WICHITA — Ellinwood High School’s Pedro Montoya made Friday’s portion of the Class 6-1A state track and field championships a memorable one.
Montoya broke his own school record and won the Eagles’ first individual state track title in 22 years, turning in a time of 9:30.98 in the 3,200-meter run at Cessna Stadium on the Wichita State University campus.
“It’s a pretty cool day for him,” Ellinwood head coach Lyles Lashley said. “It’s a PR and he broke his school record. As hard as he works, it’s really nice to see him win.”
He didn’t just break the his own record, he shattered the previous mark of 9:43.75.
“He just ran by himself the whole way,” Lashley said. “He was trying to beat the state record. I think it’s 9:26.00, but he still did great.”
He shaved more than 18 seconds off his top-seeded time of 9:49.22.
Montoya, a junior, finished nearly a full 20 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Israel Barco of Elkhart, who finished at 9:50.76.
Along with Montoya, Morgan Feemster finished eighth in the event, clocking in at 10:24.98.
“That was a PR for him,” Lashley said of Feemster. “I was really happy to see him finish in the top 8.”
Montoya will look to add to his medal count today at 2:05 in the 1,600 run. He is the No. 1 seed with a regional time of 4:33.37.

CLASS 3A

• Hoisington’s Ball takes fourth in pole vault
Brandon Ball of Hoisington finished fourth in the pole vault, reaching a height of 12-6.
Teammate Anthony Broeder finished fifth in the discus with a toss of 150 feet, two inches.
Broeder also took 11th in the shot put (48-4½).