Olathe dominates sprints at SMN Relays

Sprinters who squared off with Breeana Coleman on Friday at the 59th Annual Shawnee Mission North Relays got real familiar with what the Olathe East junior's back looks like.

Coleman owned the sprint events, winning the 100-meter dash, the 100 hurdles and the 200 in addition to anchoring the Hawks 400 relay to victory. And she won most events by a healthy margin.

But Coleman wasn't the only city sprinter to enjoy success.

Olathe North sophomore Adonis Saunders also swept the 100 and 200, while his older brother, senior RJ Saunders, crossed the line first in the 300 hurdles.

Coleman, though, was the unquestioned star.

“I'm feeling like it is my year,” said Coleman, who has come close but has yet to win gold at the Kansas 6A state track meet. “I'm guessing the people who beat me in the past won't be there, so it's my turn.”

As dominant as she was, Coleman remained typically underwhelmed by her performance. Ever the perfectionist.

“I'm pretty happy, but whenever I run I look to improve my times and I really didn't do that as well as I wanted to today,” Coleman said.

Saunders, by contrast, was thrilled with his two gold medals.

“Everything's coming together when it needs too,” he said. “I was running some good times at the beginning the season, but this is actually where I wanted to be heading toward state.”

Saunders worked hard to improve his start this week and is motivated to stay one step ahead of the hungry pack chasing him.

“I always try to stay confident, but I know I can never underestimate my opponents,” Saunders said. “Anybody can be beaten at any meet on any given day.”

South's boys smash personal records

A couple Olathe South boys continued their march toward — they hope — a 6A crown in style at the state's largest high school-only track meet.

Senior Michael Hollembeak, a transfer from St. James Academy and the reigning 4A high jump champion, cleared a personal best 6 feet-11 inches and gave 7-0 a crack before the day was through.

“We had good weather and I had some tough guys, like Curran (Darling of SM East) to jump against,' Hollembeak said. “Curran jumped 6-9, which was his season-high too, so that competition brought out the best in me.”

It was somewhat unexpected, however, after Hollembeak said he struggled to even clear 6-2 at practice Thursday.

Fellow Falcons senior Reggie Harris also won and recorded a PR, but in two separate events. Harris edged Leavenworth's Jacob Rowe for first place in the long jump then set a new personal best, 45-5 ¼, in the triple jump only to see Rowe surpass 46 feet on his final attempt.

“That's my PR, so I was pretty happy about that,” Harris said. “I had my hopes up for a little bit, but I expected him to bust out a big one there.”

With only Sunflower League, the regional and state remaining, Harris knows he's down to the last few meets of his South career. And he feels like he has unfinished business.

“I'm excited, but I'm also feeling the pressure because my main goal is to get the school record — that 24 feet (in the long jump),” said Harris, who is within two feet of the school triple jump record.

Blazers vault to 1-2 finish

Gardner Edgerton teammates Isaac Mallory and Kyle Wait claimed the top two spots in the pole vault, which isn't so unusual. The order of finish, however, was a bit different.

Mallory, the reigning 5A champ in the event, took a few misses early after returning from patellar tendonitis in his left knee.

That opened the door for Wait, who was clean until both athletes cleared 14 feet then failed at 14-6.

“We can do better and we should have I guess,” Wait said. “I'm happy I won, but you can always do better.”

Wind prevented the pair, who both have cleared 15 feet, from vaulting higher.

“The wind is swirling over here and it's a cross wind, so we're probably the only ones who aren't happy with this weather today,” Mallory said. “But we're always complaining. It could be 2 miles per hour and we'd complain, because the wind blows your poll all over coming down the runway and that affects your plant.”

Area produces three other winners

Olathe East seniors Ashley Reid and Courtney Reinke earned titles again with Reid topping 5-5 in the high jump and Reinke sailing 38-8 in the triple jump.

Gardner Edgerton's girls 1600 relay also finished first.

2009 Shawnee Mission North Relays

Team results

No team results were available immediately after the meet.

Individual results

(Event winners and local finalists only)

Girls

3200 relay: 1. SM East (Allie Marquis, Maddy Rich, Mallory Kirby, Hannah Jane Stradinger), 9:30.00; 2. Gardner Edgerton (Kirstin Schaefer, Natalie Morerod, Brittney Parks, Clarissa Johnson), 9:50.10; 5. Olathe East (Lana Thompson, Bree Bohaty, Brenda Ellis, Casey Epps), 9:55.80.

100 hurdles: 1. Breeana Coleman, OE, 14.90; 2. Rebecca Schmitt-Hartman, ON, 15.62; 4. Kathy Summers, OE, 16.13; 5. Kylie Seurer, ONW, 16.24.

100: 1. Breeana Coleman, OE, 12.31; 4. Chelsey Borders, OE, 12.73.

1600: 1. Erin Beck, BVN, 5:08.00; 2. Keli Russell, OS, 5:10.53; 3. Casey Epps, OE, 5:14.28.

400 relay: 1. Olathe East (Courtney Reinke, Chelsey Borders, Cierra Chartier, Breeana Coleman), 48.05; 4. Gardner Edgerton (Jalisa Brice, Clarissa Johnson, Brittney Parks, Haley Allen), 49.90; 5. Olathe North (Shaleah Martin, Alysha Garnier, Molly Plummer, Rebecca Schmitt-Hartman), 50.74.

400: 1. Storm Simons, SMN, 57.24; 3. Haley Allen, GE, 58.58; 7. Taylor Warren, OS, 1:01.12.

300 hurdles: 1. Storm Simons, SMN, 44.96; 3. Rebecca Schmitt-Hartman, 46.17; 4. Clarissa Johnson, GE, 46.31; 6. Natalie Morerod, GE, 47.16; 7. Kathy Summers, OS, 49.64.

800: 1. Hannah Jane Stradinger, SME, 2:20.02.

200: 1. Breeana Coleman, OE, 24.92.

3200: 1. Allie Marquis, SME, 11:33.24; 3. Keli Russell, OS, 11:46.56.

1600 relay: 1. Gardner Edgerton, 3:58.97.

Discus: 1. Erica Brand, SMNW, 140-2 ½.

High jump: 1. Ashley Reid, OE, 5-5; 2. Kayla Hannam, OE, 5-3; 5. Taylor Warren, OS, 5-1; 8. Dani Burleson, OS, 4-11.

Javelin: 1. Stephanie Nelson, SUM, 136-7; 5. Jessica Medlin, OE, 118-3; 6. Mary Riley, ON, 116-2.

Long jump: 1. LeTristan Pledger, KCW, 19-2 ¾; 5. Courtney Reinke, 17-3 ½; 7. Shaleah Martin, ON, 17-1 ¾.

Pole vault: 1. Ashley Bowman, MV, 11-0; 6t. Emmy Lehman, GE, 10-0; 16t. McKenzie Smith, GE, and Elayna Briggs, ONW, 8-6.

Shot put: 1. Kearston Peoples, OTT, 44-11; 5. Megan Smith, OS, 39-9 ¼; 7. Hannah Schneider, GE, 39-6.

Triple jump: 1. Courtney Reinke, OE, 38-8.

Boys

3200 relay: 1. SM West (Travis Boyett, Cordi Pascal, Dillon Pepper, Taylor Nall), 8:05.58; 2. Olathe East (Ryan Hocker, Cody Banks, Paul Zimmerman, Ben Schmitz), 8:06.54; 3. Gardner Edgerton (Preston Pyle, Caleb Laird, David Gardiner, Michael Berg), 8:11.26; 8. Olathe North (Trent Rogers, Luke Catloth, Kidus Bekele, Solomon Abera), 8:33.51.

110 hurdles: 1. Jonathan Walker, BS, 14.99; 3. Robert Saunders, ON, 15.55.

100: 1. Adonis Saunders, ON, 11.04; 4. Shawn Smith, ONW, 11.24; 5. Mpoyo Mulongo, OE, 11.38; 7. Austin Fulson, OE, 11.39.

1600: 1. Kyle Hanson, STA, 4:24.27.

400 relay: 1. Bonner Springs (Garron Wayne, Jeremy Walker, Cameron Callahan, Jonathan Walker), 42.53; 3. Olathe North (Adonis Saunders, RJ Saunders, Bryan Shepherd, Dominick Wilson), 42.72; 4. Olathe East (Hayden Groves, Mpoyo Mulongo, Nathan Schultz, Austin Fulson), 43.27; 7. Olathe Northwest (Brandon Bouvilom, Devon Boyce, Austin Gurley, Shawn Smith), 43.97; 8. Olathe South (Darryl Jones, Wyatt Melton, Wade Traylor, Reggie Harris), 44.01.

400: 1. Alex Reynolds, SMNW, 50.20; 8. Elliott Ivory, OE, 51.56.

300 hurdles: 1. RJ Saunders, ON, 38.98; 2. Jordon Ashley, ONW, 40.64; 8. Brian Craig, OE, 42.40.

800: 1. Kyle Hanson, STA, 1:57.29; 3. Ryan Hocker, OE, 1:59.20.

200: 1. Adonis Saunders, ON, 22.34; 3. Shawn Smith, ONW, 22.73.

3200: 1. Alex Hendee, SMNW, 9:35.30.

1600 relay: 1. SM West, 3:21.78.

Discus: 1. Scott Atteberry, BVN, 142-7.

High jump: 1. Michael Hollembeak, OS, 6-11; 4. Logan Ponder, OS, 6-5; 7. Jamal Allen, ON, 6-3.

Javelin: 1. Johannes Swanepoel, SMS, 216-2; 4. Jeremiah May, GE, 181-8.

Long jump: 1. Reggie Harris, OS, 22-4 ¾; 6. Austin Fulson, OE, 21-0 ¾; 7. Hayden Groves, OE, 20-10 ¾; 8. Anthony Akers, OE, 20-10 ¾.

Pole vault: 1. Kyle Wait, GE, 14-0; 2. Isaac Mallory, GE, 14-0.

Shot put: 1. Chris Butler, LV, 52-6 ½; 3. Seth Wonch, OS, 50-3 ¾.

Triple jump: 1. Jacob Rowe, LV, 46-7 ¾; 2. Reggie Harris, OS, 45-5 ¼; 3. Tyler McCartney, ONW, 43-5 ¼.