2011 State Track Multi-Champs

June 24, 2011

By Tom Witherspoon of VYPE MAGAZINE - Central Kansas


Evan Landes, SR, Mulvane

2X CHAMPION

1,600 & 3,200

Landes backed up his Class 4A state cross country title from the fall by improving on his 2010 second-place 3,200-meter time at state track by more than 10 seconds in 2011. To go with his winning 3,200 time of 9:28.11, which was 19 and half seconds faster than second place, Landes also won the 1,600-meter after placing fourth in 2010. With his 1,600 time of 4:24.04, Landes kicked past Andale senior Thad Martin, winning by .23 seconds.
 

5A Distance

David Thor, JR, Carroll

2X CHAMPION

1,600 & 3,200

Thor built on his Class 5A state cross country title with his first titles at state track. Thor entered the 2011 track season with a pedigree in the 1,600-meter, having placed third in the 2010 state final, and was an obvious contender in the 3,200-meter after winning state cross country, even though he had not raced in the 2010 state final. Though his 3,200 time (9:37.85) did not match Landes, his 1,600 time of 4:21.65 was second-fastest at state.
 

1A Hurdler

Blake Wilkey, JR, South Haven

3X CHAMPION

110 & 300 Hurdles, Long Jump

Wilkey became South Haven's first boys state track individual champion since Paul Mattingly won the Class B mile in 1965. Wilkey ended the 46-year drought with three individual state titles, sweeping the hurdles with times of 14.75 seconds and 39.55. Only the Class 6A champion, senior Seth Kotzman of Shawnee Mission Northwest (14.49), ran faster than Wilkey in the 110-meter hurdles, and his 300 time was third-fastest of the classifications.
 

3A Thrower

Sione Siale, SR, Chaparral

4X CHAMPION

Shot Put, Javelin

Siale won two of the three throwing events in the Class 3A state track meet for the second consecutive season with a shot put of 56-3.5 inches and javelin throw of 181-9. After placing third in the discus throw in 2010, he placed fourth this year. Siale surpassed his 2010 put by more than a foot and his javelin throw by nearly five feet. Only three boys throwers have won the "triple crown" - shot put, javelin and discus - in the history of the state track meet.
 

1A Jumper

Ashley Shearer, SR, Cunningham

7X CHAMPION

Triple Jump, High Jump

A year after becoming the first girl since 2002 in any classification to sweep the jumps, Shearer nearly defended all three of her titles but fouled on every one of her Friday attempts in the long jump. She came back Saturday to repeat her championships in the triple jump (37-9.25) and high jump (5-6), in addition to placing third in the 100-meter dash. Shearer also won the Class 1A triple jump in 2008 and 2009, winning at least one championship each year in high school.
 

4A Thrower

Cassie Caswell, JR, Nickerson

2X CHAMPION

Shot Put, Discus

Caswell is the first Nickerson girl to win multiple championships in one state track meet. Krista Harmon of Nickerson nearly accomplished the feat in 2002, winning the Class 4A 400-meter dash and placing second in the 200-meter. While Harmon was a two-time champ, also winning the 400-meter in 2000, Caswell's championships in the Class 4A shot put (42-2) and discus (129-3) in the same state meet place her in a unique category.


3A Sprinter

Imani Fenner, SR, Independent

5X CHAMPION

100, 200, 4x100

Fenner's performance in the sprints helped Independent to a third-place team finish. In repeating as the Class 3A champion in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter in concecutive seasons, Fenner improved her 200 time by three-tenths of a second (25.65). Fenner ran on Independent's championship 4x100-meter relay team (51.02) with Danielle Allen, Lizzie Kohl and Tina Liu, who repeated as Class 3A champion in the triple jump.