By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Sometimes athletes tend to ease into a new season, particularly when they're coming off another campaign in another sport, but not Washburn Rural senior standout Alexis Fredrickson.
Washburn Rural senior Alexis Fredrickson (center) won the girls 100-meter dash in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational and doubled up in the 200 while also posting second-place finishes in the pole vault and 400. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Just a little over a month removed from helping the Junior Blues win the Class 6A-5A state wrestling championship, Fredrickson made her 2023 track and field debut in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational and competed in the maximum four events while posting a pair of victories and a pair of runnerup finishes.
Fredrickson, a three-time state medalist in wrestling, won the 100-meter dash in 14 seconds while running into a wicked wind, took the 200 in 28.26 and finished second in the pole vault at 8 foot, 6 inches and second in the 400 in 62.00.
Overall, Fredrickson, who will wrestle in college at Oklahoma City University, was pleased with her day.
"We've been training really hard so I'm not necessarily surprised, I'm just glad, honestly,'' Fredrickson said.
Competing in four events keeps Fredrickson busy, but is something she enjoys.
"I enjoy a lot of different races,'' she said. "I enjoy something different about each of them, so I like doing all of them. It does get tiring sometimes, though.''
Fredrickson wants to make the most of her final high school season and said she has mixed feelings about her high school days coming to an end.
"I'm kind of relieved its going to be over soon, but also kind of sad,'' Fredrickson said. "Any time anybody brings it up I'm like, 'Don't say that please.' ''
State champ Druse wins three golds
By her own admission, Seaman senior star Bethany Druse is impatient, particularly when it comes to her speciality, the 800-meter run, with the future Kansas Jayhawk wanting to be in championship form right now.
Returning state champion Bethany Druse of Seaman sets the pace in Thursday's 800 meters run and also posted a win in the 1,600 and anchored the Vikings' 4x400 relay team to a victory. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Druse, who won the Class 5A 800 title a year ago, is off to another impressive start this spring despite less than ideal weather conditions to open the season.
Running in her second meet of the year, Druse won Thursday's 800 in 2:25.28, took the 1,600 in 5:37 and anchored the Vikings' 4x400 relay to a come-from-behind win in 4:20.01.
The longterm plan for Druse, as it was a year ago, is to run the open 800 as well as legs on the 4x800 and 4x400 relays, but she went to Seaman coach Rick Brading earlier this week to volunteer for extra duty on Thursday.
"Last week I only ran the 800 and the 4x4, which is a total of three laps,'' Druse said. "I felt awful about my 800 time and I think it was because I didn't warm up very well, so I asked coach if I could run the 1,600 to help me get ready for my 800 and he was like, 'Yeah, let's go for it.' ''
It was a move that Druse felt paid immediate dividends.
"I ran two seconds faster (in the 800) than I did last week and I felt better today,'' she said. "Last week my lactic acid kicked in at the 400 and this time it kicked in at the 700, so I feel like it helped.''
Druse, who has career best of 2:15.19, wants to get back to a sub-2:20 mark as soon as possible, but thinks she is close to being where she wants to be at this point in the season.
"I feel about the same,'' Druse said. "I just talked to coach and he said my time was three seconds faster today than it was a year ago, so I feel I'm right on track or just above. I'm just so impatient.''
Other top performers:
• Topeka High senior V'Ante Peoples won the boys 100-meter dash in 11.61 seconds and the 200 in 23.74.
The Trojans also won the 4x100 relay in 43.10 and the 4x400 relay in 3:36.03.
• Highland Park returning 5A state champ Tre Richardson was a double winner while also posting a runner-up finish in the Beardless Invitational.
Richardson, a senior, won the boys long jump at 22 feet, 7 inches and the triple jump at 39-10 while finishing second in his debut in the high jump at 5-8.
• Josh Sulzen-Watson, a Washburn Rural senior, swept the discus and javelin titles on Thursday, posting a winning throw of 143-7 in the discus and a top throw of 166-8 in the javelin.
JERRY BEARDSLEE INVITATIONAL
At Washburn Rural
GIRLS
Individual results
100 -- 1. Fredrickson, Washburn Rural, 14.00; 2. Blanco, Washburn Rural, 14.10; 3. Steiner, Seaman, 14.12.
200 -- 1. Fredrickson, Washburn Rural, 28.26; 2. Blanco, Washburn Rural, 28.95; 3. Steiner, Seaman, 29.05.
400 -- 1. Weinkauf, Free State, 61.50; 2. Fredrickson, Washburn Rural, 62.00; 3. Barnes, Free State, 63.71.
800 -- 1. Druse, Seaman, 2:25.28; 2. Barnes, Free State, 2:35.58; 3. Heston, Seaman, 2:39.07.
1,600 -- 1. Druse, Seaman, 5:37.00; 2. Goeser, Free State, 5:46.36; 3. Spurlock, Seaman, 5:54.42.
3,200 -- 1. Carter, Washburn Rural, 11:45.36; 2. Ismert, Washburn Rural, 12:05.64; 3. Goeser, Free State, 12:37.19.
100 hurdles -- 1. Spriggs, Free State, 16.7; 2. T. Stallbaumer, Seaman, 16.8; 3. Torres-Hill, Topeka High, 17.5.
300 hurdles -- 1. Spriggs, Free State, 50.37; 2. T. Stallbaumer, Seaman, 51.29; 3. Torres-Hill, Topeka High, 53.03.
4x100 relay -- 1. Seaman, 53.17; 2. Free State, 53.45; 3. Topeka High, 54.38.
4x400 relay -- 1. Seaman, 4:20.01; 2. Free State, 4:22.20.
4x800 relay -- 1. Free State, 12:14.21; 2. Topeka High, 12:41.02.
High jump -- 1. Worley, Washburn Rural, 4-10; 2. Kelly, Topeka High, 4-10; 3. Broils, Highland Park, 4-8.
Pole vault -- 1. Vaughn, Free State, 9-6; 2. Fredrickson, Washburn Rural, 8-6; 3. Jowers, Seaman, 7-0.
Long jump -- 1. Bourdo, Free State, 15-5.50; 2. Spriggs, Free State, 15-1; 3. Broils, Highland Park, 15-0.
Triple jump -- 1. Townsend, Seaman, 32-3.50; 2. Kobuszewski, Seaman, 30-5.50; 3. Southerland, Free State, 28-5.
Shot put -- 1. Domann, Seaman, 35-3; 2. Slade, Mission Valley, 35-1; 3. Edison, Free State, 31-7.
Discus -- 1. Slade, Mission Valley, 117-0; 2. Petersen, Washburn Rural, 106-3; 3. Domann, Seaman, 94-8.
Javelin -- 1. Duncan, Free State, 120-10; 2. Trier, Seaman, 115-3; 3. Lesmeister, Seaman, 108-10.
BOYS
Individual results
100 -- 1. Peoples, Topeka High, 11.61; 2. Merritt, Seaman, 11.78; 3. Murph, Topeka High, 11.88.
200 -- 1. Peoples, Topeka High, 23.74; 2. Cochran, Seaman, 23.89; 3. Murph, Topeka High, 24.00.
400 -- 1. Terry, Washburn Rural, 52.95; 2. Loos, Free State, 53.23; 3. Chooncharoen, Washburn Rural, 53.41.
800 --1. Anderson, Seaman, 2:05.59; 2. Whittlesey, Free State, 2:07.18; 3. Johnson, Washburn Rural, 2:07.92.
1,600 -- 1. Dial, Washburn Rural, 4:39.16; 2. Whittlesey, Free State, 4:40.93; 3. Wohler, Free State, 4:41.65.
3,200 -- 1. Loos, Free State, 10:17.72; 2. Jowers, Seaman, 10:23.75; 3. Fink, Washburn Rural, 10:34.34.
110 hurdles -- 1. Johnson, Highland Park, 15.4; 2. Merritt, Seaman, 15.4; 3. Sabatini, Free State, 15.9.
300 hurdles -- 1. Carter, Free State, 43.16; 2. Sabatini, Free State, 43.67; 3. Henderso, Free State, 44.43.
4x100 relay -- 1. Topeka High, 43.10; 2. Free State, 44.83; 3. Seaman, 44.93.
4x400 relay -- 1. Topeka High, 3:36.03; 2. Free State, 3:37.19; 3. Washburn Rural, 3:39.01.
4x800 relay -- 1. Seaman, 8:58.57; 2. Washburn Rural, 9:13.71; 3. Topeka High, 9:35.41.
High jump -- 1. Osburn, Washburn Rural, 5-8; 2. Richardson, Highland Park, 5-8; 3. Hill, Washburn Rural, 5-8.
Pole vault -- 1. Stone, Free State, 12-6; 2. Rausch, Washburn Rural, 12-0; 3. Litton, Washburn Rural, 10-0.
Long jump -- 1. Richardson, Highland Park, 22-7; 2. Holmes, Seaman, 20-4; 3. Ewing, Topeka High, 20-0.50.
Triple jump -- 1. Richardson, Highland Park, 39-10; 2. Clay, Washburn Rural, 39-3.50; 3. Whitehurst, Seaman, 38-3.50.
Shot put -- 1. Thomas, Seaman, 47-8; 2. Miller, Seaman, 45-8.50; 3. Wettengel, Washburn Rural, 44-5.
Discus -- 1. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 143-7; 2. Holman, Washburn Rural, 137-1; 3. Lane, Washburn Rural, 132-9.
Javelin -- 1. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 166-8; 2. Doan, Free State, 151-6; 3. Goddby, Washburn Rural, 149-10.
