Wabaunsee track and field earns 3 golds, finishes 3rd

After winning its regional in dominant fashion, WHS entered the weekend with high expectations, but the first two events of the day weren’t encouraging.

The 4X100 team of seniors Sophia Castillo, Sienna Jones, Alexus Ford and freshman Talen Orton finished 10th in prelims after running 52:33, narrowly missing finals, but lane violations by Garden Plain and Oxford boosted the team into Saturday’s final.

A few minutes later, the Chargers had two competing in the 400 prelims. Alexus Ford made finals with an 8th place finish, but freshman Grace Zeller, regional champion in the event, false started.

“I was really really nervous,” Zeller said. “I wanted to place in every event. I was mad about my false start in the first race, but it pushed me to compete harder the rest of the meet.”

The team’s fortunes turned around in the field events. Senior Sienna Jones earned medals in both the long jump (4th, 15’10.25”) and triple jump (5th, 34’7”). Jones, a K-State rowing commit, finished 8th in triple jump in 2022, but missed the podium last season after a disappointing performance. “I was frustrated last year, but this time I jumped as well as I had all season. I thought I would have a shot at placing in both, but I definitely outperformed my expectations,” Jones said.

The Wabaunsee 4X400 team finished Friday’s prelims in spectacular fashion, setting a new 2A state meet record with a time of 4:00.81. The team of Talen Orton, Grace Zeller, Alexus Ford and Payton Wurtz had only lost the race once this season, nearly two months ago at the Shocker Pre-State Challenge on the same track. They improved their time in six straight meets before beating the meet record set by Maranatha in 2015 by more than a second.

“It has been the goal of the whole team since we came down to Wichita six weeks ago,” head coach Roger Alderman said.

On Saturday morning, the Chargers earned gold on the track for the first time in school history. The 4X800 team of freshmen Grace Zeller and Adalynn Miller and juniors Isabelle Stuhlsatz and Payton Wurtz ran 9:56.14, nearly 10 seconds better than their previous best, and 12 seconds faster than 2nd place Sacred Heart.

While WHS has recent golds in long jump, triple jump and high jump, it hadn’t found gold on the track. The girls’ only school relay medal was a 6th place finish in the 4X400 in 2016.

The race wasn’t without drama. Wurtz entered the final leg down by more than 30 meters, before pushing into first place late in her first lap.

Wurtz’s finish earned her ninth state track medal, but her first gold. She placed 2nd in seven of her previous state races, as well as two state cross country meets. Finally reaching the top of the podium set the tone for the rest of the day.

“Early this season, everything was hit or miss. I struggled with my mindset and I didn’t really trust myself to run my own race. Something clicked at pre-state and I tried not to look back on anything that happened,” Wurtz said.

Wurtz extended her record as the top scorer in program history, but said finishing first hit different. “It was the breakthrough moment that I needed.”

Wurtz continued her success throughout the day. After a 4th place finish in the 1600, Wurtz earned an individual gold in the 800, followed by her teammate Zeller in 3rd. The 16 team points in the event put the Chargers back in striking distance of the state title.

In other events, the 4X100 ran a season-best 51:92 to finish 7th, and Alexus Ford finished 8th in the 400.

WHS entered the final event of the day, the 4X400 finals, with a chance at placing in the top three, as Ellis had already finished a point out of reach. Inman sat in second place, also competing in the 4X400.

The Chargers, facing building winds and fatigue from the day, weren’t able to match their record-setting pace from the previous evening, but their 4:03.43 was sufficient to win by more than six seconds. Inman finished second in the race, securing its state championship.

The Chargers earned a team trophy for only the second time in history, following a 2nd place finish in 2022. Inman finished with 56 points, Ellis 54 and WHS 53.

“We continued to battle all through the meet to close ground on the leaders and work our way into 3rd place,” Alderman said. “Only three points off 1st, just like in 2022.”

Alderman, who has coached Wabaunsee track and cross country for nearly 20 seasons, hopes the recent success is a building block for the future. “We’ll keep working to push through that last barrier.”

Wabaunsee girls’ results

200 meters — 14. Orton 27.24.

400 meters — 8. Ford 1:02.55.

800 meters — 1. Wurtz 2:16.16; 3. Zeller 2:18.44.

1600 meters — 4. Wurtz 5:25.80.

300 hurdles — 16. Stuhlsatz 52.32.

4x100 relay — 7. Wabaunsee 51.92.

4x400 relay — 1. Wabaunsee 4:03.43.

4x800 relay — 1. Wabaunsee 9:56.14.

High jump — 13. Ford 4 feet, 6 inches.

Long jump — 4. Jones 15 feet, 10.25 inches.

Triple Jump — 5. Jones 34 feet, 7 inches; 13. Orton 32 feet, 4.25 inches.