Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton’s Emmy Reed jumps over a hurdle in a race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
PERRY — With temperatures reaching around 87 degrees and the wind whipping, Perry-Lecompton’s track and field teams notched an array of impressive performances at Tuesday’s home invitational.
Perry-Lecompton secured a runner-up finish in the 12-team girls’ field, while the Kaw boys placed sixth of 13 schools.
“I love how hard our kids work, and how they just come out and compete,” Perry-Lecompton coach Mike Paramore said.
Sophomore Emmy Reed collected gold medal finishes in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. In the 100-meter hurdles, Reed edged out Silver Lake’s Karys Deiter in a photo finish.
“It was a PR for me, and it was pretty good competition,” said Reed, adding that it was her first top finish in the event since middle school. “I had the wind at my back, and was like, ‘I’m just going to be fast in between the hurdles.’”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton throwers huddle up during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
In field events, senior Maggie Ross placed first in the shot put and second in the discus throw. Sophomore Peyton McCune leapt to second place in the high jump and slotted into fifth in the triple jump. The Kaws were also strong in the pole vault, with freshman Miya Williams netting a runner-up finish and senior Tilly Johnson placing fourth.
All three of Perry-Lecompton’s relay teams on the girls side finished in the top five, including a third-place finish for the 4×800-meter event. Although it was just a three-team field in that one, this squad still enjoyed the podium finish for a group without a long track record for this race. The Kaws did not even field a 4×800 team last season.
The Perry-Lecompton girls also earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.
Sophomore Sam Hutton, who ran the first leg of 4×800, said the team has dabbled with different combinations of runners through the first several events of the season.
“We’ve switched it up a lot, tying a lot of new people in different orders,” said Hutton, who also placed fifth in the 1600 meter. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton’s Addie Thorne running in the 800-meter race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
Junior Addie Thorne, competing in track for the first time, ran the third leg of the 4×800. Despite the strong showing, Thorne said the team still has plenty of room for improvement. Specifically, Thorne said the team needs to spend more time running.
“We definitely need to put a lot more effort in at practice,” she said.
Along with Hutton and Thorne, Riley Warner and Miya Williams competed in the 4×800 relay. Jayda Ellis, Tatum Calovich, Warner and Justyna Konickova competed together in the 4×100, while Reed, Calovich, Warner and Konickova competed in the 4×400.
Junior Kayden Baker paced the Perry-Lecompton boys with a gold medal finish in the 300-meter hurdles and a bronze in the 110-meter hurdles. Senior Ethan Tolbert darted to second in the 1600-meter event, while also contributing to the Kaws’ third-place showing in the 4×800-meter relay. To make continued strides, Tolbert said the sprinters need to exhibit better consistency as far as dropping time.
“It takes all of us,” Tolbert said. “You can’t just have one person have a good time.”
Senior Matthew Acord echoed those sentiments.
“We need to even out our splits a little bit more,” he said.
… “But we’re already beating our numbers from last year at these same meets.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton’s Ethan Tolbert running a leg of a relay race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
Perry-Lecompton top finishers
Boys
110 hurdles
Kayden Baker, third place, 16.06
300 hurdles
Kayden Baker, first place, 43.17
400 meter
Amos Brakenhoff, eighth place, 55.43
1600 meter
Ethan Tolbert, second place, 4:56.80
Discus throw
Trevor Conklin, fifth place, 133 feet, six inches
Pole vault
Chance Gray, fourth place, 10 feet
Shot put
Trevor Conklin, first place, 43 feet, eight inches
Josh Allensworth, fifth place, 40 feet, five inches
4×100-meter relay
Amos Brakenhoff, Matt Acord, John Norris, Malakie Laws, sixth place, 46.65
4×400-meter relay
Malakie Laws, Amos Brakenhoff, Ethan Tolbert, Matt Acord, sixth place, 3:44.13
4×800-meter relay
Malakie Laws, Ethan Tolbert, John Norris, Matt Acord, second place, 9:05.25
Girls
100 meter
Emmy Reed, 10th place, 13.53
100 hurdles
Emmy Reed, first place, 16.14
300 hurdles
Emmy Reed, first place, 48.91
400 hurdles
Riley Warner, eighth place, 1:11.66
1600 meter
Sam Hutton, fifth place, 6:31.62
3200 meter
Sam Hutton, seventh place, 14:56.10
Discus throw
Maggie Ross, second place, 108 feet, one inch
Olivia Messerschmidt, ninth place, 92 feet, 11 inches
High jump
Peyton McCune, second place, four feet, eight inches
Javelin throw
Kendall Craig, fifth place, 102 feet, four inches
Pole vault
Miya Williams, second place, six feet, six inches
Tilly Johnson, fourth place, six feet
Shot put
Maggie Ross, first place, 33 feet, 7 inches
Olivia Messerschmidt, seventh place, 29 feet, four and a half inches
Triple jump
Peyton McCune, fifth place, 31-feet, six inches
4×100-meter relay
Jayda Ellis, Tatum Calovich, Riley Warner, Justyna Konickova, fifth place, 58.60
4×400-meter relay
Emmy Reed, Tatum Calovich, Riley Warner, Justyna Konickova, fifth place, 4:43.74
4×800-meter relay
Sam Hutton, Riley Warner, Addie Thorne, Miya Williams, third place, 12:02.42
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton’s Justyna Konickova running in the 200-meter dash during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton’s Malakie Laws running a leg of relay race during the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on April 2 at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
