Knopp claims SEK high jump crown

IOLA -- Fort Scott High junior Griffin Knopp won the Southeast Kansas League title in high jump at the 81st edition of the Southeast Kansas League Relays here Friday.

Knopp cleared 6 feet, 6 inches to win the first of three medals he would claim for the day. He was the only competitor to get over six feet as runner-up Tray Hodges of Chanute was able to make only 5' 10".

Knopp was also second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.42. Matt Weil of Labette County was the winner in 40.99.

Knopp finished fourth in triple jump as he cleared 43' 0 1/4". Pittsburg took the top three spots in that event. Keenan Soles was first at 46' 6 3/4". Marcus Striplin was second at 43' 10 1/2". Mason Stewart took third at 43' 5 3/4".

Colt Bartlett claimed two second-place medals. He had a best effort of 46' 7 1/4" in shot put and 120' 2" in discus. Iola's Darin Hutton won both events, going 47' 10 1/4" in shot and 128' 7" in javelin.

Brady Fink won three medals. He was third in high jump at 5' 8", fifth in triple jump at 39' 4" and sixth in the 400 meters in 54.64 seconds.

Tiger boys were fifth in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:45.10. Jason Thorpe, Knopp, Michah Eisenbrandt and Fink were listed as the runners.

The girls' highest finishes were a pair of thirds by Megan McDermed. She went 98' 6" in discus and 110' 6" in javelin. McDermed also had a fifth-place mark of 31' 3" in shot put.

Katrina Yakel took fourth in the 100 meters in 14.04 seconds.

Paige Denton won two medals. She was fifth in the 1,600 in 5:59.34 and sixth in the 3,200 in 13:28.60.

Mallory Shelton claimed a pair of fifths. She cleared 4' 6" in high jump and 32' 3 3/4" in triple jump.

Marliss Allen finished sixth in javelin at 99 feet event. She was also on the sixth-place 4x400 relay team with Shelton, Yakel and Caitlin Shorter which ran a 4:41.71.

One league record was broken here. Cody Catterson of Chanute went 189' 3" with the new-standard javelin that was put in place a few years ago. That broke the mark of 177' 10" that had been set by Fort Scott's Grant Hartman in 2008.

Pittsburg swept the team titles as each side scored the third-most points in league history.

The boys scored 172 points as the Purple Dragons won for the third consecutive season and fourth time in the last five years. This run of titles is the longest since Fort Scott's five-year run from 2001-05.

Iola finished second with 118 points followed by Chanute with 98 and Fort Scott with 50.

Pittsburg has won 17 SEK Relays championships since the league first started running them in 1928. Only Coffeyville, with 20, has won more.

Pittsburg's point total is behind only the 202 scored by Iola in claiming the 1977 crown, the 184 points the Dragons scored last year and a 176-point outing by Fort Scott in 2001.

Pittsburg's girls scored 152 points while Chanute claimed second with 111 1/2 and Iola third with 100. Fort Scott tied for sixth with Parsons with 27 points.

This was Pittsburg's second title in the last four years. The Purple Dragons won the SEK in 2007 while Chanute had won the last two titles. It's their sixth all-time, tying for second with Fort Scott and Labette County. Iola's girls have won eight titles.

The Dragons point total ranks behind with 1996 and 1997 Fort Scott teams. The Tigers had 209 points in 1996 and 184 points in 2007.

This is also just the seventh time a school has swept the team titles since the girls began competing in 1974. Chanute swept in 1975 and Iola in 1977. The next four times it happened -- 1996, 1997, 2003 and 2005 -- Fort Scott did it.

The Tigers will return to Riverside Stadium Friday for the Class 4A Regional Meet. All the SEK teams, except Pittsburg, will also return. They will be joined by Anderson County, Girard, Prairie View, Louisburg, Osawatomie, Ottawa, Paola and Spring Hill.

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All league champions are shown. Fort Scott athletes are shown in events in which they medaled, regardless of school.

GIRLS

Team scores

1. Pittsburg (PT) 152, 2. Chanute (CH) 111 1/2, 3. Iola (IO) 100, 4. Labette County (LC) 86 1/2, 5. Coffeyville (CF) 44, 6 (tie). Fort Scott (FS) and Independence (IN) 27, 8. Parsons (PA) 6, 9. Columbus 0.

Event results

100-meter dash: 1. Lauren Thompson, CF, 13.22; 4. Katrina Yakel, FS, 14.04.

200-meter dash: 1. Thompson, CF, 27.56.

400-meter dash: 1. Thompson, CF, 1:01.50.

800-meter run: 1. Kristina Willis, PT, 2:25.37.

1,600-meter run: 1. Page Miller, PT, 5:34.24; 5. Paige Denton, FS, 5:59.34

3,200-meter run: 1. Miller, PT, 12:42.96; 6. Denton, FS, 13:28.60.

110-meter hurdles: 1. Morgan Workman, LC, 16.90.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Lauren Ouderkirk, PT, 48.67.

4x100-meter relay: 1. Iola, 51.44.

4x400-meter relay: 1. Pittsburg, 4:10.13; 6. Fort Scott, 4:41.71.

4x800-meter relay: 1. Pittsburg, 10:20.28.

High jump: 1. Darian Rubow, CH, 5' 0"; 5. Mallory Shelton, FS, 4' 6".

Long jump: 1. Ouderkirk, PT, 16' 7".

Triple jump: 1. McKenzie Spresser, PT, 34' 4 1/2"; 5. Shelton, FS, 32' 3 3/4".

Pole vault: 1. Maggie Wilson, IO, 10' 6".

Discus: 1. Aly Aylward, CH, 120' 4"; 3. Megan McDermed, FS, 98' 6".

Javelin: 1. Kristin McGuffin, IO, 116' 2"; 3. McDermed, FS, 110' 6"; 6. Marliss Allen, FS, 99' 0".

Shot put: 1. LaToya Johnson, CF, 36' 2 3/4"; 5. McDermed, FS, 31' 3".

BOYS

Team scores

1. Pittsburg 172, 2. Iola 118, 3. Chanute 98, 4. Fort Scott 50, 5. Labette County 45, 6. Coffeyville 30, 7. Independence 27, 8. Parsons 10, 9. Columbus 0.

Event results

100-meter dash: 1. Keenan Soles, PT, 11.35.

200-meter dash: 1. Soles, PT, 22.91.

400-meter dash: 1. Soles, PT, 51.66; 6. Brady Fink, FS, 54.64.

800-meter run: 1. Justin Lawrence, CH, 2:01.79.

1,600-meter run: 1. David Beckenhauer, PT, 4:44.55.

3,200-meter run: 1. Trevor Summers, CH, 10:21.75.

110-meter hurdles: 1. Ethan Fulton, IO, 15.26.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Matt Weil, LC, 40.99; 2. Griffin Knopp, FS, 42.42.

4x100-meter relay: 1. Pittsburg, 44.26.

4x400-meter relay: 1. Pittsburg, 3:32.98; 5. Fort Scott, 3:45.10.

4x800-meter relay: 1. Iola, 8:38.43.

High jump: 1. Knopp, FS, 6' 6"; 2. Tray Hodges, CH, 5' 10"; 3. Fink, FS, 5' 8".

Long jump: 1. Fulton, IO, 22' 3 1/4".

Triple jump: 1. Soles, PT, 46' 6 3/4"; 4. Knopp, FS, 43' 0 1/4"; 5. Fink, FS, 39' 4".

Pole vault: 1. Hodges, CH, 12' 6".

Discus: 1. Darin Hutton, IO, 128' 6"; 2. Colt Bartlett, FS, 120' 2".

Javelin: 1. Cody Catterson, CH, 189 3" (league record).

Shot put: 1. Hutton, IO, 47' 10 1/4"; Barltett, FS, 46' 7 1/4".