By CONOR NICHOLL
Meade has enjoyed excellent success in many boys’ and girls’ sports, including a strong start in the 2022 track season.
Meade boys won back-to-back cross country 1A state championships, and a 13-0 record for an Eight-Man, Division I title last fall. Junior Grayden Stapleton was the Buffs’ top receiver.
In cross country, sophomore Logan Keith was fifth at the state meet. The Buffs volleyball team, which co-ops with Fowler, went 35-2. Seniors Shelby Christiansen, Kylin Rudzik, Allie Miller and sophomore Carlie Martin were among the key players.
Meade boys’ basketball went 15-8 with three losses, including the sub-state championship, to eventual state runner-up Montezuma-South Gray. Meade girls went 11-10 and Rudzik paced the team with seven points and 6.6 rebounds a contest. In the fall, Meade girls qualified its team for state cross country and earned eighth.
Last spring, Meade boys tallied 32 points and were eighth at the 1A state track meet. The Buff girls scored 11 points and finished 20th. Rudzik was fifth in the 100 hurdles at 16.15. She earned sixth in the 300 hurdles at 47.89. Rudzik ran on the 400 relay that earned fifth in 52.70. Meade’s 1,600 relay took 12th, and the 3,200 relay was tenth.
On the boys’ side, Torren Haynes and Brock Keith went 4-9 in the 400 dash as a junior and freshman, respectively. Haynes was a first team all-state quarterback, while Brock Keith was a key member of both cross country and football championships.
As of Saturday, Logan Keith has the No. 1 time for 1A in the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 7.39 seconds, per Kansas historian Carol Swenson.
Stapleton paces the classification in the 110-meter hurdles with 15.30 seconds, which ranks No. 11 for all classes. No other 1A runner has cleared 15.9.
The Buffs pace 1A in the 3,200 relay at 8:49.68. Junior Madison Sutterfield paces 1A girls in the 1,600 with 5:39.49 and the 3,200 at 12:22.93.
Rudzik stands third in 1A, second in her league and top-20 in all classes in the 100 hurdles at 16.05. Rudzik is also third in 1A and top-15 statewide in the 300 hurdles in 49.11. Martin is first in 1A and No. 12 for all classes in triple jump with 35-9.25.
The Shocker Pre-State Challenge at Wichita State University annually has top competitors from all classes. Competition is split into 1-3A, 4-6A and Elite. Nineteen teams scored in the Elite division for the boys, and 15 for the girls for the April 7-8 meet.
Meade had a solid performance against generally much larger schools. The boys tied for tenth with five points. The girls were 12th with three points.
Rudzik earned fourth in the 300 hurdles in 49.55 behind runners from 5A Great Bend, 5A Bishop Carroll and 4A Clearwater. She also competed in the 100 hurdles (16.92) and the 400 relay (55.44). Rudzik finished fourth in the 100 hurdles, trailing runners from Buhler, Andover and Great Bend.
For the boys, Stapleton earned sixth in the hurdles at 16.26. He also competed in the 300 hurdles (43.18), the 1,600 relay (3:50.52) and the 400 relay (47.36). Logan Keith posted his 1A best of 2:07.39 in the 800 at Pre State. Keith also ran on the 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay (8:49.68).
Sutterfield posted her 5:32.80 in the 1,600, and 11:17.35 in the 3,200 at Pre-State. She took sixth in the Elite for 1,600, behind multiple state cross country/track champions. Martin picked up the 1-3A triple jump championship with her big leap.
Multiple Meade athletes competed Friday at the longtime Glenn Cunningham Relays in Elkhart. Haynes and Keith finished 1-2 in the 400 at 54.26 and 55.44 seconds, respectively. Freshman Anthony Godfrey was second in the 800 at 2:13.70. Freshman Jobjosiah Muthiani was second in the 1,600 with 5:19.27.
Keith and Muthiani went 1-3 in the 3,200 with 11:00.65 and 12:00.56, respectively. Stapleton won the 110 and 300 hurdles with 15.30 and 42.24. Meade ran 46.57 in the 400 relay, just .04 behind Liberal. The Buffs captured the 1,600 relay with 3:34.81.
Junior Kasch Jackson was second in the long jump in 18-10.5, second in the triple at 37-7.75 and third in the javelin (116-1). Senior Cullen Lumry, a first team all-state lineman, was second in the discus (110-3) and junior Brady Papay was third in 102-8. Lumry, Cole Papay and Brady Papay went 3-5-6 in the shot put.
Senior Allie Miller took second in the 400 at 1 minute, 6.94 seconds. Sutterfield won the 800 in 2:33.19, the 1,600 with 5:42.41 and the 3,200 with 13:35.06. Rudzik collected the 100 hurdles with 16.05 and the 300 hurdles (49.28).
Freshman Dallas Sherman, Christiansen and junior Harley Paul went 2-3-4 in the discus. Paul and Sherman were 2-4 in the javelin.
