Kansas state track: Ali Cash breaks 32-year-old 1,600 record

WICHITA, Kan. – Class 6A West (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) junior Alli Cash, one of the nation's best distance runners, had three races in 90-plus degree heat and strong winds Saturday at the state track meet at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium.

Cash had the 3,200-meter relay earlier in the day, followed by the 1,600-meter run and the 800-meter run. Because of the conditions, Cash and her coach decided to go for the state mark in the 1,600.

"He was like, ‘The 800, just go for place, whatever you can do, just leave it all out there,'" Cash said.

The plan worked well. Cash ran 4 minutes, 52.31 seconds, the fastest time, in all classes, in the Kansas state track meet history. She broke a 32-year-old record of 4:55 set by Shawnee Mission-East in 1980 by Lori Nelson.

Her teammate, senior Jonah Heng, also broke the all-classes state record in the boys' 3,200.

Later, Cash won the 800 in 2:15.51, more than seven seconds off the all-classes state record.

"It takes a toll as the day goes on, just because I have been out in the sun all day," she said.

Still, Cash was pleased with her four-gold medal performance. She also won the 3,200 Friday morning (10:46.71) and led the 3,200 relay to another gold medal (9:24.28). West took fifth as a team with 42 points. Cash called the relay the most important gold.

"It's pretty important, just because I love all of our teammates," Cash said. "I love the team building, bonding."

West had a timing snafu with the relay. The team believed the relay started at 12:30 p.m. Instead, it started shortly after 10:30 a.m. The meet schedule ran all six girls' relays and then all six boys' relays.

"We thought it alternate boys, girls, boys, girls," she said. "So we got here when 4A was running the 4x8, so we just ran down here and did a couple (warmup) laps pretty quick. Everyone was freaking out and I think it helps because our adrenaline was really going."

In the 1,600, Cash ran the first lap in 71 seconds and stayed with the lead pack before she quickly made a move after the 400-meter mark.

To save energy, Cash didn't warm up much before the 800 and looked fresher on her second lap.

"I felt better the second lap than the first," she said. "So maybe my legs didn't need to warm up some. Before the 800, I didn't want to warm up too much, because I had ran a lot today, but after the first lap, I felt pretty good."

West's Heng also sets state mark

Entering the Class 6A 3,200 run, Heng wasn't thinking about the state record. His best was 9:18 entering state.

However, Heng ran consistent splits around 67 seconds and won the race in 9:06.64. He broke the record of 9:08.18 set by Shawnee Mission South's Brent Steiner in 1979.

"I was surprised that I even did it and I feel great about it," he said.

Heng thought he started out a little fast and came across the 400-meter mark in 64-65 seconds. After that, he settled in.

"I just got in a zone, I think, and just tried to keep it moving," he said. "I was getting tired a little bit, but you've just got to step on it and keep going."

Carroll sets new 5A marks in pole vault, 1,600

One of the traditions of the Kansas state track meet — the largest high school state meet in the country — is announcer Don Steffens telling the crowd when an athlete is close to a record. Then, several thousand fans focus in on the event.

Carroll (Wichita, Kan.) junior Nick Meyer relished the excitement when he went for a Class 5A mark in the pole vault. Meyer pumped up the crowd with his arms and then delivered a vault of 16 feet, 7 inches, one inch better than the 5A record set last year by Gardner-Edgerton's Casey Bowen.

"I love it," he said. "I think it helps getting the crowd into the sport instead of just watching it. It helps me and I think that it just livens up the atmosphere. Last year, I remember (Casey Bowen) just jumping really high and getting all those claps and getting all this energy. I told myself last year that I want that."

Meyer set the mark on a 16-foot pole, just the second time he had ever jumped with a pole of that length. He cleared on his third attempt.

"It feels really good," he said. "It feels like all of my hard work in the summer and last season has been paying off. I just hope that I can continue it. My goal was 16-6, so I beat it, so I was really happy."

His teammate, senior David Thor swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. In the 1,600, he ran 4:15.43 to break the 5A mark of 4:16.60 set by Salina South's Jason Goertzen in 1986.

"I was shooting for a really good time this year, and I had been kind of coming up short in the past few years of my goals," Thor said. "This time, I finally did it. I pushed through the pain barrier and I finally got it."

Hays High wins

The Hays boys' team scored 118 points and won the Class 5A boys' title for the third straight year. Carroll was second with 104 points. The Indians have never lost a meet since coach Ryan Cornelsen took over three years ago. Cornelsen, also an accomplished football coach, is the son of former Liberal great Gary Cornelsen, who won a Kansas record 14 straight boys' crowns from 1991-2004.

Only Wichita East (1964-67) and Liberal have won more than three straight titles in boys' history.

"Coach, he is just an amazing coach," junior Derek Bixenman, who took second in the high jump, said. "Everything he tells us, everything that he does, rides us all year, just telling us what we did wrong and everything and that just helps – it helps so much. The environment here is just insane. I have never done anything like it. It's crazy. It's fun."

Other top performances

* Andover freshman Jaylyn Agnew won the girls Class 5A high jump with a mark of 5-10, ranked in the top five nationally, according to Kansas historian Carol Swenson.

"It's very surreal," Agnew said of ranking that high. "I don't believe it. I just feel like I am jumping for Andover High School."

* Class 6A Gardner-Edgerton (Gardner) Cassie Wait broke the all-classes state record in the girls' pole vault when she vaulted 12-7½. She also shares the Class 5A record of 12 feet with two other girls, including Salina Central's Taylor Swanson, who went 12 feet Friday.

* Phillipsburg junior Sean Newlan had fought strep throat for the last two weeks, but won the Class 3A 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and helped the 400 relay to a title. He also finished second in the discus. Newlan has won the 110s two straight years.

E-mail Conor Nicholl at Cnicholl1@gmail.com