The Ashland boys' track team has lived out in front of the pack throughout the 2009 season, and the Bluejays were a cut above the competition once again Friday at the Southern Plains Iroquois Athletic Association meet.
With speed and strength throughout the roster, the 'Jays remained unbeaten with the 31-point victory over their closest competitors, the Pawnee Heights Tigers. Ahsland coach Jim Gillaspie said that his philosophy is not to worry about points or standings, and he hasn't had to all year long.
"They've bought into focusing on personal improvement," Gillaspie said. "Bobby Krahn's always been a good runner, but he's a good leader as well. And Andrew Reimer's a good leader. They realize that this is a season-long idea, and our goals have always been to make it to state and do well there."
Krahn led the Bluejays by example at the league meet, scoring individual wins in the 100- and 400-meter dashes and getting another gold medal with Ashland's 4x400-meter relay team. His 10.90 official time (originally scored 10.82 on the ground) was more than two tenths of a second faster than any of his 5A or 6A counterparts who competed in Thursday's Western Athletic Conference meet.
The senior has committed to run track next year at Emporia State University.
"I had some really tough competition my first three years," Krahn said, referring to the two years he spent in the 6A ranks at Dodge City. "It's really good to perform well, get the name out there and help the team."
Ashland's Cole Gardiner, Spencer Amerin and Giles Fox also nabbed individual SPIAA titles in the 1,600-meter run, the high jump and the discuss throw, respectively.
But on the girls' side, the race for the team title nearly came down to the proverbial wire. As the distance runners made their way around the track in the 3,200-meter run, the Minneola Wildcats were looking over their shoulders, just two points ahead of the Spearville Lancers.
The SPIAA championship came down to the final event of the night, the4x400-meter relay. Minneola ran its fastest time of 2009 by seven seconds to secure the Wildcat win.
They didn't need a first place finish, but got one anyway, as sophomore Kara Minor held off South Central's Victoria Brass down the home straightaway for the gold medal. Minor also took gold in the 100- and 200-meter dashes earlier in the day.
Spearville finished sixth in the event and 11 points behind Minneola for second place in the final team standings.
"They ran inspired," said Minneola track coach Curtis Albin. "They knew that there was something on the line there, and they came through. It was pretty awesome, and we're really proud of them."
Minneola, Ashland and more than 20 other 1A teams will be back in Dodge Friday, May 22, when the postseason begins with regional competition. Both Albin and Gillaspie were optimistic about their teams' chances to show well once more next week.
"We're starting to peak at the right time," Albin said of his team. "Some of our girls ran really well today, our throwers did really well, too. It looks good."
2009 SPIAA Track Meet Results
TEAM STANDINGS
Boys GIRLS
1. Ashland 134 Minneola 88
2. Pawnee Heights 103 Spearville 77
3. Greensburg 72 South Central 67
4. Meade 68 Pawnee Heights 56
5. Haviland 40 South Gray 50
6. Jetmore 35 Jetmore 47
7. Fowler 32 Bucklin 38
8. South Central 24 Meade 35.50
9. South Gray 23 Haviland 35
10. Bucklin 20 Greensburg 23
11. Minneola 6 Fowler 22
12. Spearville 1 Ashland 19.50
EVENT RESULTS
100-meter dash
1. Bobby Krahn ASH 10.90 Kara Minor MINN 12.50
2. Jared Harris FOWL 11.00 Morgan Edwards JET 12.90
3. Derrick Snodgrass JET 11.10 Morgan Minor MINN 13.30
200-meter dash
1. Jared Harris FOWL 24.10 Kara Minor MINN 28.10
2. Bobby Krahn ASH 24.15 Liz Stein SPEAR 29.40
3. Andrew Reimer ASH 24.30 Lexie Lundeed FOWL 29.50
400-meter dash
1. Bobby Krahn ASH 52.20 Serenity Seiler PH 1:03.30
2. Jared Harris FOWL 52.40 Jessi Lamberth FOWL 1:04.20
3. Andrew Reimer ASH 52.70 Ashley Negrete HAV 1:04.80
800-meter run
1. Tim Maresch PH 2:05.90 Kayla Thomas SG 2:31.20
2. Kaler Hazen SC 2:06.80 Serenity Seiler PH 2:32.20
3. Sam Spence PH 2:14.40 Lauren Jarnagin SC 2:33.00
1,600-meter run
1. Cole Gardiner ASH 4:55.80 Kayla Thomas SG 6:00.60
2. Peyton Wade HAV 4:56.90 Katelin Holland HAV 6:04.80
3. Ransom Gardiner ASH 4:57.80 Brena Alexander SC 6:11.80
3,200-meter run
1. Peyton Wade HAV 10:43.70 Brena Alexander SC 12:57.50
2. Ransom Gardiner ASH 10:45.30 Katelin Holland HAV 13:02.50
3. Levi DeLissa 10:52.60 Josie Sims MEADE 13:37.60
110-meter hurdles 100-meter hurdles
1. Taylor Headrick MEADE 14.70 Morgan Fulton GB 16.10
2. Mason Salmans PH 15.80 Jessie Eaton MINN 16.80
3. Andru Twiner GB 16.10 Jessi Ochs JET 17.10
300-meter hurdles
1. Taylor Headrick MEADE 42.60 Morgan Fulton GB 50.30
2. Sheldan Lee PH 43.10 Abbi Price BUCK 50.80
3. Tanner Stevens HAV 44.50 Jessie Eaton MINN 50.85
4x100-meter relay
1. Jetmore 45.40 Spearville 53.40
2. Ashland 45.50 Minneola 53.50
3. Greensburg 46.50 Bucklin 53.60
4x400-meter relay
1. Ashland 3:35.10 Minneola 4:18.20
2. Pawnee 3:41.20 S. Central 4:18.40
3. S. Central 3:42.00 Pawnee 4:22.90
4x800-meter relay
1. Pawnee 8:58.30 S. Central 10:50.00
2. S. Central 9:08.20 Bucklin 10:53.30
3. Haviland 9:14.90 Ashland 10:54.60
High Jump
1. Spencer Amerin ASH 6-04.00 Chrissy Selzer SC 5-00.00
2. Tanner Dirks SG 6-00.00 Jessi Ochs JET 4-10.00
3. Leo Vasquez BUCK 5-06.00 Emily Tenbrink SPEAR 4-10.00
Pole Vault
1. Cody Davis BUCK 13-06.00 Mikayla Skidmore SG 9-07.00
2. Bobby Smith SG 13-00.00 Taylin Doussa SPEAR 8-06.00
3. Ervin Swonger ASH 11-06.00 Melinda Davis BUCK 8-06.00
Long Jump
1. Nolan Dreiling PH 22-08.50 Morgan Edwards JET 16-09.25
2. Camron Bauer PH 20-11.00 Audrey Holderness SG 16-07.00
3. Taylor Headrick MEADE 20-09.25 Amanda Watson HAV 16-01.50
Shot Put
1. Adam Haskin GB 52-04.50 Betsy Smith PH 35-05.50
2. Nolan Dreiling PH 48-11.00 Kellen Chambers SPEAR 35-04.00
3. Billy Stensland GB 47-04.75 Jerrica Cronin SC 34-05.00
Discuss Throw
1. Giles Fox ASH 137-08 Heather Gibson SG 105-01.50
2. Adam Haskin GB 136-05 Madison Riley MINN 99-08.25
3. Billy Stensland GB 134-06 Jerrica Cronin SC 94-09.75
Javelin Throw
1. Nolan Dreiling PH 178-11 Hannah Hoffman MEADE 129-09
2. Tanner Wiens MEADE 170-08 Betsy Smith PH 124-06.50
3. Ben Fox ASH 160-07 Ashley Reimer MEADE 110-11
