ELA-VATED

Prior to her very first event as a high school track and field athlete, Ela Hartman was unsure what a realistic goal was to clear in the high jump.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t practiced it yet,” said the Kingfisher High School freshman. “Maybe 4-10.”

She was wrong. Hartman jumped an even 5-feet to win the gold medal in the Mike Tyson Invitational last Friday in Thomas.

Not done, Hartman also won first in the long jump and was also part of a silver medal 800 relay team.

She helped lead Kingfi sher’s girls to a second place finish in the team standings.

The Lady Jackets scored 93.5 points, second only to Fairview’s 114.

Laverne was third with a 71. There were 15 teams competing at the meet.

Hartman won two of the three individual golds claimed by KHS as she jumped 16 feet 5 1/2 inches in the long jump, winning it by four inches.

The other gold was delivered by senior Talor Mecklenburg, who won the 100 meter hurdles. She ran the race in 17.29, edging Okeene’s Bailee Grigsby by .27 second.

Of the four relay events, Kingfisher won one and was second in two others.

The win came from the legs of Mattie Slezickey, Lily Lunsford, Scout Snodgrass and Harper Evans in the 4x800.

Snodgrass was the third leg and ran down three competitors to give Evans the baton with the lead.

The senior held onto it as KHS finished in 10:29.10.

Snodgrass and Hartman were joined by Reese Roof and Abbie Myers to take second in the 800 relay while Snodgrass, Myers, Slezickey and Mecklenburg were runners-up in the mile relay.

Evans was among those scoring points individually for KHS as she was third in the two-mile run.

Roof was fifth in the 400 meter dash and sixth in the 100 hurdles.

Taitym Walker took sixth in the 100, Addison Price sixth in the mile and Rylee Long-Bush sixth in the high jump.

The Kingfisher boys’ lone point came from Wyatt Long as he took sixth in the 800.

Kingfisher’s girls finished sixth in the junior high standings with 52.5 points.

That point total was boosted by gold in the 3,200 meter relay.

The winning team consisted of Ryan Farrar, Kellyn Young, Hinsley Brodrick and Brailyn Schroeder and crossed the line in 11:12.58.

Addi Francis won individual gold as she was first in the 100 hurdles in 19.53 seconds.

Ryan Farrar took third in the 800 in 2:38.54.

For the junior high boys, Steel Snodgrass won medals in two events.

He was the 100 meter champ in 12.27 seconds and the silver medalist in the 200 in 24.47.

The boys finished 10th in the team standings with 29 points.

KINGFISHER’S Ela Hartman clears the bar in her first jump of the day at last Friday’s track meet in Thomas. Hartman went on to win gold in the event as well as the long jump. Below is Harper Evans fi nishing up the anchor leg of the gold medal winning 3,200 meter relay team. [KT&FP Staff Photos]