Matt Schwartz/Contributed Photo

Lawrence High’s LaKeyshia Woods and Truth Pope lead the Lions’ track and field teams during the Coach Beardslee Invite on April 2 at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. Woods finished first in one of her sprint events while Pope took home gold in one of his jump events and as the lead-off in one of the relay events.

Matt Schwartz/Contributed Photo

Lawrence High’s LaKeyshia Woods finished first in the 200-meter dash to earn the Lions’ girls track and field team’s lone gold medal during the Coach Beardslee Invite on April 2 at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. Woods is pictured here running in an event during the ESU High School Relays meet on March 28 at Emporia State University.

TOPEKA — Lawrence High’s LaKeyshia Woods, Tyler Dye, and Truth Pope starred for the Lions during the Washburn Rural-hosted Beardslee Invitational on Thursday.

Woods, a returning state qualifier, bolted to a first-place finish in the girls’ 200-meter dash, while also finishing fourth in the 400-meter dash.

Despite the impressive showing, Woods said she’s not quite in midseason form. She clocked a time of 1:02.26 in the 400 meter on Thursday, putting her 2.5 seconds off her sub-one mark at the state meet.

“It’s kind of humbling going from state to the first meet of the season, and so I have a lot of work to do,” Woods said, adding that her top objective is a podium finish at state in the 400.

Dye, a University of Creighton commit who notched a third-place finish at state in the javelin throw last year, dominated the competition with a throw that surpassed 186 feet. The throw topped his showing at the state meet by slightly less than a foot.

Fifth-year Lawrence coach Audrey Pope-Trowbridge predicted that Dye will break the school record en route to another podium finish at state. Dye would need to eclipse 202 feet to notch a new school record.

Matt Schwartz/Contributed Photo

Lawrence High’s Truth Pope jumps into the air for one of his attempts in the long jump event during the Coach Beardslee Invite on April 2 at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.

 Lawrence sophomore Truth Pope dazzled, placing first in the long jump. Pope jump-started the boys 4×400-meter relay team en route to another first-place finish. Pope-Trowbridge said she has lofty expectations for her son this season, but is “also a realist.”

And those expectations extend to the boys’ squad in general, as they return several impact athletes, including: Oliver Schwartz, the school’s record-holder in the steeplechase; high jumpers Kenyon Doleman and Adrick Webb, sprint specialist Ethan Curry; shot putters Joey Dooley and Devin Foster; and pole vaulter Aeden Chee.

Chee placed second in the pole vault, while Joseph Lucas leapt to a first-place finish in the triple jump. Schwartz, meanwhile, finished off the final leg of the team’s first-place showing in the 4×400-meter relay. Schwartz, who placed in the state in cross country last fall, said that he views track training as more challenging than distance running.

“Training for track is definitely a lot more speedwork and turnover,” he said.

Lawrence junior Nick Palmer also posted a strong showing with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash.

“I’ve been paying attention to detail and working on my finishes,” Palmer said.

Matt Schwartz/Contributed Photo

Lawrence High’s Nick Palmer earned a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash during the Coach Beardslee Invite on April 2 at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. Palmer is pictured here running in a relay event.

Already thin on numbers on the girls’ side, Lawrence boasts quite a few dual-sport athletes. For many of those individuals, their role on the softball and girls soccer teams often takes precedent over their participation in track and field.

Pope-Trowbridge said that those conflicts pose a challenge for her squads, but that she fully supports students that compete in multiple sports.

“I want everybody to do everything they can for Lawrence High,” she said. “The kids who can do it make it work, and we do everything we can to make it happen for them.

“They contribute to Lawrence High across the board, so it’s awesome.”

Matt Schwartz/Contributed Photo

Lawrence High’s Oliver Schwartz anchored the Lions’ 4×400-meter relay team in a gold medal performance and led off the 4×800-meter relay in a second-place finish during the Coach Beardslee Invite on April 2 at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.

Lawrence High top finishers

Boys 4×800-meter Relay
Oliver Schwartz, Connor Popp, Riley Swart, Garrett Rhea, second place, 8:47.43

Boys 100-meter Hurdles
Murphy Nowak, seventh place, 17.20

Girls 100 meter
Lakeyshia Woods, sixth place, 13.19

Girls 1600 meter
Andie Garrett, fourth place, 5:25.48

Girls 400 meter
LaKeyshia Woods, fourth place, 1:02.26

Boys 400 meter
Nick Palmer, second place, 52.43

Boys 300-meter hurdles
Murphy Nowak, sixth place, 43:59

Girls 200 meter
LaKeyshia Woods, first place, 26.75
Honesty Jackson, sixth place, 29.17

Boys 200 meter
Truth Pope, sixth place, 23.73

Boys 4×400-meter relay
Truth Pope, Trey Downing, Connor Popp, Oliver Schwartz, first place, 3:28.71

Boys high jump
Kenyon Doleman, fifth place, 5 feet, 10 inches
Adrick Webb, sixth place, 5 feet, 10 inches

Javelin throw
Tyler Dye, first place, 186 feet, 3 inches

Boys long jump
Truth Pope, first place, 20 feet, 11 inches
Joseph Lucas third place, 20 feet, six inches
Michael Akinniyi, fifth place, 20 feet, 1 inch

Boys pole vault
Aeden Chee, second place, 12 feet

Girls pole vault
Chloe Griffith, fifth place, 8 feet

Boys triple jump
Joseph Lucas, first place, 43 feet, 8.5 inches
Braden Masenthin, third place, 39 feet, 7 inches
Truth Pope, sixth place, 38 feet, 7 inches