By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
State champions Bethany Druse, Briar Gillum and Victoria Reed headline the TopSports.news All-Shawnee County girls track and field team, which includes 17 state medalists.
Gillum, a Rossville senior, won the Class 3A discus championship after finishing second in the shot put while Seaman junior Druse was the 5A 800 meters champion and Highland Park sophomore Reed won the 5A 400-meter dash.
All-Shawnee County girls track and field members -- Front, from left: Payton Fink, Washburn Rural; Natalie Hillebert, Hayden; Jadyn Paige Falley, Hayden; Victoria Reed, Highland Park; Taylie Heston, Seaman; Bethany Druse, Seaman. Back, from left: Madeline Carter, Washburn Rural; Raegan Petersen, Washburn Rural; Ally Trier, Seaman; Anna Becker, Seaman; Taylin Stallbaumer, Seaman. Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rossville senior Briar Gillum won the 3A state championship in the girls discus event and finished second in the shot put. [Twitter]
Shawnee Heights junior Ta'Mijha Nichols posted a second-place finish in the 5A 100 while T-Bird junior Taylor Rottinghaus was second to Reed in the 5A 400.
Heights' 4 x 100 relay team of Nichols, Rottinghaus and seniors Hailey Anderson and Haley Haltom finished second in 5A while Hayden sophomore Natalie Hillebert placed third in the 4A 400. Hillebert also picked up a state medal in the 4 x 400 relay as part of the Wildcats' eighth-place team.
Topeka West junior MaKinsey Jones placed fourth in the 5A triple jump while Seaman sophomore Taylin Stallbaumer was fifth in the 5A 100-meter high hurdles and Hayden senior Jadyn Paige Falley took fifth in the 4A shot put. In addition to her win in the 400, Highland Park's Reed finished sixth in the 200.
Seaman's Druse earned three 5A state medals, including a seventh-place finish in the 4 x 800 relay and an eighth in the 4 x 400 relay. Freshman 4 x 400 freshman state relay medalists Anna Becker and Taylie Heston also earned all-county first-team berths while Stallbaumer also ran on that team for the Vikings.
Washburn Rural sophomore Raegan Petersen earned a 6A state medal with a seventh-place finish in the discus while junior Madeline Carter finished eighth in the 3,200.
Rossville junior Amelia Foster and Silver Lake sophomore Kaibryn Kruger also earned All-Shawnee County berths after earning 3A state medals.
Foster placed at state for the second straight season, taking seventh in the 800 meters while Kruger, a 36-foot triple-jumper, earned an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.
All-Shawnee County selections were picked on the basis of meeting minimum standards established by local coaches as well as performances in state competition.
ALL-SHAWNEE COUNTY GIRLS TRACK
Name, school Class Events
Hailey Anderson, Shawnee Heights Sr. Relays
Anna Becker, Seaman Fr. Relays
Madeline Carter, Washburn Rural Jr.. Distance
Bethany Druse, Seaman Jr. Distance
Jadyn Paige Falley, Hayden Sr. Throws
Payton Fink, Washburn Rural Fr. Distance
Amelia Foster, Rossville Jr. Distance
Briar Gillum, Rossville Sr. Throws
Haley Haltom, Shawnee Heights Sr. Relays
Taylie Heston, Seaman Fr. Relays
Natalie Hillebert, Hayden So. Sprints
MaKinsey Jones, Topeka West Jr.. Jumps
Kaibryn Kruger, Silver Lake So. Jumps
Ta'Mijha Nichols, Shawnee Heights Jr. Sprints
Raegan Petersen, Washburn Rural So. Throws
Victoria Reed, Highland Park So. Sprints
Taylor Rottinghaus, Shawnee Heights Jr. Sprints
Taylin Stallbaumer, Seaman So. Hurdles
Ally Trier, Seaman Jr. Throws
Honorable mention
Hayden: Megan Carr, Avery Grunert, Miranda Hillebert, Reagan Huscher, Liz Moore, Bella Reid, Sarah Schmidt, Riley Schmidtlein. Highland Park: Aubreonna Torres-Hill. Rossville: Kendra Hurla. Seaman: Anna Domann, Maggie Lesmeister, Emma Schultz, Jaida Stallbaumer. Shawnee Heights: Molly Busenitz. Silver Lake: Mariah Farmer, Tessa Gerber. Topeka High: Brooklyn Jones, Marilena Zuniga. Topeka West: Ala'jah Brooks, Anna Phelps, Shontal Phillips, Mikayla Wilkerson. Washburn Rural: Khloi Bird, Marianne Christsensen, Ashleigh Fitzhugh, Alexis Fredrickson, Rylee Ismert, Brooklyn Nolte.
