Sabetha High School played host to four Big Seven League teams on Tuesday, April 25. Visiting schools included Perry-Lecompton, Riverside and Royal Valley. With just four teams competing, the pace was fast and furious and in the end, the Jays topped all of the guest schools to win in the boys’ and girls’ team categories at the end of the day.

“The weather was great and our kids performed well, still recording season and career bests,” said Head Coach Dave Remmers. “We are still learning what it takes to prepare for competition, focusing on our techniques and doing a better job warming up for events. We are still on target to try and reach our peak performance level for the League, Regional and State meets.”

Girls

In the field events, freshman Krysta Menold brought home a gold in the long jump, and fellow freshman Olivia Baumgartner finished first in the pole vault event. Another freshman medalist was Finley Hann, who earned a bronze in the triple jump.

In the throwing events, senior Halle Scoby grabbed gold in the discus and shot put events, with junior Mya Grimes placing third in the discus. Grimes also took first in the javelin, with her sophomore teammate Laura Goodman taking the silver in the event.

“I feel really good about how I did at the meet yesterday,” Grimes said. “I got a personal record in the javelin and discus. The weather at the meet was great and the wind was at a perfect speed.”

When asked what the biggest challenge was for her at the meet, Grimes said, “I think the most challenging part for me was staying focused. It was a smaller meet so I had to really dial in on making sure my technique was where it needed to be.”

Grimes said that she was most pleased with setting her new personal bests in her two field events.

“I hope to continue to improve on the distance of my throws and technique over the course of the season,” Grimes said. As to her ultimate goals for the season, she said, “I want to get better, and that doesn’t have to be going to state, just in general getting better. Learning how to be a better teammate, being appreciative of my coaches and all the work that they have put in, and enjoying being with my friends.”

In the sprint races for the Lady Jays, junior Bayley Wasinger earned the gold in the 100-meter race, and freshman teammate Samantha Schultejans finished fifth to earn points for the her team. In the 200-meter run, Wasinger took second, Schultejans took third and freshman Isabelle Scoby finished sixth. Baumgartner took the gold in the 400-meter event.

Senior Mary Lukert took top billing in the 800-meter, eclipsing her nearest competition by more than 20 seconds. Lukert also scored a gold in the 1600-meter run, with sophomores Laura Metzger finishing second and Lauren Bowles finishing third. Metzger and Bowles took first and second, respectively, in the 3200-meter run.

The relay team of Whittaker, Wasinger, K. Menold and Schultejans finished second in the 4×100-meters, and Whittaker, Wasinger, Lukert and Menold brought home the gold in the 4×400-meter relay race.

Boys

Junior Joshua Grimm and sophomore Luke Renyer continue to rise to the top of the podium in the shot and discus events for the Bluejays. Grimm scored golds in the these two events, with Renyer who taking second. Freshman Crayton Lanter finished fifth in the shot to help contribute to his team’s success. Senior Davis Rokey earned a gold in the javelin, with fellow seniors Abe Wehner taking second and Preston Michael finishing third.

Senior Nohl Niehues finished first in the pole vault and first in the triple jump. Wehner finished with a silver the high jump event and Rokey took fourth in the triple jump.

Freshman Josh Enneking finished first and junior Nate Menold took second in the 400-meter race. Freshman Charlie Lukert and sophomore Brody Deters pushed each other in the mid- and long-distance races, with Lukert edging out Deters by less than two seconds in the 800-meter race, both finishing first and second, respectively, and by just six-tenths of a second in the 1600-meter. Lukert finished first in the mile, with Deters being a very close second. Junior Kalvin Evans finished third in the 1600-meter and took the gold in the 3200-meter run.

“I was happy with my performance yesterday,” said junior harrier Kalvin Evans. “The weather was perfect for a track meet, and there was almost no wind. I was pleased that I was able to get first in the two-mile with a decent time. There were only four runners, two boys and two girls, but I competed against myself to do my best and was proud of the result.”

When asked about the challenges of the day, Evans said, “It went by really fast, and there wasn’t much time to rest in between running events.”

In reference to the remainder of the track season, Evans said, “I just hope to keep working hard to bring down my times below where they were last season. My season goal is to get to state in the two-mile.”

Freshman Cole Menold continues to earn points in the hurdles, and he grabbed the bronze in the 100-meter and silver in the 300-meter races.

The team of Enneking, N. Menold, Rokey and C. Menold finished first in the 4×100-meter relay event, and Enneking, N. Menold, Deters and Lukert finished second in the 4×400-meter race.

“We had a good home meet that was run off extremely well by all of our workers, from the field events to the track events to the processing of results in the press box,” Coach Remmers said. “We can’t run off a good meet without good help, so I wanted to make sure all our workers were recognized for their contributions.”