Wellington girls fall just 4 points short at the Class 4A track regional; Crusaders qualify 24 athletes for state
Wellington girls place second at the Coffeyville Regional meet. (Courtesy photo)
By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington girls’ track team was just four points short of winning its second regional championship in four years.
Wellington came away with 118 points, slightly behind Labette County with 122 at the Class 4A Regional in Coffeyville Thursday. It was a two-team race, as Chanute was a distant third with 89 points. Other team scores were Chanute 89, Rose Hill 79, Coffeyville 56, Winfield 49, Independence 26 and Parsons 19.
Dru Zeka was a four-time state qualifier.
Wellington had five regional championships. Dru Zeka had three of them in the high jump, long jump, and 400 meters. Isabelle Cullens won in the pole vault, and Kylan Gregory in the discus.
On the boys’ side, Wellington placed sixth. Chanute won the event with 143 points, Coffeyville 86, Mulvane 84, Parsons 70, Rose Hill 68, Labette County 34, Winfield 14 and Independence 14.
The Wellington state qualifiers.
Wellington will have 13 girls’ state entries and seven boys’ at the Kansas Track and Field Championships at Wichita State next weekend. Twenty-four athletes will be wearing Wellington red and silver at the nation’s largest high school track meet starting Friday.
Here is a list of the girls and boys who qualified for state from Wellington:
Girls
400-meters: Dru Zeka, first, 59.06.
800: Presley Metcalf, fourth, 2:37.74.
4×100 relay: Wellington (Addy Wilson, Tatem Ternes, Zeka, Claire Ginter), second, 50.04.
4×400 relay: Wellington (Ternes, Ginter, Lydie Barton, Maddie Fullerton), third, 4:15.91.
4×800 relay: Wellington (Fullerton, Taylor Earl, Wesleigh Davis, Metcalf), fourth, 10:30.59.
High jump: Zeka, first, 5-4. Kylan Gregory, second, 5-4.
Long jump: Zeka, first, 16-11.25.
Triple jump: Isabelle Cullens, second, 35-0.
Pole vault: Cullens, first, 9-6; Ginter, second, 9-0.
Discus: Kylan Gregory, first, 111-0.
Shot put: Natalie Burnett, third, 35-0. Mikayla Ybarra, fourth, 34-1.75.
Boys
400 meters: Cooper Hatfield, third, 50.9.
800: Kaleb Hamilton, second, 2:04.07.
110 hurdles: Kayden Martin, fourth, 16.27.
4×100 relay: Wellington (Jalik Armstrong, Hatfield, Grady Norris, Malachi Holloway), third, 43.98.
4×400 relay: Wellington (Ayers, Hamilton, Zander Strader, Hatfield), fourth, 3:32.16.
4×800 relay: Wellington (Hamilton, Rome Hunt, Luke Wylie, Connor Walker), 8:59.97.
High jump: Ayers, second, 6-4.
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The full team Wellington list in Coffeyville:
