By KLINT SPILLER

kspiller@dailynews.net

WICHITA -- When Hays High junior Cade Sharp stepped off the awards podium at Cessna Stadium this morning, he was frowning.

He just had been crowned Class 5A state discus champion, and yet, he wasn't satisfied.

To him, a first-place finish was good. He maximized his effect for his team in its battle with state contender Wichita-Bishop Carroll, but he didn't beat the one opponent he valued beating the most -- himself.

Sharp's throw of 161 feet and 2 inches bested the field by more than seven feet, but he was 14 inches short of his personal record and nine feet short of his goal for the meet (170).

"It's not bad," Sharp said about what it meant to be a state champion. "I'm still happy I won, but it's just a personal competition with myself. If I don't beat that, then in my eyes, I didn't win."

Hays High started Day 1 with a bang with Sharp finishing first in the discus, but it was senior Luke Madden who supplied the biggest gain in the event.

Not even having one of the top four marks in Class 5A, Madden broke his personal record with a throw of 153-9 to finish second, beating Liberal's Justin McPhail and Bishop Carroll's Matt Melillo. Senior Zach Binder added points as well with a sixth-place finish (143-4).

"You kind of come in with a negative part of your mind and a positive part," Madden said. "The positive part is thinking 'Yeah, (I can hit a PR),' but the negative one is always thinking about failing. I'm definitely glad I succeeded today."

Bishop-Carroll actually outscored Hays High 34 to 20 in the morning with a 1-2-6 finish in the 3,200-meter run, first in the pole vault and fourth in the discus.

However, juniors Adam Deterding and Derek Bixenman responded at noon with a 1-2 finish in the high jump, each jumping 6-6, but Deterding won based on fewer attempts.

Deterding said he was surprised no other jumpers cleared 6-6 since Topeka West's L.J. Wallace and Goddard-Eisenhower's Zach Bush had cleared 6-7 and 6-8, respectively, earlier this season.

"I know they are two great jumpers," Deterding said. "... I figured it would be us four at the last height, and I figured it would be 6-8. But I guess it worked out for the best this year."

It is Deterding's first high jump state championship. He finished second as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman.

Deterding nearly didn't make it past 6-4. He missed on his first two jumps, but after getting advice and encouragement from fellow jumpers, he got over it on his third.

For Bixenman, his first trip to state in the event was a rewarding one.

"I just had to do my part to step up and do what I had to do," Bixenman said. "That's what I did. I came focused, and I'm glad I'm able to share something like this with my buddy, Deter, too."

Deterding also finished sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 44-7.75. Hays High senior T.J. Dreiling finished seventh (44-3.25).

After Friday's finals, Hays High leads Bishop Carroll 41 to 34.

On the girls' side, sophomore Wendy Zimmerman finished sixth in the high jump with a leap of 5-2 -- two inches short of her season best.

All other state-qualifying Hays High girls failed to escape preliminaries, so Zimmerman, who also competes in the triple jump and 800-meter run, will be the only girl competing Saturday.

Failing to make finals on the track;

Girls -- Ashlyn Parrish, 100 hurdles, 16.97; Mattie Schlaefli, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, 17.01 and 49.89; Hanna Pfannenstiel, 400, 1:01.27; 1,600-meter relay (Schlaefli, Zimmerman, Summer Smith, Pfannenstiel), 4:16.34.

Boys -- Josh Brungardt, 400, 52.90; Shawn Herrman, 400, 53.17;