Knopp, Mann win state titles

WICHITA, Kan. -- Two area schools have produced Kansas state champions on the first day of the Kansas State Track and Field Championships here Friday.

Fort Scott junior Griffin Knopp won the Class 4A high jump as he was able to clear 6 feet, 6 inches. Four others had a shot to tie Knopp but couldn't clear that height themselves. Jesse Bahner of Carbondale-Santa Fe Trail was awarded second place at 6' 4" after he and three others tied at that height.

Knopp also took seventh place in triple jump with a mark of 41' 4 1/2". Trevor Miller of Hoyt-Royal Valley won the event at 44' 3". The top seven finishers in each event earn medals at state.

This gives Knopp three state medals as he took fifth in high jump last year.

Jayhawk-Linn senior Steven Mann won Class 2A long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 3 3/4 inches, which he attained on his fourth attempt. He fouled on four of his six attempts but the closest anyone else got was 21' 7 3/4" by Mark Riordan of Salina Sacred Heart.

Mann has earned four state medals in this event and a total of nine in his four years of high school. He'll look to add to that total today in three events: Triple jump, the 100-meter dash and the 4x100 meter relay. Mann has earned three triple jump medals previously, finishing third last year and also has picked up two relay medals. He has not qualified for state in an individual track event prior to this year.

Mann's accomplishment is enough to have Jayhawk-Linn in a four-way tie for second place with Atwood, Stanton County and Washington County in Class 2A, all with 10 point each while Salina Sacred Heart leads with 16. Since there are many Jayhawks qualified in running finals and another field event today, the Jayhawks have a chance to finish in the top five. Jayhawk-Linn's girls haven't scored a point yet but have enough runners in finals along with three events that it's possible for them to finish in the top 10.

In other finals held Friday:

* Fort Scott's Colt Bartlett finished 14th in Class 4A boys' shot put with a mark of 44' 3 3/4". Luke Wilson of Paola was the winner at 57' 6 1/4" and teammate Garrett Appier was second at 56' 11".

* Jayhawk-Linn's Meriel Long finished eighth in Class 2A girls' high jump, clearing 4' 10". She missed out on a medal on tie-breakers as six competitors matched that height. Kaitlyn Davis of Hill City won a tie-breaker for first place at 5' 2".

* Jayhawk-Linn's Amory Miller was third in Class 2A girls' javelin after her flight. But each of the eight throwers in the second flight surpassed her and she had to settle for 11th with her effort of 109' 5". Arielle Floyd of Eskridge-Mission Valley was the winner at 132' 7".

* Uniontown's Trenton Miller finished 14th in Class 2A boys' discus with a mark of 123' 7". Brandon Koenigsman of Hutchinson Trinity was state champ at 149' 4".

* Pleasanton's Skyler Martin had a mark of 105' 3" to finish 14th in Class 2A boys' discus. Johnathan Miller of Tribune was the winner at 167' 1".

* Pleasanton's Tyler Myrick finished 15th in Class 1A boys' high jump at 5' 8". Spencer Amerin of Ashland won it at 6' 6".

* Jayhawk-Linn's Trevor LaPorte was unable to clear a height in Class 2A boys' pole vault. Kevin Wolfers of Atwood was the winner, clearing 13 feet.

Fort Scott does not have any running entries this season and the Tigers' only competitor remaining is Mallory Shelton, who competes in Class 4A girls' high jump first thing this morning.

As for the other schools, the following have advanced to today's finals:

* Uniontown's Abbie Smith had the best time in Class 2A girls' 100-meter preliminaries at 15.81 seconds while Jayhawk-Linn's Morgan Eastwood had the third-best time of 16.10. In between was Oakley's Dayna Kuhlmam at 15.85. Eastwood has also advanced to the 300-meter hurdles finals with the fifth-best preliminary time of 48.19. Freshman Brianna Blackwell of Herington was best at 46.50.

* Jayhawk-Linn's Briar Snyder had the best time in both 3A boys' hurdles races. He won Class 3A in the 110's last year and is the leader after prelims with a time of 15.49. Herington's Tyler Barber was second at 15.55. Barber -- who was second to Snyder in both events at last weekend's Regional Meet -- turned in the fastest 300 time of 40.08 while Snyder won his heat in 40.82.

* Pleasanton's Lindsey Conn will be the only Blu-Jay runner today as she claimed the eighth and final spot for today's Class 1A girls' 400-meter finals with a time of 1:02.87. Hallie Kuhlman of Sharon Springs had the best time of 51.81.

* Jayhawk-Linn's boys' 4x100 relay team with Mann, Bryce Northcutt, Dylan Thyer and Snyder advanced to finals with the fourth-best time of 44.02. Osborne was fastest at 43.75 with Colgan at 43.83.

* The Jayhawk girls' 4x400 relay of Eastwood, Chelsea Beckman, Long and Taylor Dawson qualified fourth in 4:16.67. Bennington had the top time of 4:10.50 with Oakley next in 4:13.51. The 4x100 relay team with Beckman, Eastwood, Shelby Krull and Dawson had the fifth-best qualifying time of 52.37 with Spearville turning in the best time of 51.99 and Washington County coming in at 52.03.

* Thyer grabbed the last spot in the Class 2A boys' 400-meter finals with a time of 52.18. Colgan's Austin Riggs has the best time of 48.489 going into today's final and was the only one who turned in a time under 50 seconds in the prelims.

These runners were unable to advance:

* Thyer in Class 2A boys' 200 meters. He finished his heat in eighth at 23.85 and was 13th overall. The best eight times advanced to finals.

* Beckman in Class 2A girls' 200 meters. She was seventh in her heat and 15th overall with a time of 28.14.

* Pleasanton's 4x100 boys' relay finished 14th overall in 47.77 seconds while the girls were 15th in 54.10.

In addition to the running event finalists listed above, these events will also take place today:

* Mann will run in Class 2A boys' 100-meter prelims this morning. If he qualifies, the finals will take place around 12:45 p.m.

* Smith has an excellent chance of winning 2A girls' long jump, which will take place at 3 p.m. Also, Jacy Ermel competes in girls' discus and shot put for Uniontown, Ben Dixon in boys' long jump and Trenton Miller in boys' discus.

* Jayhawk-Linn will have Shelby Krull in girls' pole vault, Mann in boys' triple jump, Beckman in girls' discus, Emily Aikins in girls' long jump, Long in the 1,600 meters and Dawson in the 800 meters.

* Pleasanton will have Hannah Streeter in girls' high jump and Mason Coffman in boys' pole vault.

Real-time results are posted at www.kshsaa.org/TRACK/track.html. Follow the "2009-2010 State Site Information" link to the results.