Bronchos Have Several Top Performances at Wichita State
Wichita, KS - Bethany's track teams headed north this past week for the Shocker Pre-State Track Invitational hosted by Wichita State University at historic Cessna Stadium. Bethany has been sending its teams to this meet for over eight years and this year was the most successful trip during that time period as the Bronchos brought home three gold medals and five silver medals in what is one of the premier track and field meets in this part of the country.
In Thursday action Bethany's Lawson Stout, Jordan Flinton, and Sylvia Lambert competed in the Pentathalon multi-event competition which consists of the 100/110 Hurdles, High Jump, Long Jump and Shot Put. The girls event rounds out with the 800 Meter Run while the boys event finishes with the 1,500 Meter Run. The weather was the top factor during the meet on Thursday as the high was just 47 degrees and over 20 mph winds making good times, jumps, and throws hard to come by. Stout finished with 2,147 points overall and in 10th place while Flinton finished in 12th place with 2,017 points. Lambert finished in 6th place overall in the girls competition with 2,095 points. Also, after the sun went down on Thursday evening the distance carnival was held in cold, 38 degree weather. Despite the cold Bethany's Jeremiah Martinez ran a great race to finish in 7th place overall in the 1600 meter run. Later in the evening after the temperature dropped to a near freezing mark Daniel Birchell competed in the 3200 Meter Run for Bethany finishing in 9th place overall.
The temperature wasn't much better Friday morning making great times tough to come by, but Bethany still brought home more medals and high finishes than they ever had in their history of attending this meet. Bethany's Caitlyn Vogel led the way in the field events as she had a runner up finish in the Large School Girls Discus Throw as she had a season's best throw of 113 feet, 6 inches, which is the fifth best Class 4A mark in Oklahoma this year.
In the running events the Bronchos got off to a hot start with a gold medal finish in the Large School Boys 3200 Meter Relay as David Miller, Daniel Birchell, Jeremiah Martinez, and Blake Balenseifen combined for the victory. Despite the extreme cold temperatures the Bronchos were only two seconds away from the relay's season best time. Carissa Burns also continued running well, as she has of late, finishing in 4th place overall in the Large School 100 Meter Dash and 5th place overall in the Large School 200 Meter Dash. The Bronchos got another great relay finish in the 400 Meter Relay as Jackson Howard, Scott Lynch, Hunter Reimers, and Jalen Beaver combined for a 2nd place, silver medal finish.
Reimers, after the nice run on the the relay, came back a little while later with a huge gold medal finish in the Large School 400 Meter Dash where he impressively ran a season's best time of 52.27 despite the cold temperatures that didn't allow for many great times in this meet. Bethany also had a strong finish in the Large School Girls 400 Meter Dash as Kaylen King finished in 2nd place overall. That wasn't all for King though as she returned in the Large School 800 Meter Run later in the day and took away the gold medal in a time of 2:28.39. King currently has the fourth best Class 4A time in Oklahoma this year in the 400 Dash and 800 Run. Sylvia Lambert also came back after a long Thursday of the Pentathalon and ran a fantastic race in the Large School 300 Meter Hurdles to finish in 2nd place overall. Her time of 48.93 was also a season's best mark, despite the cold, and that is the fourth best Class 4A time in Oklahoma this year. In one of the final events of the day the Bronchos continued to shine as King, Lambert, Abigail Parent, and Kelsey Knox combined to finish in 2nd place overall in the Large School Girls 1600 Meter Relay.
This meet also boasts an "Elite" division in many events which includes runners with some of the top times from several surrounding states and from all size classifications. Bethany's boys 1600 Meter Relay team of Lynch, Howard, Reimers, and Beaver finished in 7th place in this highly contested race with some of the top mile relay teams in the region. Lynch and Beaver also competed in the Elite Boys 200 Meter Dash.
The Bronchos will round out their regular season at the Canadian Valley Conference Championships on Tuesday, April 16 at which will be held at Wacker Park Sports Stadium in Pauls Valley.