Great Bend distance runner Kaiden Esfeld is not one to rest on any of his past laurels.
The junior track standout has proven that once again during the 2022 spring season in which he has elevated his performances in the 800, 1600 and to some extent the 3200-meter runs.
He is among the elite 800 and 1600-meter runners in Class 5A in Kansas.
In the recent Western Athletic Conference track and field championship at Dodge City, the Panther runner won the 800, placed second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 and was named the 2022 Male Track Athlete of the Year by the league’s coaches.
It was the second consecutive year for the Great Bend runner to be named the top male track and field athlete in the five-team WAC.
“I kept asking coach, ‘Did I really get it?’” Esfeld said. “I was more astonished than surprised. Losing the 1,600 and 3,200 (to Garden City’s Devin Chappel). It’s an honor and I’m very happy to be recognized.”
Esfeld’s fastest times this year are 1:56.98 in the 800, and 4:25.91 in the 1,600. Those times represented the third and seventh best in Class 5A entering regional meets.
The Panther runner said the recent times in the WAC championship were slower just because nobody wanted to go out early and set a fast pace.
“It looked like jogging is what somebody told me,” Esfeld said. “When you have just five teams competing there’s not much time to rest between events. You just run fast enough and then sprint to the finish line.”
Esfeld said he prefers a more steady pace to separate from the field by the time the runners get to the final lap.
“I’m not really a fan of really slow running because you just feel like your kind of out of your running elements,” Esfeld said.
With the regular season completed, Esfeld and coach Lyles Lashley decided to forego the 3,200 in the regional and focus on the two shorter races.
“There are a bunch of good 3,200 runners back east. We felt last year the 3,200 took a lot of out me for Saturda. We’ll concentrate on the 800 and 1,600,” Esfeld said. “I’ve gotten faster with how to strategize, but I’ve gotten more confident to go out strong and improved my mental strength to keep that going.”
Esfeld said he hopes to run under 4:20 in the 1600 and is looking for a 1:53 or lower in the 800 when he gets to the state meet on May 27-28 at Wichita’s Cessna Stadium.
“I’ve trained all winter for this and gotten stronger with the weights,” he said. “I’m feeling better every time I’m running. In the past I might get exhausted but now it’s almost like I can go right back out there and run another race.”
Esfeld has captured two WAC cross country runner of the year awards.
“Running is just something you can do alone and it is rewarding when you do something good with it,” he said.
Lady Buff earns WAC track award
Great Bend’s girls won the WAC team championship and its coach, Lyles Lashley, was voted Coach of the Year in the girls division.
The 2022 Western Athletic Conference track and field championship had just finished with it final event on Thursday evening, May 12, at Dodge City’s Memorial Stadium.
Garden City senior Kristin Roth was standing with her Buffalo teammates awaiting the final awards when one of her coaches told her to go to the center of the field to meet with one of the Dodge City coaches.
She had no idea why.
Despite winning the long jump and triple jump and placing second in the 100-meter hurdles, Garden City finished last in the five-school team standings.
She had been voted the 2022 WAC Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year.
“To say the least, I was surprised,” Roth said. “The recognition is certainly nice and I have good marks, but I was shocked. When I heard my name, it was confusing. I didn’t hit me until the Dodge coach told me what I had won.”
Considering that Great Bend walked away with the team title and other competitors were double-winners, the award came to an appreciative Roth, capping off her final season of high school sports.
“There’s a lot of other athletes who put in the same kind of work and have a great work ethic,” said Roth. “To be singled out is very meaningful and it will be a very good memory.”
Her season best marks are 17-03 in the long jump, 35-11.75 in the triple jump and 15.77 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. Those marks rank her in Class 6A in the top 15 in long jump, No. 7 in the triple jump and No. 6 in the hurdles.
She will have to be at her best at regionals, then has the goal of medaling at state in at least the triple jump, and hurdles.
“I’m not the best at the long jump,” she confessed. “I just really started doing that event my junior year and the same with the hurdles.
I am still learning so much about the events. I know I need to get my trail leg down faster in the hurdles and if I do that, my time will be faster, too.”
Like many athletes, Roth finds herself checking out the weekly state rankings in all three events. Therefore, she realizes that the competition at both the regional and state will be tough.
“I’ll have to be at my best,” she said. “Everybody wants to perform their best at state.”
Roth considers the triple jump to be her best event. Not surprising since that is the one in which she has the most experience.
“I definitely enjoy the triple jump more,” she said. “I like the complexity of the three parts of the event.”
In the old days, the event was called the hop, skip and jump. Each one transitions into the next until the final jump, which resembles the long jump, is completed.
“The last phase is the one I’m not so good at,” Roth said. “There is a lot more to learn on the technique of each of the three. You have to develop a lot of momentum going forward but you can’t go too far forward or it will throw off your timing.”
Roth said it is important to utilize experience in feeling how the jump needs to be made.
“You have to feel your body and just let the practice routine take over and not overthink it,” she said. “If you overdo it, you just don’t have enough to get to the next phase. In some ways, you just let your mind go blank.”
While many high school girls are opting to either graduate early or simply not participate in sports their final year, Roth has gone the other direction, having also been a starter on the Lady Buffs basketball team.
“I just enjoy the challenge of the sport and its individual which fits me the best,” Roth said. “I really enjoy the competition and I like the fact that I can depend on myself and others don’t have to depend on me.”
If she arrives at the state meet and competing in front of the large crowd at Wichita’s Cessna Stadium, Roth said she would be better prepared psychologically to handle the challenge.
“It was tough last year, being my first time there with such a large crowd,” she admitted. “You just have to get past the mental part of and not let it affect you.”
Having already graduated from Garden City High School (May 14), Roth will be headed to Kansas State University in the fall where she plans to study kinesiology.
“I’m not sure exactly how I will use the degree,” Roth said. “I’ll just have to see what I can branch off and do with it.”
Many high school athletes move on to the college level to pursue their academic interests and leave the athletic competition behind. Roth is no different.
“I’ve enjoyed my high school sports, but it’s time to move on,” Roth said. “I’m not good enough to compete at the next level and I’m okay with that.”
In 2022, however, she was good enough at the high school level to win an award that surprised, and pleased her. In addition, that will always be a special memory.
BOYS All-WAC
High jump—Jordan Dale, Hays, 6-8
Long jump—Kyreese Groen, Hays, 21-31/2
Long jump—Groen, Hays, 45-3
Shot put—Terrell Elliott Garden City, 54-2
Discus—Christian Erives, Dodge City, 138-6
Javelin—Nate Brooks, Hays, 164-3
Pole vault—Harley Zimmerman, Hays, 12-0
100m—Jerry Arteaga, Garden City, 10.63
110m hurdles—Madison Regehr, Great Bend, 15.53
200m—Jerry Arteaga, Garden City, 22.09
300m hurdles—Madison Regehr, 41.75
400m—Matt Banuelos, Dodge City, 52.73
800m—Kaiden Esfeld, 2:02.91
1,600—Devin Chappel, Garden City, 4:49.74
3,200m—Chappel, Garden City, 10:46.17
400m relay—Hays, 43.02 (Trent Summers, Keamonie Archie, Malik Bah, Chason VanDerwege)
1,600m relay—Dodge City, 3:30.3 (Matt Banuelos, Isaiah Jimenez, Suh Mohammed, Mahmoud Tiea)
3,200m relay—Dodge City, 8:44.4 (Matt Banuelos, Gonzalo Arroyo, Jimenez, Danny Lamas)
COACH OF YEAR—Tony Crough, Hays
ATHLETE OF YEAR—Kaiden Esfeld, Great Bend
WAC GIRLS
100m—Kya Edwards, Dodge City, 12.48
100m hurdles—Makenzie Premer, Great Bend, 15.44
200m—Kya Edwards, Dodge City, 26.27
100m hurdles—Premer, Great Bend, 46.07
400m—Alex Gere, Dodge City, 1:02.58
800m—Elle Hatcher, Liberal, 2:32.33
1,600m—Emilia Diaz, Great Bend, 5:40.79
3,200m—Serenity Larson, Dodge City, 12:26.77
400m relay—Great Bend, 50.29 (Valarie Luna, Kara Feist, Sadie Spray, Makenzie Premer)
1,600m relay—Great Bend, 4:12.05 (Eliana Beckham, Spray, Feist, Premer)
3,200m relay—Great Bend, 10:43.84 (Emma Loomis, Diane Alvarez, Cassie Ellegood, Beckham)
High jump—Valarie Luna, Great Bend, 5-4
Long jump—Kristin Roth, Garden City, 17-1
Triple jump—Roth, 35-113/4
Shot put—Taryn Warren, Great Bend, 36-6
Discus—Taryn Warren, Great Bend, 115-9
Javelin—Kyndall Blessing, Great Bend, 126-1
Pole vault—Katie Kuhlman, Great Bend, 8-6
COACH OF YEAR—Lyles Lashley, Great Bend
ATHLETE OF YEAR—Kristin Roth, Garden City
