BURLINGTON — With their races held in a perpetual rinse cycle, Marmaton Valley High’s Kristyna Snyrychova and Hanover’s Ceegan Atkins put forth a pair of red-hot performances on the track Thursday.
It was Snyrychova who shined brightest, claiming Class 1A Regional titles in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles races, edging out the Hanover speedster at the finish line in both.
With the victories, Snyrychova qualifies to represent Marmaton Valley in next week’s Class 1A State Track Meet in Wichita.
Despite the rain, Snyrychova also reset the Marmaton Valley 100-meter hurdles record — twice. Her mark in the preliminary round of 16.18 seconds bettered her old record she had set last week, Smith said.
Then, she lowered it even more in Thursday’s finals to 15.92 seconds.
Snyrychova will be joined in Wichita with teammate Janae Granere, who qualified with her second-place finishes in both the long jump and triple jump. Granere’s long jump mark of 16 feet, 7.5 inches, came up a quarter-inch short of Blue Valley’s Landry Zoeller.
The Wildcat coaches lauded both Snyrychova and Granere for their work in miserable weather conditions. A steady rain pelted athletes up until the final hour of the day, with organizers halting the proceedings twice when the rains made it unsafe to compete.
“This was one of the toughest regionals around,” Marmaton Valley assistant coach Dan Uhlrich said. “For them to be first and second, if they put a good week of practice in, they’ve got a chance to do something next week at state. They’ve got a shot, not to just be on the medal stand, but be at the top of the medal stand.”
They’ll be joined in Wichita next Saturday by Crest High’s Ursula Billings and Southern Coffey County High’s Aiden Voorhees, both of whom qualified in two events.
Billings, a long-distance specialist, qualified courtesy of her second-place finish in the 3200-meter run and fourth in the 1600-meter run.
Meanwhile, Voorhees placed third in the boys’ high jump and fourth in the boys’ triple jump.
The top four finishers in each event all qualify for the state meet.
Crest freshman Mia Coleman missed out on making it to state in the girls’ 200-meter dash by .02 seconds. For persective’s sake, it takes a tenth of a second to blink your eye.
Coleman finished fifth in the 200, at 29.26 seconds. Kanyon Olberding of Jackson Heights finished fourth in 29.24.
MARMATON Valley head coach Steve Smith said his athletes have made an impact on their teammates in their brief time on the track team. Snyrychova is an exchange student in her first year at MV; Granere is an incoming freshman.
