By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural senior Zach Sulzen-Watson was a favorite to win the boys shot put and discus events in Thursday's Class 6A track and field regional at Hummer Sports Park.
And Sulzen-Watson pulled off that difficult double, but not without some anxious moments.
Washburn Rural senior Zach Sulzen-Watson swept the boys shot put and discus titles in Thursday's Class 6A regional meet at Hummer Sports Park. [File photo/TSN]
The Rural city, Centennial League and now regional two-event champ started his day with a decisive win in the shot put, throwing a best of 52 feet, 2.25 inches to win by just under four feet.
But Sulzen-Watson stumbled a bit at the start of the discus competition, fouling on his first two throws of the preliminaries and leaving him with just one last throw to get in a legal throw and advance to the finals.
Sulzen-Watson proved to be up to the task, getting off a 134-foot throw to go into the finals in second place and then getting off a winning throw of 159 feet, 7 inches to move past Junction City's Keghan McConnell and take the victory.
"I was a little nervous,'' Sulzen-Watson said. "Especially after you scratch the first two that's pretty bad, but I just needed one inbounds.
"I felt a little bit of pressure. It's kind of tough up here (in Hummer's throwing areas) like everyone says because there's not a lot of energy up on the throws side and that definitely plays a part.''
Now Sulzen-Watson is looking forward to his final state meet on May 27-28 at Wichita after placing in the fifth in the discus a year ago.
"I've got a few things to work on but I'm definitely excited,'' he said. "It's my last chance and I've just got to get it out there.''
Z. Sulzen-Watson led Washburn Rural's throwers to a big day, with his brother, Josh Sulzen-Watson, adding a third-place finish in the discus (131-2) and a runner-up finish in the javelin (161-8) while Walker Thompson (151-11) and Reece Godby (150-8) also qualified for state in the javelin with third and fourth-place finishes.
The top four placers in all 18 events in Thursday's regional moved on to state.
Washburn Rural qualified for seven events overall en route to a second-place team finish behind Manhattan (110-76).
Rural's Cody Ingerthron finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.66) and finished third in the 300 hurdles (42.01 seconds) while Spencer Haddock qualified for state with a fourth-place finish in the 3,200 meters (10:11.96) and the Junior Blues finished fourth in the 4 x 800 relay (8:43.95).
Topeka High's boys qualiied for state in three events, with Dylan Blankenship finishing third in the 400 (51.84), V'Ante Peoples taking third in the 200 (23.16) and the Trojans finishing third in the 4 x 100 relay (43.59).
CLASS 6A REGIONAL TRACK AND FIELD BOYS Team scores
Manhattan 110, Washburn Rural 76, Junction City 72, Derby 67, Free State 63, Wichita Heights 57, Wichita Southeast 39, Topeka High 19, Wichita North 3.
Individual results
High jump -- 1. Malone, Manhattan, 6-4; 2. Newcomer, Manhattan, 6-0; 3. Agudzi-Addo, Junction City, 6-0; 4. Reynolds, Derby, 5-10.
Pole vault -- 1. Stone, Free State, 13-6; 2. Strawn, Manhattan, 12-0; 3. Schwab, Free State, 12-0; 4. Farrell, 11-6.
Long jump -- 1. Randle, Wichita Heights, 22-0; 2. Banks, Junction City, 21-8; 3. Houston, Manhattan, 21-2; 4. Rauch, Manhattan, 21-1.
Triple jump -- 1. Randle, Wichita Heights, 46-9.50. 2. Deynolds, Derby, 45-1; 3. Elumogo, Manhattan, 42-8; 4. Wade, Wichita Heights, 42-5.
Shot put -- 1. Z. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 52-2.25; 2. McConnell, Junction City, 48-3.50; 3. Gourley, Free State, 47-0.75; 4. Davis, Derby, 47-0.25.
Discus -- 1. Z. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 159-7; 2. McConnell, Junction City, 156-0; 3. J. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 131-2; 4. Hervey, Wichita Heights, 130-11.
Javelin -- 1. Lane, Free State, 174-6; 2. J. Sulzen-Watson, Washburn Rural, 161-8; 3. Thompson, Washburn Rural, 151-11; 4. Godby, Washburn Rural, 150-8.
4 x 800 relay -- 1. Free State, 8:16.15; 2. Manhattan, 8:25.53; 3. Derby, 8:26.27; 4. Washburn Rural, 8:43.95.
110 hurdles -- 1. Hamilton, Derby, 15.25; 2. Dingle, Wichita Heights, 15.59; 3. Sidabutar, Free State, 15.65; 4. Ingerthron, Washburn Rural, 15.66.
100 -- 1. Crawford, Derby, 10.82; 2. Schomaker, Manhattan, 10.84; 3. Madrigal, Derby, 10.93; 4. Alexander, Wichita Heights, 11.01.
1,600 -- 1. Shyrock, Free State, 4:28.72; 2. Atkins, Junction City, 4:31.68; 3. Beauchamp, 4:36.57; 4. Bowyer, Manhattan, 4:37.17.
4 x 100 relay -- 1. Wichita Heights, 42.49; 2. Free State, 43.12; 3. Topeka High, 43.59; 4. Wichita Southeast, 45.20.
400 -- 1. Romito, Free State, 50.78; 2. Culley, Wichita Southeast, 51.32; 3. Blankenship, Topeka High, 51.84; 4. Delva, 52.29.
300 hurdles -- 1. Hamilton, Derby, 40.87; 2. Zambrano, Manhattan, 41.88; 3. Ingerthron, Washburn Rural, 42.01; 4. Agudzi-Addo, Junction City, 42.52.
800 -- 1. Atkins, Junction City, 1:58.53; 2. Mosier, Manhattan, 1:59.88; 3. Keathley-Helms, Free State, 2:00.43; 4. Hedges, Free State, 2:00.95.
200 -- 1. Culley, Wichita Southeast, 22.76; 2. Brickei, Manhattan, 23.15; 3. Peoples, Topeka High, 23.16; 4. Madrigal, Derby, 23.32.
3,200 -- 1. Shyrock, Free State, 9:48.77; 2. Atkins, Junction City, 9:58.31; 3. Beauchamp, Wichita Southeast, 10:09.13; 4. Haddock, Washburn Rural, 10:11.96.
4 x 400 relay -- 1. Manhattan, 3:27.06; 2. Free State, 3:27.63; 3. Junction City, 3:28.02; 4. Wichita Heights, 3:32.38.
