Wellington girls win Class 4A track regional in El Dorado… 11 athletes head to state
Wellington girls win the track regional in El Dorado. (Courtesy photo by Connor Walker)
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Sometimes trophies come with context.
Wellington has won a slew of regional trophies over the years in various sports. But winning one in track? Not so much.
But the Wellington girls did just that Thursday evening in the Class 4A Regional Track meet in El Dorado.
And, of course, that begs the question: “When did that last happen?” Nobody knows. Most people, including yours truly, think it has never happened before.
Wellington overpowered 10 other teams to secure the championship team trophy. The team scores were: Wellington 107, Rose Hill 99, Clearwater 89, Pratt 76, Ulysses 53, Circle 49, Mulvane 30, Augusta 29 and El Dorado 24.
The Wellington boys placed eighth with 28 points.
Wellington will be sending 11 athletes to the Kansas State Track and Field Championship in Wichita next weekend. They include: Anna Cullens, Ali Zeka, Ashlyn Gerten, Presley Metcalf, Kami Reichenberger, Sadie Glover, and Isabelle Cullens for the girls; and Dylan Dickinson, Chase Koehler, Morice Ayers, and Jace Barton will be participating in the boys.
Class 4A Regional Champions (Click to enlarge).
The regional victory came with an assist by the KSHSAA. Juggernaut Andale was sent north to the Abilene Regional, giving Wellington a huge opportunity to win in El Dorado.
The regional basically came down to two teams: Wellington and Rose Hill. And the meet’s outcome came down to the 4×400 meter relay – the last event of the night. The Crusaders were leading the Rockets by four points before the final event. Wellington’s team — consisting of Presley Metcalf, Ashlyn Gerten, Sadi Glover and Kami Reichenberger — just needed to place higher than Rose Hill.
It would do just that – taking in a 4:20.55 time for third place. Rose Hill finished fifth. Not only did that give the Crusaders a team regional title, but it was also the first time in almost a decade that the Crusaders qualified for state in the 4×400.
Rose Hill had eked out the team win in the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV meet last week. This time Wellington had the upper hand with the domination of the short-distance races.
The one-two punch of senior Ali Zeka and junior Annalisa Cullens helped lift the Crusaders to the top. Both were four-time state qualifiers and individual winners in at least two events.
The 4×100 meter relay team – consisting of Ali Zeka, Anna Cullens, Kami Reichenberger, and Ashlyn Gerten – placed first. That team will be vying for a state championship next week at WSU.
Freshman Presley Metcalf won first in the 400 meters and sophomore Isabelle Cullens was the triple jump winner.
It was just a great performance all around. The following are the team results. Stars are those athletes who qualified for state.
GIRLS
100 meter
*Anna Cullens – first, 12.35.
*Ali Zeka – fourth, 12.88.
Ashlyn Gerten – seventh, 13.21.
200 meters
*Ali Zeka – first, 27.51
400 meters
*Presley Metcalf – first, 1:02.55.
1600 meters
Taylor Earl – 11th, 6:52.45.
100-meter hurdles
*Anna Cullens – first, 14.35
300-meter hurdles
*Anna Cullens – third, 48.41.
*Kami Reichenberger – fourth, 50.94.
4×100 meter relay
*Ali Zeka, Anna Cullens, Kami Reichenberger, Ashlyn Gerten – first, 51.12
4×400 meter relay
*Presley Metcalf, Ashlyn Gerten, Sadie Glover, Kami Reichenberger – third, 4:20.55.
4×800 meter relay
Taylor Earl, Payton Franke, Isabelle Cullens, Whitney Zeka – sixth, 13:49.03.
High jump
Whitney Zeka, 4-8, fifth.
Long jump
*Ali Zeka – 17-2.5, first.
*Sadie Glover – 16-1.25, second.
Ashlyn Gerten – 13-6, ninth.
Triple jump
*Isabelle Cullens – 36.7.75, first.
Pole vault
Payton Bright – 7-0, seventh.
Kami Reichenberger- 7-0, 10th.
Discus
Kadence Westmoreland – 85-9, ninth.
Aurora Young – 83-4, 10th.
Javelin
*Sadie Glover – 110-9, third.
Isabelle Cullens – 75-4, 17th.
Shot put
Aurora Young, 24-6, 12th.
BOYS
100 meters
*Dylan Dickenson, 11.21.
200 meters
Dylan Dickenson, seventh, 24.35.
400 meters
*Dylan Dickenson, third, 54.44.
Morice Ayers, 12th, 58.37.
800 meters
Kaleb Hamilton, ninth, 2:20.16.
Jackson Irey, 11th, 2:21.85.
1600 meters
Braeden Ybarra, sixth, 5:01.55.
Hunter Lough, seventh, 5:06.49
Zander Strader, 14th, 5:38.91.
3200 meters
Hunter Lough, sixth, 11:29.88.
Ryan Bacon, eighth, 11:40.41.
Rome Hunt, 14th, 13:58.27.
4×100 meter relay
Dylan Dickenson, Morice Ayers, Dustin Schettler – sixth, 45.55.
High jump
*Morice Ayers, fourth, 5-10.
Laykin Brown, ninth, 5-8.
Long jump
Morice Ayers, sixth, 20-0.
Dustin Schettler, eighth, 19-9.5.
Triple jump
*Jace Barton, fourth, 38-6.
Pole vault
*Chase Koehler, third, 10-6.
Discus
Jaxon Highbarger, 18th, 93-5.
Javelin
Andrew Helingstine, 16th, 107-1.
Jaxon Highbarger, 21st, 88-3.
Hagen Wright, 14th, 38-10.
