Lap 7 was just guts and Lap 8 was just finish through whatever I had.''
Although his 9:21 wasn't a personal record, Esquibel had no complaints after winning by just under five seconds over De Soto junior Vance Krudwig (9:26.22) while Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior Daniel Enriquez was third (9:27.21).
"Of course you want to run in the 19s because that's what I did last year and I've done it two or three times, but I think today, knowing that the pace went out a little slower than 4:40 I was pretty happy with the effort at the end of it,'' he said. "And down the home stretch I gave a little smile and that was nice.''
Esquibel's win in the 3,200 was his only race of the day and he will return Saturday afternoon to compete in the 1,600 meters after finishing second in that event as a junior.
"It's going to be a dog fight,'' Esquibel said. "There's a lot of good 5A 1,600 guys. I just want to go into it and try to have some fun. It's my last high school race ever, so we'll see what happens.''
Hayden junior Jensen Schrickel captured his second state long jump title in two different classes on Friday, winning the Class 3A crown with a jump of 23 feet, 1 inch. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Schrickel uses PR to win second state long jump title
For a matter of seconds Friday afternoon Hayden junior Jensen Schrickel relinquished the top spot in the Class 3A boys long jump event.
He responded with the best jump of his career, soaring 23 feet, 1 inch to claim the second long jump gold medal of his career after winning the 4A title as a freshman.
"I felt really good today, especially with the wind pushing out the back,'' Schrickel said. "I wasn't coming in thinking I was going to win or anything, but there's always a possibility so you've got to try your best every time.''
Schrickel held a slight advantage over Kansas City-Bishop Ward's Tyler Holmes through the preliminaries but Holmes took a brief lead with a jump of 22-7.25 before Schrickel notched his event-winning leap
"I didn't think it was that good when I first did it, but they said I got all the board so that probably helped a lot,'' Schrickel said.
"When I jumped close to my PR earlier this year I thought I could do pretty good at state but I didn't know about winning or anything.''
Silver Lake senior Blake Redmonf finished third in the event, jumping 22-3.75 to finish just 3.5 inches behind Holmes.
Schrickel was also the top qualifier for Saturday's final in the 400-meter dash (49.64) and teamed with Finn Dunshee, Liam Stegman and Jackson McGivern to post the second-fastest qualifying time in the 4x100 relay (42.25) and with Stegman, John Strickland and Dunshee to post the No. 2 qualifying time in the 4x400 relay (3:29.49).
Dunshee sets 3A state meet record in 200
Hayden senior Finn Dunshee is running in some pretty fast company ... literally.
The Wildcat star clocked a time of 21.43 seconds in Friday's 200 dash preliminaries, setting a 3A state meet record.
Dunshee ecliped the previous record of 21.64 held by former Kansas State and Green Bay Packers star wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who had set the record 21 years ago while running for Riley County.
Dunshee, who won the 4A 100 title a year ago, will compete in the 3A 100 on Saturday while also running the 4x100 and 4x400 relays for the Wildcats.
Other highlights Friday:
Seaman sophomore Ryin Miller (2) finished second to Salina Central three-time champion Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central in Friday's Class 5A girls 3,200 meters. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
• Seaman sophomore star Ryin Miller opened her busy four-event weekend with a runnerup finish in Friday morning's 5A girls 3,200 meters in a time of 10:34.48.
Three-time event champion Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central won the 3,200 in 10:18.09.
Miller also teamed with Taylie Heston, Jaida Stallbaumer and Ally Steiner to qualify No. 2 in the 4x400 relay in 4:06.37.
• Hayden's foursome of Elliot Wrench, Natalie Hillebert, Rae North and Sofia Harper earned the No. 1 qualifying spot in the 3A 4x400 relay in 4:08.37.
• Seaman's foursome of Peyton Holmes, Bryce Cochran, Jacob Anderson and Aaron Merritt qualified No. 1 in the 5A 4x100 relay in 42.52 seconds while Merritt qualified No. 2 in the 110 hurdles in 14.54 seconds.
• Other Shawnee County girls state medalists on Friday included Topeka High's Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, fourth in the 6A triple jump (17-5.75); Washburn Rural's Payton Fink, fifth in the 6A 3,200 (11:14.85); Rural's Audrey Simpson, fifth in the 6A javelin (126-2); Rural's Emily Graf, seventh in the 6A 3,200 (11:20.57), and Rural's Morgan Ray, eighth in the 6A javelin (122-1).
Shawnee Heights senior Alex Dawkins posted a third-place finish in Friday's Class 5A discus event. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
• Other Shawnee County boys state medalists on Friday included Shawnee Heights' Alex Dawkins, third in the 5A discus (164-9); Washburn Rural's Titan Osburn, fifth in the 6A long jump (21-5.25), Rural's Jamond Lane, sixth in the 6A shot put (50-6.25), and Rural's Jacob Hawks, seventh in the 6A shot put (50-0.50)
