Class 3A trio setting stage for State Outdoors throw show with state-leading discus marks

By Brent Maycock – KSHSAA Covered

Of all the must-see events at next month’s State Outdoors Track and Field Championships in Wichita – the Class 5A girls 3,200, 6A boys high jump and 5A sprints and hurdles come to mind – there may be no better showdown than the battle for the Class 3A girls discus championship.
 
At least if last week’s performances are any kind of indicator as to what lies ahead.
 
The top throwers in Class 3A – Beloit’s Tatum Seyfert, Nemaha Central’s Zoey Sudbeck and Osage City’s Lexi Boss — spent the week playing a modified game of “Top This,” solidifying their positions as not only the best in 3A, but the best in the state. Going into the week with season-best marks scattered in the top 10 – Boss No. 1, Seyfert fifth and Sudbeck ninth – they finished the week ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
 
Sudbeck got the party started at Nemaha Central’s home meet on April 15. Somewhat unexpectedly.
 
Coming off a fourth-place finish at last year’s state meet and a season-best of 135-0 last spring, Sudbeck hadn’t yet built off that performance this spring. Her best going into the Thunder’s meet was nearly five feet off her career-best with a 130-3.
 
“I was throwing lower than my expectations for myself,” Sudbeck said. “But I had a conversation with my coach and his advice led to a big throw. It caught me very much by surprise.”
 
Not only did Sudbeck top her previous career-best, she obliterated it. And the school record.
 
Sudbeck busted a throw of 151 feet, 8 inches that catapulted her into the state lead and easily surpassed the Thunder’s school record of 139-6 set by former state champion Jacy Dalinghaus in 2019.

Her position atop the state honor roll lasted all of two days.
 
At the West Franklin Invitational on April 17, Osage City’s Boss – the reigning state champion in the 3A discus – had an emphatic answer to Sudbeck’s bomb with one of her own. She had held the state lead with a season-best of 147-1, eight feet farther than her state-winning throw last year, but suddenly found herself four feet behind Sudbeck.
 
Boss rose to the occasion, unleashing a throw at West Franklin of 158-6 that not only added 11 feet to her previous best and school record, but also ranks as the seventh-best throw in state history.
 
“It’s been a goal of mine for a while now to hit the 150 mark and to finally hit this number gave me a sense of accomplishment,” Boss said. “I had now given me a new goal to strive for. I have been putting a lot of time into my footwork for the discus throw, so hitting this number was something I had a feeling would come and it definitely felt really good.”
 
Competing at the Kansas Relays against top-notch competition, Seyfert couldn’t quite join Boss and Sudbeck in the 150-foot club. But in taking third behind a pair of out-of-state opponents, Seyfert hit her season best with a 141-8.75 that ranks her third in the state overall. The mark was just shy of her career best of 142-6 set at last year’s Southeast of Saline Invitational.
 
Though she’s playing a bit of catch-up, Seyfert is still excited to see how things will play out next month.
 
“I’m very excited for the state meet,” she said. “It will be really cool and interesting to see that the top throwers are all part of 3A. It really shows the competitiveness of our class and it will definitely be a show.”
 
Boss and Seyfert actually set the stage for a showdown this spring last year. Seyfert went into the 2024 state meet as the reigning 3A state champion in the discus, taking the title as a sophomore with a throw of 141-2.
 
When she fell short of reaching that mark at state a year ago, posting a best throw of 135-10, Boss took advantage and snagged the title with her winning mark of 139-4.
 
“After not getting the title last year, it definitely sparked something in me and pushed me to work harder in all that is encompassed with throwing,” Seyfert said. “I am very motivated to continue to throw farther and get better every meet, whether that is with distances or my form in the ring.”
 
With the way the regional assignments played out this spring, none of the three will compete against each other until the state meet. That only adds some intrigue to the highly anticipated competition.
 
“I’m really looking forward to the state meet this year and competing against the girls I have been hearing about all season long,” Boss said. “I am hoping that having this strong competition will help me continue to increase my distance. It will definitely be something special to be in a position to throw with the top throwers in Kansas.”
 
In addition to the state-leading trio, there’s considerable depth lurking as well, some of them quite familiar.
 
Sudbeck’s own teammate, Cami Dalinghaus, finished third at state last year and though she’s only had a best of 121-10 this season, holds a career-best of 133-4. Seyfert’s teammate, Cassandra Thompson, placed eighth at state last year and has improved by nearly 10 feet this year to a 124-5. For Boss, it’s freshman sister, Kaelyn, who ranks just outside the top 10 in the state this year with a season-best of 129-10.
 
“The competition only motivates me to work harder,” Sudbeck said. “The state meet is just like any other meet and by practicing hard and keeping consistent with my throws I should be right up there with the competition. It is nerve wracking to have some of the best throwers in the state in the same class but I’m grateful for the opportunity to prove myself.”

While Seyfert didn’t get the discus title at the Kansas Relays, she didn’t come home without a gold. Already the state leader in the shot put, Seyfert got her first Relays title with a throw of 45-3.75.
 
That mark was just off her 3A meet-record throw of 45-11.25, but Seyfert has since taken her own huge leap, throwing a 47-0.5 on April 22 at the Lion Club Relays at Belleville – a mark that ranks No. 9 in state history.
 
At KU, Seyfert led a 1-3 finish with teammate Addison Budke, who moved to No. 2 on the state honor roll with a best of 42-6.25.

SEAMAN’S MILLER DAZZLES AT KU AGAIN

At last year’s Kansas Relays, Seaman’s Ryin Miller more than made a name for herself when she posted the third-fastest girls  3,200 in state history, running a 10:13.97 on her way to the meet title.
 
While Miller couldn’t quite touch that time this year, she didn’t leave without another historic mark. In winning the 1,600 for the second straight year, Miller finished in 4:46.03, which ranks as the fourth-fastest in state history.
 
Miller already held that spot on the state’s all-time list after running a 4:46.90 at last year’s Joe Schrag Topeka City Meet, but lowered her time by .87 seconds. Every tenth of a second counted as well as Miller kicked past Elyse Wilmes of Father Tolton Regional Catholic High in Columbia, Mo. And won by .30 seconds.
 
Miller also successfully defender her Relays title in the 3,200, besting rival Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central for the second straight year. Miller avenged a loss to Rupe in last year’s state meet, hanging just behind the Mustang standout for the first six-plus laps before turning on her kick to win by nearly 10 seconds in 10:21.78.

OTHER TRACK AND FIELD STANDOUTS

• The reigning Class 6A girls state champion in the 400 relay, Manhattan turned in the fourth-fastest time in state history at the Manhattan Invitational, breaking the school record they set in winning last year’s state title. The foursome of Sarah Obbereuter, Hanna Pellant, Michelle JeJe and Harli Omli blazed to a time of 47.34 that took .56 seconds off the old record. Omli also won the 100 and 400 titles at the meet.
• Washburn Rural’s Isaiah Terry broke his own school record in the 400 twice at the Kansas Relays. Terry ran a 48.64 in the prelims and then lowered that time to a 48.41 in the finals, placing third. Rural’s girls 4 x 1,600 relay team of Payton Fink, Emily Graf, Rylee Ismert and Brooklyn Nolte set a school record and won the Relays title with a time of 21:21.47.
• In sweeping the 100 and 200 titles at the Smoky Valley Invitational, Abilene’s Renatta Heintz broke her own school record in the 100. Heintz raced to a 12.08 topping the 12.41 she ran in last year’s state finals.
• Topeka West’s Adrian Lehman posted a 12-second PR at the Kansas Relays in the 3,200, running a 9:19.16 in the 3,200. His time was less than a second from the Chargers’ 50-year old school record of 9:18.50 set by Tim Powell in 1975.
• Washington County’s Addy Goeckel swept the hurdles titles at the Lion Club Meet in Belleville, setting season-bests in both races. She posted a 15.56 in the 100 hurdles and 46.32 in the 300 hurdles, the latter break the meet record previously held by Beloit-St. John’s standout Lindsey Eck.
• Clifton-Clyde had three school records set at the Rock Creek Invitational, two coming in the pole vault. Jordi Fahey set the girls’ record with a clearance of 10-1, which ranks her No. 1 in Class 1A this season. Brady Pruser went 13-10 for the boys to beat the old school record of 13-9 set by Matt Bechard in 1987. Kalyn Baker broke the girls’ discus record with a throw of 134-1.5, topping the old mark of 129-8 set by Tammy McCarren in 2000. At the Concordia Invitational, Sevy Wurtz broke her own school record in the triple jump with a leap of 36-4, five inches farther than her previous best.
• Hiawatha’s Dani Morton swept the 100 and 200 and anchored the Red Hawks’ 400 relay to titles at both the Holton and Perry-Lecompton Invitationals. Morton also won the 400 at Holton and the 100 at the Royal Valley Invitational. Paula Rockey, meawhile, has swept the 800 and 1,600 titles at all three of Hiawatha’s meets this season.
• Wellsville’s 400 relay set a new PR at the Kansas Relays with Savannah Viets, Jaylee Kauffman, Alana Green and Ellie Strain running a 51.27. Strain also ran a PR and set a school record in the 300 hurdles with a 45.41, placing her sixth, and did the same in the 100 hurdles with a 14.74, just missing out on the finals, taking 10th.
• Valley Heights freshman Klara McIntyre won the 300 hurdles at the Nemaha Central Invitational with a time of 48.92, getting her within a second of the school record of 47.95. Mia Vermetten won the 800 with a season-best 2:40.11. For the boys, Creighton Smith won the shot put (44-8) and took second in the discus and Kebeb Zimmerman won the 3,200 with a PR time of 10:53.68.
• Central Heights’ Cody Hammond broke his own school record in the 800 at the Kansas Relays, running a 1:54.04. He also teamed with Connor Burkdoll, Owen Miller and Christian McCord to place sixth in the 3,200 relay with an 8:00.45, which ranks second in 2A history only to the 8:00.20 the Vikings ran at state last year. Hammond also took over the top spot in 2A in the 1,600with a 4:27.20.
• Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Landon Traver swept the long jump and triple jump at the Travis Sheeley Memorial Meet, going 20-4 in the long jump and 39-0 in the triple jump.
• Axtell’s Logan Sandmann cleared 6-7 in the high jump, breaking the Eagles’ school record of 6-6 set by Chris Hulsing in 2005. Teammate Landon Schmitz broke his own school record in the 300 hurdles at the Kansas Relays with a 40.11, placing him sixth.
• Santa Fe Trail’s Julion Daniels smashed the Chargers’ school record in the shot put at the April 3 Silver Lake Invitational, throwing 57-10 to top the old record of 53-5.25 set by Brett Schwartz, who now throws for Nebraska.