NW Kansas has 'girl power'
By CONOR NICHOLL
A Class 3A team championship for the area. Four individual gold medals by three different athletes. A sweep of the distance events. Winning back-to-back state titles at two different classifications.
All those events either never have happened or occurred rarely among local and area high schools at the Kansas state track and field meet at Wichita's Cessna Stadium. But every event could happen this weekend -- on the girls' side.
"They are some outstanding athletes at several different schools here in northwest Kansas," Phillipsburg head coach J.B. Covington said. "Those girls are going to go down and represent northwest Kansas I think extremely well."
The girls' teams, especially at the Class 2A and 3A ranks, feature some of the state's best talent -- talent that could reach historic plateaus.
Teamwise, the Norton girls' team, which won the Class 3A Regional at Lakin last Friday by 65 points over runner-up Thomas More Prep-Marian, are considered the favorites by several coaches to win the state championship.
"We are very excited as a team," Norton head coach Jason Jones said. "We are just happy to get the opportunity to compete at that next level."
It would mark the first 3A girls' championship in the area since Norton won with 62 points in 1982, according to records kept at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Web site. This year's team features junior middle-distance runner Laura Lee Baird and junior thrower Hayli Bozarth.
Baird and Bozarth are ranked no worse than fourth in any of their seven events, including a first-place seed for Baird in the 800-meter run. Overall, Norton carries two firsts, three seconds, three thirds, one fourth and one fifth as seeds into state.
"I think they will (win)," TMP-Marian head coach Matt Dumler said. "Norton is good. Just looking at the regional results, ones and twos, tons of firsts, tons of seconds. I really think they are the team to beat, I really don't think anybody will catch them."
Few can catch Bozarth and Baird, two athletes who could win multiple state titles. However, the area could yield several girls with four state championships. According to Hall of Fame records, only nine girls (11 times) and five boys ever have won four titles in the same season.
None are from the area.
This spring, TMP-Marian senior sprinter/jumper Kim Haberman, Ellis junior sprinter/jumper/thrower Whitney Taylor and Atwood-Rawlins County senior hurdler/jumper Macy Migchelbrink all have a chance at a quartet after they won one title in 2007.
Plainville senior Aubrey Frederking, a two-time cross country champion and the defending 2A champ in the 1,600-meters and the 3,200-meters, could win the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 this weekend.
No area girl even won three individual titles last season.
"That is hard to do, but we have got some people that are capable of that," Hill City head coach Keith Riley said.
Haberman, the defending Class 4A long jump champion, has been the best jumper, regardless of classification, all spring. Few jumpers have even come within a foot of her marks. In the 100 and 200 meters, Haberman ranks third and second, respectively.
"She has been at the top for three or four years now," Russell head coach David King said. "She has improved every year from her freshman year, and that is something that you don't see with everybody. I think this is her best year."
For the 100, Haberman ran under the state record earlier this season and could set a new Class 3A mark.
For the 200, Haberman's 25.7 seconds at regionals was only beaten by Wichita Independent's Sierra Gant. Haberman's skill makes the Monarchs a state title contender.
"Looking at Kim there from TMP, I think the TMP girls and the Norton girls both have a great shot at winning state team titles just off of elite athletes," Covington said. "They are not just one event-type girls, they are multiple event type girls. I think that says a lot for the caliber of athlete that they are."
Taylor, who won the 200 meters as a sophomore and the discus as a freshman, stands first in the 100, second in the 200, third in the high jump and seventh in the discus for Class 2A. Her discus throw at regionals, though, was 11 feet less than her season best.
"We have been working pretty hard this week on fine tuning a few things -- with her being a sprinter as far as getting her legs back under her and getting her all ready to go down to state," Ellis coach Jack Wolf said.
Migchelbrink, the 100-meter hurdles champion at Class 1A in 2007, is one-third of Atwood's superb senior trio that includes thrower Sara Miller and distance runner Laura Wolters. They led the Buffs to the Class 1A title last season and re the Class 2A favorite.
"It's been a fun ride," Buffs head coach John Terry said. "Next year, I am going to start coaching again because I am losing my seniors."
Migchelbrink, a Fort Hays State University signee, ranks second, third, third and fourth in her four events. She will compete in the 100 and 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump. In the hurdles, she trails Pretty Prairie junior Jenny Welker, whom she beat in the 100 last season.
Four state titles likely would make Atwood the first ever girls' team to win back-to-back state titles at two different classifications, another rarity for the area and local girls this weekend.