Baldwin boys capture 1st place at Perry-Lecompton Invitational track and field meet, girls place 4th

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Baldwin’s Jackson Rood leaps into the air during a jump event during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.

PERRY — The Baldwin boys track and field squad rack up multiple first-place finishes en route to a gold medal team finish at Tuesday’s Perry-Lecompton Invitational, while the girls also impressed with a fourth-place showing.

“We have a group that’s bought in, and that works insanely hard,” second-year Baldwin coach Thomas Broxterman said of his squads. “They do the little things. Everything from the warm-ups, to nutrition, to just competing.”

Baldwin pulled away from the rest of the field thanks to four gold-medal performances and several more top-five finishes in field events.

Senior Brendan O’Connor collected first place in the shot put with a heave of 53 feet, 10 inches. O’Connor’s mark far eclipsed his top mark from last season. He notched a throw of 53 feet, 2.25 inches at regionals, before a mark of 51 feet, 1.75 at the state meet delivered him a fifth-place finish in 4A.

But O’Connor was not quite able to match his PR set at Baldwin Invitational on April 2 at Baker University. He cleared 54 feet, 3 inches to win that event.

At that home meet, O’Connor also set his PR in the discus. His mark of 171 feet, 7 inches not only set the school record, but is also currently the top 4A mark for discus so far this season.

But O’Connor did not nearly replicate that performance out in Perry. He notched a mark of 143 feet, 9 inches as he settled for runner-up in the event.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo

Baldwin’s Andrew Bailey attempts to clear the high jump bar during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.

Senior Jackson Rood, senior David Wilson and sophomore Andrew Bailey captured gold in the long jump, triple jump and high jump, respectively.

Rood and Wilson both set PRs with their marks, while Wilson also set the school record for the triple jump. Wilson leaped 45 feet, 6 inches to win that event, as well as give him the third best mark in 4A so far this season. Rood’s mark of 21 feet, 6 inches currently puts him as the fifth best mark in 4A for the long jump.

Senior Kasey Hamrick paced the Bulldogs with a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash as the Baldwin boys fared well across the board in sprinting events. Hamrick posted a time of 50.20, setting the school record for the event. He also holds the second-best time in 4A this season.

Hamrick chalked up the team’s performance to “hard work and determination.”

“Our coaches give us hard workouts, and we don’t complain, we just do them and push each other in practice,” he said, adding that “we’ve had some great PRs early on.”

Senior Ethan Smasal bolted a runner-up finish in the 400-meter, trailing Hamrick by just over a second. Hamrick and Smasal are also members of Baldwin’s 4×100-meter relay team that placed second.

“The season has gone better than expected so far, and it’s just been exciting to see our early success,” Smasal said.
“We have new guys stepping up and filling in roles really well and doing their part.”

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo

Baldwin’s Ethan Smasal runs a leg of a relay race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.

Baldwin’s 4×100-meter relay team entered the event as the squad in Class 4A, but posted a seventh-place showing with a different combination of runners.

“Our 4-by-400 is looking great, and we’re not even near our peak,” Hamrick said.

For the Baldwin girls, junior Kami Moore posted a first-place finish in the 800-meter dash. Junior Shea Griffith placed second as Baldwin runners took four of the top five spots in the event. Senior Irelyn Kennedy placed first in the 3200-meter run, clocking a sub-12 minute time in the two-mile event.

Kennedy, the reigning Class 4A cross country champ, said she finds sprinting to be far more challenging than distance running.

“When you’re talking about cross country, it’s a lot more easy miles,” she said. “I’m not as much of a sprinter, so doing those faster-paced, but shorter distance workouts is definitely harder for me, but it’s something I love doing.”

Kennedy attributed her success to “just focusing on the little things.”

“Eating right, sleeping right, getting the recovery I need, all of those things are big for me right now,” she said. “Also, just staying focused on the goals and the purposes of what I’m out here for.”

Kennedy added that she just takes everything in stride.

“Just having fun, smiling, keeping it light-weight and non-stressful,” she said.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo

Baldwin’s Irelyn Kennedy runs in the 1600-meter race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.

The Baldwin girls entered the meet with the top 4-x-400 meter relay time in the state, posted during a recent performance at the K-State relays. But the team was idle at Tuesday’s meet.

The team, composed of all juniors, is “hungry” after a fall caused them to drop from a possible top two podium finish to near the back of the pack at the state meet last year.

“That 100 percent motivates us,” said Shea Griffith, who labeled the incident, involving a tripped-up Baldwin runner, as a “tragic” turn of events.

“We’re coming back fighting and want it more than ever,” she said. “And the fact that we’re all friends and have a great connection is part of our success.”

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo

Baldwin’s Shea Griffith smiles after setting the school record in the 2000-meter steeplechase event during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.

Baldwin top finishers

Boys

100 meter
Jordan Wilson, fifth place, 11.42

110 hurdles
David Wilson, second place, 15.99

200 meter
Jackson Rood, third place, 23.04

400 meter
Kasey Hamrick, first place, 50.20
Ethan Smasal, second place, 51.38

800 meter
Wrigley Hamrick, second place, 2:09.81
Tucker Flory, third place, 2:13.93

1600 meter
Landon Whaley, third place, 4:57.63

Discus throw
Brendan O’ Connor, fourth place, 143 feet, 9 inches

High jump
Andrew Bailey, first place, 6 feet

Javelin throw
Sam Taylor, fifth place, 129 feet, 10 inches
Donald Schonberg, seventh place, 125 feet, 10 inches

Long jump
Jackson Rood, first place, 21 feet, six inches
Jordan Wilson, fourth place, 21 feet
Andrew Bailey, sixth place, 20 feet, three inches

Pole vault
Donald Schonberg, eighth-place, eight feet, six inches

Shot put
Brendan O’ Connor, first place, 53 feet, 10 inches
Ridge Kellerman, ninth place, 38 feet, six inches

Triple jump
David Wilson, first place, 45 feet, 6 inches

4×100-meter relay
Jordan Wilson, Kasey Hamrick, Jackson Rood, Ethan Smasal, second place, 44.29

4×400-meter relay
Tucker Flory, Wrigley Hamrick, Landon Whaley, Sam Taylor, seventh place, 3:44.84

Girls

100 meter
Emma Nigh, sixth place, 13.01
Cheyenne Brunker, seventh place, 13.09

100 hurdles
Ivy Holloman, fourth place, 17:26
Tucker Flory, third place, 2:13.93

200 meter
Cheyenne Brunker, fourth place, 27:07
Emma Nigh, fifth place, 27.09

300 hurdles
Ivy Holloman, fourth place, 52.76
Maleka Flory, 10th place, 59.64

800 meter
Kami Moore, first place, 2:17.24
Shea Griffith, second place, 2:18.00
Irelyn Kennedy, fourth place, 2:20.88 Rachel Watkins, fifth place, 2.32.85

3200 meter
Irelyn Kennedy, first place, 11.50:54
Rachel Watkins, third place, 13:01.54

Discus throw
Hadley Hobbs, fifth place, 103 feet, 9 inches
Taylor Bench, seventh place, 96 feet, 10 inches

Javelin throw
Cheyenne Brunker, eighth place, 97 feet, six inches