KHS girls 4th at loaded WAC meet

The 2022 Western Athletic Conference Track & Field Meet was a veritable “meet of champions” on the girls side.

It featured the 2021 Class 4A state champion (Weatherford) and runner-up (Tuttle) as well as two other teams (Bethany and Kingfisher) that finished among the top eight.

Of the 17 events in Oklahoma high school track and field, the conference claimed state titles in 11 of them in 2021 and only one of the major contributors to those titles - Weatherford’s Kennadi Price - was lost to graduation.

That meant last Friday’s meet at Elgin High School featured reigning state champs in six individual events and all four relays.

“Without a doubt that’s the toughest meet our girls will compete in outside of state,” said coach Kerri Lafferty. We’re in the toughest class (4A) and then the toughest conference in that class.”

The Lady Jackets eventually finished fourth with their 81 team points.

Tuttle won the conference title with 138, edging Weatherford’s 135.

Cache was third with 108.

“We ran well, but we’ll need to do even better this weekend,” Lafferty said, referring to the 4A regional meet which will be Saturday at Chisholm High School.

One of the toughest decisions each meet for Ally Stephenson is deciding in which events she’ll compete.

The school record-holder in five separate events, Stephenson didn’t take any shortcuts.

“She wanted to push herself against the best in the state, so those were the events she picked,” Lafferty said.

Stephenson took part in the 100 hurdles with defending state champion Madi Surber of Tuttle; the 200 meter dash with state champ Lilly Ray of Weatherford; the long jump against defending state champ Madisyn Crandall of Cache; and the high jump, in which she is the two-time state champ.

When the meet was over, Stephenson had earned two golds and a silver, added to one of her school records and learned a lesson in another.

The record came in the long jump where Stephenson flew 18 feet, 6 inches on her first and last jumps of the day.

That bested Crandall, whose best jump was 18-3. Crandall edged Stephenson in last year’s state meet.

Stephenson’s jumped bested her mark of 18-4 she set earlier this year at Cashion. She has added nearly two full feet to the record since originally breaking it at the beginning of the 2021 season.

The other gold came in the high jump where her clearance of 5-2 was enough to beat Tuttle’s Landry Allen, who was the state runner-up last season.

In the 100 hurdles, Surber set the state meet record in 2021 and also won in a head-to-head matchup with Stephenson earlier this season when the latter tripped on a hurdle and fell to the surface.

Stephenson again clipped a hurdle in this showdown, but was able to regain her footing.

Still, the miscue was enough for Surber to surge ahead and claim gold in 14.65 seconds. Stephenson was second in 15.54.

The 200 was the only event in which Stephenson didn’t medal, but it was due more to a mistake on her part and not a lack of speed.

Ray had the field defeated and won in 25.15 seconds. Stephenson was solidly

Stephenson was solidly in second place when she crossed what she thought was the finish line.

That line, however, was actually about 10 meters shy of the actual finish. Stephenson had slowed considerably and crossed the finish in 27.07…after two other competitors passed her. “I thought I was at the

“I thought I was at the line and was stopping,” she said. “Then I looked up and saw the cones where the actual finish line was.”

Rios-Ramirez takes bronze in pole vault

When she entered the season, the best Dani Rios-Ramirez had achieved in the pole vault was 7 feet. The senior has continu

The senior has continually improved on that mark and on Friday took the bronze medal after jumping 8-6 to set a new personal record.

“And I know she has higher jumps in her,” said Shiloh (Layn) Kannady, who works with Kingfisher’s pole vaulters and owns the school record for girls.

Kannady said the improvement for Rios-Ramirez began well before the season started.

“She’s been working since Christmas in the weight room and on the track,” Kannady said.

Rios-Ramirez will attempt this weekend to qual-ify for state for the first time.

The jump of 8-6 is among the best 10 jumps in 4A this season. If she qualifies, Kannady said it will be well-deserved.

“She puts in so much extra time working before and after practice on her technique,” she said.

Rios-Ramirez also serves as a mentor.

“She’s really stepped up as a leader for our new vaulters who have emerged this year,” Kannady said, noting the program has six new vaulters in 2022.

Distance runners Liberty Starr and Katon Lunsford also brought home medals from the conference meet.

Starr, a freshman, was third in the 3,200 meter run as she finished in 13:10.58.

Lunsford, one of the program’s seniors, took third in the 800 in 2:37.52. Chesni Newkirk was fifth in the event.

Newkirk was also fifth in the mile run, one spot ahead of Starr.

Girls Team Standings

Tuttle 138 Weatherford 135

Weatherford 135

Cache 108

Kingfisher 81

Blanchard 53

Clinton 34

Elgin 34

Bethany 28

Newcastle 21

Anadarko 10

Woodward 9