By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
As Memorial Day weekend comes to a close, the state track meets from Cessna Stadium in Wichita are in the books. Dozens of local athletes from all divisions competed on the state's biggest stage, and even among the best of the best, some still managed to rise to the top.
Athletes competing from Salina South, Salina Central, Abilene, Chapman, McPherson, Southeast of Saline, Smoky Valley, Minneapolis, Beloit, Bennington, Sacred Heart, Ell-Saline, Solomon, Tescott and Lincoln found the podium 40 times and reached the top step 19 times to be crowned state champions.
From a team perspective, there was much to celebrate for four schools that finished in the top five, two of which walked away from Wichita with first place hardware.
The Southeast of Saline boys team became the first from the area to lock down a state title with 84 points on the day.
Chase Poague took victories in both the 110 and 300m hurdles and Dylan Sprecker followed suit with wins in the 800 and 1600. SES got their remaining podium points from Dominic Jackson in the 3200, Luke Gleason in the 800 and both the 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams.
While it didn’t lead to a high team finish, the Trojans also saw Jentrie Alderson take home the gold in both the 1600 and 3200 on the girls side, while sophomore Ashley Prochazka scored third in the 3200.
Team success continued in 3A as the Smoky Valley girls team became the second, and only other team state champions in the area with 85 points.
Individual gold medals were earned by Isabelle Peters in the pole vault, 100m hurdles and 200m dash and by Gracie Lambert in the 800. The team also wrapped up first place in the 4x800 and 4x400 relays.
Other Lady Vikings on the podium included Abby Rose in the 400, Breanne Peters in the pole vault, and Isabelle Peters again in the 100m dash.
While SES and Smoky Valley were the only team state winners, two other area schools had massive success battling their way to a top five finish.
On Friday, the Chapman Lady Irish picked up 56 points at the 4A meet, good enough for a 4th place finish on the season.
Taylor Briggs became a double state champion for Chapman, winning both the 1600 and 3200 on the day. The Irish had three other athletes on the podium as Maya Kirkpatrick placed second in the Triple Jump, Elyssa Frieze took second in the 1600 and Sophia Cavanaugh tied for second in the high jump.
On the boys side of things, Elijah Winder took home the silver in the Triple Jump for Chapman as well.
The final school to place in the top five this weekend was Bennington, as their girls track team put in a great performance, taking fourth place with 34 points on the day.
Jasey Downing carried the Lady Bulldogs in individual events, placing third in both the 100 and 200m dash. The team picked up big points in the 4x100 and 4x400m relays as well, en route to their big finish.
Individually there were plenty of other athletes from the area that left their mark on the state meet, and secured medals and big points for their teams.
Gavin Brady of Ell-Saline found the podium twice at the 2A meet, winning the 1600 and placing third in the 800 for the Cardinals.
Jaycee Vath did the same for Lincoln with a win in the 3200 and a second place finish in the 1600.
Beloit had two different athletes on the podium as Brennon Walker became a state champion in the javelin throw while Grady Seyfert placed third in the shot put.
Emma Seidl of Solomon rounded out the state winners from the weekend with a first place finish in the 1A girls shot put; and rounding out the podium spots with third place finishes were Aunisty McNeal in the Javelin for Salina South, Grace Pyle in the shot put for McPherson and Brendan Shanks in the 110m hurdles for Minneapolis.