By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With the biggest meets of his track and field season coming up, Washburn Rural senior Sam Shonka was looking to take a step up in the Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Seaman Relays.
But not even Shonka could have predicted what transpired Frday, with the Junior Blue standout destryoing his previous personal record en route to a gold-medal performance.
"I came into this knowing that there was going to be a guy jumping 6-5, so honestly I wasn't even preparing to win,'' Shonka said. "I was just preparing to better myself.''
Washburn Rural senior high-jumper Sam Shonka (left) celebrates after clearing 6 foot, 6 inches to win the event in Friday's Camien/Welch Seaman Relays. [Photo by Rick Peterson]
Entering the meet with a season-best of 6 foot, 1 inches, Shonka cleared six heights from 5-8 to 6-6 on six straight attempts to win the event by two inches over Rowden Paul of Olathe North.
"I found a new mark and it just happened to work brilliantly,'' Shonka said.
After clinching his win when Paul went out at 6-6, Shonka missed two attempts at 6-7 before calling it a day, content with his six-inch improvement.
"I guess I'm replaying what happened freshman year,'' Shonka said. "I did the exact same thing freshman year, PRed by six inches,'' Shonka said.
Shonka, a former state qualifier, competed against former Shawnee Heights state champion and current Nebraska standout Mikey Hoffer as a freshman and said he's trying to emulate Hoffer as he continues to hone his craft.
"I'm going to be honest, I kind of try and copy him a little bit,'' Shonka said.
With his high school career rapidly coming to a conclusion, Shonka hopes to copy some of Hoffer's success over the next month.
"Today just raises (my expectations) higher,'' he said. "First and foremost I'd like to continue to just get better.''
Shonka was one of three winners for Washburn Rural Friday, with Zsamar Sipple winning the triple jump at 44-1.75 and senior Marquel Russell winning the 110-meter hurdles in 15.23 seconds as the Junior Blues finished second as a team behind Centennial League rival Manhattan.
Russell is coming off a slight hamstring injury, but improved his season-best by .29 of a second.
"I felt a lot better today," Russell said. "I've been working a lot and got through recovery and wanted to compete this weekend and here I am."
Sipple also notched a PR going over 44 feet for the first time after entering the event with a best of 43-8.
CAMIEN/WELCH SEAMAN RELAYS
BOYS
Team scores
Manhattan 115.5, Washburn Rural 75, Lansing 67, Olathe North 67, Silver Lake 53, Perry-Lecompton 47, Junction City 46, Shawnee Mission North 39, Leavenworth 37, Emporia 32, Seaman 30.5, Santa Fe Trail 22, Holton 22, Wamego 16, Rossville 15, Shawnee Mission Northwest 9, Jefferson County North 3, Burlingame 3, Hiawatha 3.
Individual results
High jump — 1. Shonka, Washburn Rural, 6-6; 2. Paul, Olathe North, 6-4; 3. Patrick, Lansing, 6-2.
Pole vault — 1. Quarles, Olathe North, 12-6; 2. Goering, Washburn Rural, 12-0; 3. Huber, Emporia, 12-0.
Long jump — 1. Benson, Lansing, 23-5; 2. Butler, Lansing, 22-6.5; 3. Sipple, Washburn Rural, 21-9.25.
Triple jump — 1. Sipple, Washburn Rural, 44-1.75; 2. Renfro, Silver Lake, 43-9; 3. Jones, Manhattan, 43-7.
Discus — 1. Schwartz, Santa Fe Trail, 183-11; 2. Magana, Manhattan, 174-2; 3. Z. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 165-8.
Shot put — 1. O'Connell, Manhattan, 61-3; 2. Harris, Leavenworth, 55-7; 3. Schwartz, Santa Fe Trail, 53-1.
Javelin — 1. Moran, Manhattan, 188-5; 2. Welch, Perry-Lecompton, 165-8; 3. Karn, Holton, 151-10.
4x800 relay — 1. Wamego, 8:28.48; 2. Shawnee Mission North, 8:30.72; 3. Washburn Rural, 8:32.37.
110 hurdles — 1. Russell, Washburn Rural, 15.23; 2. Parrish, Olathe North, 15.51; 3. Walltower, Leavenworth.
100 — 1. Benson, Lansing, 10.55; 2. Rezac, Rossville, 10.89; 3. Renfro, Silver Lake, 10.91.
1,600 — 1. Laudie, Emporia, 4:40.88; 2. Howell, Lansing, 4:41.05; 3. TenEyck, Silver Lake, 4:41.61.
4x100 relay — 1. Lansing, 43.73; 2. Junction City, 43.48; 3. Perry-Lecompton, 43.59.
400 — 1. Parrish, Olathe North, 49.99; 2. Bussey, Junction City, 50.63; 3. Dowling-Burnett, Manhattan, 51.54.
300 hurdles — 1. Johnson, Silver Lake, 41.67; 2. Purcell, Holton, 42.77; 3. Obermeyer, Emporia, 42.81.
800 — 1. Avila-Vargas, Manhattan, 1:57.55; 2. Mosier, Manhattan, 1:57.72; 3. Stuke, Seaman, 2:06.66.
200 — 1. Benson, Lansing, 21.97; 2. Renfro, Silver Lake, 22.76; 3. Hess, Perry-Lecompton, 22.78.
3,200 — 1. Harkin, Manhattan, 9:11.31; 2. Blomker, Shawnee Mission North, 9:15.32; 3. Maxville, Shawnee Mission North, 9:45.97.
4x400 relay — 1. Manhattan, 3:27.94; 2. Olathe North, 3:28:16.; 3. Leavenworth, 3:30.80.
GIRLS
Team scores
Olathe North 100.5, Manhattan 94, SM Northwest 78, Leavenworth 67, Lansing 57, Washburn Rural 51, SM North 38, Junction City 31, Emporia 30.5, Rossville 28, Seaman 25, Hiawatha 25, Santa Fe Trail 19, Holton 19, Jefferson North 13, Wamego 10, Burlingame 8, Topeka High 3, Silver Lake 3, Perry-Lecomtpon 1.
Individual results
High jump — 1. Mackiewicz, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 5-2; 2. Manville, Jefferson County North, 5-2; 3. Ingram, Washburn Rural, 5-0.
Pole vault — 1. Klusman, Olathe North, 10-6; 2. Neighbour, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 10-0; 3. Caravello, Shawnee Mission North, 10-0.
Long jump — 1. Larson, Manhattan, 16-9; 2. Johnson, Manhattan, 16-8; 3. Gardner, Leavenworth, 16-7.75.
Triple jump — 1. A. Pixton, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 35-9; 2. O. Pixton, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 35-7.5; 3. Larson, Manhattan, 34-8..
Discus — 1. Toala, Junction City, 126-4; 2. Hinterweger, Santa Fe Trail, 125-11; 3. Gillum, Rossville, 125-6.
Shot put — 1. Gillum, Rossville, 40-7; 2. Toala, Junction City, 38-11; 3. Ilalio, Manhattan, 36-10.
Javelin — 1. Tanking, Holton, 140-8; 2. Glessneer, Manhattan, 134-5; 3. Sogaard, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 124-5.
4x800 relay — 1. Shawnee Mission North, 9:55.74; 2. Washburn Rural, 10:04.82; 3. Manhattan, 10:19.76.
110 hurdles — 1. McKie, Olathe North, 15.02; 2. Pixton, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 16.04; 3. Geiger, Hiawatha, 16.12.
100 — 1. McGinnis, Olathe North, 11.81; 2. Ramos, Leavenworth, 12.06; 3. Blake, Leavenworth, 12.07.
1,600 — 1. Druse, Seaman, 5:19.90; 2. Johnson, Olathe North, 5:22.16; 3. Willhite, Emporia, 5:31.14.
4x100 relay — 1. Olathe North, 49.22; 2. Leavenworth, 49.26; 3. Lansing, 49.89.
400 — 1. Blake, Leavenworth, 57.48; 2. Ritchhart, Lansing, 58.42; 3. Foster, Rossville, 59.91.
300 hurdles — 1. Klusman, Olathe North, 49.64; 2. Lierz, Hiawatha, 49.66; 3. Arasmith, Manhattan, 50.29.
800 — 1. Druse, Seaman, 2:22.64; 2. Stewart, Olathe North, 2:24.40; 3. Foster, Rossville, 2:24.94.
200 — 1. Blake, Leavenworth, 25.57; 2. Ramos, Leavenworth, 26.13; 3. Ritchhart, Lansing, 26.75.
3,200 — 1. Mullen, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 11:23.22; 2. Dockstader, Olathe North, 11:27.04; 3. Tyrrell, Shawnee Mission North, 11:37.51.
4x400 relay — 1. Shawnee Mission Northwest, 4:05.09; 2. Leavenworth, 4:06.40; 3. Olathe North, 4:10.39.
