ShawneeDispatch.com

Lawrence — It's an overcast Friday morning at Memorial Stadium, but the high school portion of the Kansas Relays is under way.

Shawnee Mission Northwest, Shawnee Mission North, Mill Valley and St. James Academy all have athletes participating today and Saturday in the Relays.

Stay tuned to shawneedispatch.com throughout the weekend for live updates from the Relays.

EVENT UPDATES

It's early in the day, but the area already has its first champions at the Relays.

Shawnee Mission Northwest grabbed gold in the first boys race of the day - the four-mile relay. Senior Jared Ellsworth, freshman Aaron Thornburg, freshman Sterling Spencer and junior Kyle Schlicht cruised to a six-second victory in 18:40.53.

The next boys event, the shuttle hurdle relay, also had a local flavor. Shawnee Mission North captured the gold by covering the back straightaway four times in 1:04.21. Aaron Sawyer, Garrick Jordan, Edwin Jackson and Devin Root combined for the championship. Blue Springs (Mo.) was second in 1:05.35, and Shawnee Mission Northwest's squad of Kyle Kotzman, Anthony Williams, Evan Mesh and Evan Hayes finished third in 1:05.51.

Another local top performer was Northwest senior pole vaulter Christine Botteron. She placed third with a clearance of 10 feet, 8 inches.

Also in early competition, Mill Valley junior Max Carroll was 13th in the javelin with a toss of 163-8, Northwest sophomore Erica Brand was 30th in the shot put with a throw of 32-11 3/4, and the North girls shuttle hurdle relay team of Chelsea Kieffer, Storm Simons, Jazmin Richmond and Vanessa Sanders was disqualified.

Northwest sophomores Lisa Imgrund and Christine Nelson finished 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 3,200. Imgrund crossed the finish line in 11:31.78, and Nelson was close behind in 11:32.41.

In the boys' 3,200, SMNW junior Daniel Munro was 16th in 9:59.21, and senior teammate Diego Ladron was 19th in 10:03.74.

St. James Academy junior Michael Hollembeak tied for 13th in the high jump with a clearance of 6-2.

Mill Valley junior Katie Bauer was 12th in the triple jump with a leap of 34-7 1/2.

Photo by Chris Wristen

Mill Valley senior Matt Sittenauer leans for the finish line during his preliminary heat of the 100-meter dash on Friday at the Kansas Relays.

Mill Valley senior Matt Sittenauer and SMNW junior Mark Fancher both competed in the 100 preliminaries, but neither advanced to the finals. Sittenauer's time was 11.25, and Fancher's was 11.43.

In the 300-meter hurdles, Shawnee Mission North junior Storm Simons won her heat and finished 19th overall out of 37 runners in 48.70. Teammate Chelsea Keiffer was 29th in 50.11. In the boys' race, Northwest senior Evan Mesh was seventh in 40.02 and North's Aaron Sawyer was eighth in 40.44. Northwest's Evan Hayes also competed and finished in 43.59.

Northwest's Aaron Thornburg, Jacob Gray, Kyle Schlicht and Sterling Spencer finished 10th in the distance medley in 11:13.19.

In the boys 400-meter relay, Mill Valley finished 22nd in 44.46 and SMNW was 40th in 44.96. In the girls' race, Mill Valley's squad of Alaina Fairbanks, Alexis Butler, Naomi Smith and Brianna Childs was 16th in 51.75, and North's Jodi Young, Quinique Ivory, Chelsea Keiffer and Storm Simons were 26th in 52.69. St. James Academy also participated in the race, and Allie Schmidtberger, Jennie Kinsella, Molly O'Brien and Abbie Krause finished 39th in 54.23.

LATE EVENTS

Both Mill Valley and Shawnee Mission Northwest's girls competed in the 1,600-meter relay, but neither finished in the top eight to advance to Saturday's finals. Mill Valley came close as Khalila Smith, Katie Bauer, Jasa DuMontelle and Whitney Hartman finished 14th in 4:16.64, three seconds away from a qualifying time. Northwest's Cailee Kelly, Kirstie Sanders, Alicia Watson and Lauren Karley were 23rd in 4:20.61.

Photo by Chris Wristen

Mill Valley sophomore Jasa DuMontelle tries to clear the bar at 5-2 during the high jump on Friday at the Kansas Relays. DuMontelle placed 10th in the event.

Jasa DuMontelle also competed in the high jump. She placed 10th with a clearance of 5-2. St. Thomas Aquinas' Allison Mayfield, the defending Class 5A state champion, won the event with a clearance of 5-4.

In the pole vault, Shawnee Mission North senior Nico Yoch placed eighth with a clearance of 13-5 1/4.

The SMNW boys competed in the 1,600-meter relay and placed 15th in 3:32.04 but fell a few seconds short of advancing to Saturday's finals.