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Chanute freshman Jaron Powers celebrates with head coach Matt Kmiec after finishing fourth in the boys 3200-meter run at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Chanute junior Kynleigh Chard takes a handoff from senior Abby Stephenson during the girls 4x100-meter relay at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Chanute junior Josept Lazzo-Barahona runs in the boys 4x800-meter relay at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Huntyr Schwegman | Tribune
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The Chanute Blue Comets were the guest of honor at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships at the Chanute Community Sports Complex on Friday. The boys notched back-to-back team titles, while the girls shocked the meet with a third place team finish.
Boys
The Chanute boys claimed the program’s fourth regional championship, and its first back-to-back titles. The Blue Comets scored 122 points to edge out Paola (104) and Coffeyville (98). The title was led by six gold medal finishes and five personal-best finishes.
“That’s really exciting,” Kmiec said with a laugh.
The boys were led by a strong performance from Josept Lazzo-Barahona. The junior claimed an individual gold in the 400-meter (50.77), led the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays to golds and boosted the 4x100-meter relay to a third place finish.
Senior Rawley Chard was on the slate for four events for the first time this season after returning from injury. Chard and Lazzo-Barahona joined forces in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays, before Chard claimed an individual gold in the 100-meter.
Chanute freshman Jaron Powers celebrates with head coach Matt Kmiec after finishing fourth in the boys 3200-meter run at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Huntyr Schwegman | Tribune
Chard will be unable to defend his state championship in the 200-meter having finished fifth in the finals.
“There’s not a single chance I could be disappointed in Rawley Chard, 100 percent,” Kmiec said. “He’s battled through so much these last two years, and he’s gonna continue to battle. I’m excited to see what he does next week at state.”
Junior Mike Stanley put together a three-qualification day of his own, finishing third in the pole vault and 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles.
“It’s still setting in. I put in the work throughout the season and my mom has been teaching me and she’s been helping me a lot,” Stanley said, referencing Angie Stanley, the former girls 300-meter hurdles record holder at Chanute High School. “I also want to thank my coaches, I seriously couldn’t do it without them. The competition of my teammates (is also important).”
Stanley suffered an ankle injury at the Wichita State Shocker Pre-State event back in April, and has been fighting to catch up with workouts since.
Chanute junior Jordan Duncan pole vaults at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Huntyr Schwegman | Tribune
“My season didn’t start great, I was weeks behind in workouts,” Stanley said. “I’m just glad I’ve propelled back up.”
Junior Kaiden Seamster bested nemesis Marion Ryan of Parsons in the high jump, claiming gold with a pair of clean jumps. Seamster also qualified for state with a third place finish in the triple jump.
“Kaiden has done a good job all year of competing. I think he has some lofty expectations for what he wants to do next week, and today was just a stepping stone for that,” Kmiec said.
Probably the gutsiest performance of the night was by freshman Jaron Powers in the 3200-meter run. Powers was in the bottom-half of the pack for the first mile, and sat in fifth place with two laps to go.
“My coach was yelling that I could do it the whole way, so I was trying my hardest,” Powers said. “My teammates cheering me on really gave me a lot of encouragement and made me shoot for it.”
Powers kicked things into overdrive, gapping the fifth place finisher from Coffeyville in the final 800 meters. The young distance runner continued on with the kick to make his state qualification a definite statement in the final 400 meters. Powers finished a full 15 seconds ahead of Drake Leeds from Coffeyville.
“It was awesome. It’s kinda hard to explain, I didn’t see myself going all the way. I knew I could do it, but I knew it would take a lot of work,” Powers said. “I’m just happy I made it to state, especially in my freshman year.”
Seniors Dagen Dean and Eric Erbe, junior Jordan Duncan, sophomores Eliott Stephenson and Eli Uhner and freshman Tyler Rowden also qualified for the state meet in various events.
Chanute junior Kynleigh Chard takes a handoff from senior Abby Stephenson during the girls 4x100-meter relay at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Huntyr Schwegman | Tribune
Girls
The Chanute girls scored 91 team points to finish in third place behind the champion Labette County Grizzlies (102) and the Paola Panthers (95). The Blue Comets qualified for the state meet in 12 events and set nine personal-bests.
“I think we definitely performed above expectations. I knew we could do better — and I knew we would do better — and I think we came out and showed that today,” Kmiec said. “We had several individuals that weren’t ‘picked’ to qualify for state, and did. It’s really truly inspiring as a coach to see their hard work pay off.”
The girls were led by a 40-point, four-gold performance from Kynleigh Chard. The junior won gold in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and helped the 4x400-meter relay to a first place finish.
“I’m super proud of Kynleigh. She’s an ultimate competitor and she’s been working her tail off,” Kmiec said. “For her to be a four-time regional champ today is amazing.”
Chanute sophomore Macie Moore runs in the girls 3200-meter run at the KSHSAA Class 4A Regional Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Huntyr Schwegman | Tribune
Sophomore Macie Moore gutted out a runner-up finish in the 3200-meter run. Moore finished eighth in the state race as a freshman.
“I didn’t wanna disappoint my teammates and coaches. If I did it last year, I know I can do it again,” Moore said on what drove her during the two-mile race. “I just want to keep getting better. I don’t wanna get any slower and I want to improve as I go.”
Seniors Lena Aguilar, Abbigale Burtnett and Abby Stephenson, junior Camrie Ranabargar, sophomores Jakiya Brown, Layla Harbin and Violet Stich and freshman Maddie Kepley also qualified for the state meet in various events.
Up Next
The Blue Comets are now in full preparation for the KSHSAA All Class State Track and Field Championships, hosted at Wichita State University May 26-27. First action for Chanute is in the girls 100-meter hurdles preliminaries at 2:10 pm on Friday. First action on Saturday is set for 8 am, the girls 100-meter preliminaries. Gates open an hour before the first event on both days.
“We’re gonna continue to get better, try to get healthy and just enjoy each other,” Kmiec said. “I just want to enjoy coaching these kids for one more week.”
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