Former Yates Center High track and cross country star Hadley Splechter recently broke the Kansas State University men’s indoor mile record.
Splechter’s time was 4:02:07, breaking the previous record of 4:02:42 set in 1976 by Jeff Schemmel.
Splechter, a junior, accomplished the feat at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 11. It’s the latest in a long list of accomplishments for the Division I track star.
Splechter’s previous best mile time was a 4:02.98 mark at the 2022 Big 12 Championships.
“When you step on the track and line up against everybody, it’s you versus you but it’s also you versus a bunch of other people,” said Splechter. “There’s nobody to blame at the end of the day besides yourself and how you do. Nobody really dictates the outcome of the race.”
As a high-schooler, Splechter won a combined 12 state championships including two in cross country, two apiece in the 800m and 4x800m as well as three championships apiece in the 1600m and 3200m. He also led Yates Center as a team to win the 2017 Class 2A state cross country championship.
Splechter admits that he didn’t know much about distance running early in his high school days but quickly realized he had a talent.
“I didn’t really know that much about distance running when I was a freshman or even a sophomore,” Splechter said. “I just knew I was good at it and it came natural to me.”
When his high school career was all said and done, Splechter qualified for three Class 2A state cross country championships.
As a junior, he won the individual state title with a 5k time of 16:05.1. He topped that his senior year in 2018 with a 5k time of 15:57.5.
“The state track championships top of the list,” said Splechter. “We won state cross country one year and I won some state championships individually but the fun one to win was the 4×8 relay because three other guys got to win the state championship as well. Whatever I was doing I wanted to compete and win.”
The Wildcat also excelled at basketball for Yates Center.
Today, Splechter said he enjoys running the mile the most of any distance. Splechter’s freshman season at K-State was cut short due to the COVID-pandemic and he was able to run only in indoor events.
One of his best races was last year during the outdoor season when he ran at the NCAA West Preliminary 1500m event in a time of 3:43.54, good for 15th place overall.
The distance runner has competed against some of the top competition in the country throughout his college career including when he ran his personal-best time of 14:16.73 in the 5000m at the Big 12 Track Championships in 2021.
