SALINA — On Friday in a Class 5A regional track and field meet, Great Bend High School pole vaulters Chris Burley, Selam Ball and Hannah Middleton — along with throwers Jayce Brack and Nick Warren — qualified for the upcoming state championships in Wichita.
Really, no surprise there from some of Great Bend’s most experienced performers in the field at Salina District Stadium.
The big surprise came with the Panthers unleashing their top overall team performance of the season, capturing third place in the eight-team regional with 83 points, behind only Hays and Salina South. The top four individuals and teams in each division at regionals advance to Cessna Stadium on the Wichita State University campus. It is set for Friday and Saturday.
Check out this surprise: Burley became a regional champion and reset his school record in the pole vault for the fourth time in his career, clearing 15 feet, six inches.
“You know as well as I know, anything Chris Burley does is not going to surprise you,” GBHS head coach Bo Black said of Burley, a two-time state champion in wrestling. “There’s a far and few between that you find true competitors.
“That’s what’s most impressive about Chris Burley, whether you watch him in wrestling or football or track and field in the pole vault. He’s an authentic competitor and a very special young man.”
Burley said he met his goal of 15-6, although he narrowly missed on three tries at 16-0.
“My goal coming in was to get 15-6,” Burley said, “and I got it, but I’m always wanting more. I will celebrate for a short time and just go for 16-0.”
Burley has gone to a different pole as of late.
“It’s shorter than my other pole, but the hand-grip is the same. It’s a little bit stiffer. The point of a stiffer pole is to shoot me up a little bit faster and a little bit higher. That’s why I moved up.”
For the Lady Panthers, Ball, despite nagging injuries and having her pole shatter in warmups, still won the pole vault at 10 feet. Ball, a junior, and Middleton, a senior, are now two-time state qualifiers.
“I pulled a muscle the other day,” Ball said. “It kind of scared me at the beginning, and then it made me that much more angry about it and made me more determined.
“It’s been going back-and-forth and back-and-forth, and I’m glad to have Hannah to compete with. It’s always been fun and I’m going to miss her, for sure.”
Middleton, who regularly jumps 10-0, finished in third place at 9-6.
“I’m saving it for next week,” Middleton said. “I didn’t vault as well as I should have, but I’m going, and that’s all that matters at this point.
“It pushes us to be better than one another, and I think it’s good for her (Ball) and I to have each other as a support system.”
Shelby Tracy recorded 16-0¼ for second place in the long jump, and freshman Kaylan Lagerman placed fourth in the 800 (2:31.22).
Panthers distance runner Chon Chavez, a senior, overcame recent hamstring injuries to win the regional title in the 3,200-meter run.
“He was about seven or eight seconds faster than he’s been all year,” Black said of Chavez,  “and he hasn’t been practicing for the last three weeks.
“It was just an outstanding performance from him.”
Softball player-turned-track-and-field triple jumper Kaylie Doll won the regional crown (36-3¾) in her first competition of the season for the Lady Panthers.
Middle-distance runner Kole Stiner is a three-event qualifier. The senior ran a leg in the second-place 3,200-meter relay (including Ky Heeke, Richard Lara and Cristian Garcia), which finished in a time of 8:24.44. Stiner qualified individually in the 800 (fourth place) and 1,600 (second place).
“Kole has been in the program for four years,” Black said. “He’s kind of grown up in the program and he really had a great day.
“He’s been very versatile for us.”
Sophomore Brack recorded a personal-best throw of 55-3 for second-place in the shot put, and also placed third in the discus (151-10) to head to Wichita as a multiple event qualifier. Warren, a junior, was a fourth-place finisher in the discus, right behind Brack, at 150-4.
“He’s just a young kid that gets better and better each time out,” Black said of Brack.
Burley also qualified as the lead runner in the second-place 400 relay, which also includes Antonio Carrasco, Darian Yager and Ty Yager. Their time was 4:45.01.
Elijah Conner was a fourth-place finisher in the pole vault, and Anthony Valenzuela placed fourth in the triple jump (41-2).

PREP TRACK & FIELD
Class 5A Regional Meet

At Salina
Salina District Stadium

Friday

BOYS

Team scores
Hays 188, Salina South 96, Great Bend 83, Newton 68, Andover Central 49, Salina Central 31, Valley Center 23 and Andover 17.

Individual results
Long jump — 1. Cutler, SS, 22-7¼; 2. Nelson, N, 21-6½; 3. Bixenman, H, 21-0¾; 4. Conrad, AC, 20-6½.
High jump — 1. Deterding, H, 6-4; 2. Bixenman, H, 6-4; 3. Voss, H, 6-2; 4. Gates, SC, 6-0.
Triple jump — 1. Bixenman, H, 43-9; 2. Deterding, H, 42-4; 3. Gates, SC, 41-4½; 4. Anthony Valenzuela, Great Bend, 41-2.
Shot put — 1. Sharp, H, 56-4¼; 2. Jayce Brack, Great Bend, 55-3; 3. Martens, N, 53-4½; 4. Harris, H, 47-9¾ .
Discus — 1. Martens, N, 165-2; 2. Sharp, H, 160-0; 3. Brack, Great Bend, 151-10; 4. Nick Warren, Great Bend, 150-4.
Javelin — 1. Winter, AC, 167-9; 2. E. Balthazor, VC, 161-8; 3. M. Balthazor, VC, 160-0; 4. Holinde, AC, 159-8.
Pole vault — 1. Chris Burley, Great Bend, 15-6; 2. Kreutzer, H, 14-0; 3. Alexander, N, 11-0; 4. Elijah Conner, Great Bend, 11-0.
3,200-meter relay — 1. Hays, 8:15.80; 2. Great Bend (Ky Heeke, Kole Stiner, Richard Lara, Cristian Garcia, 8:24.44); 3. Andover Central, 8:26.38; 4. Newton, 8:38.61.
110 hurdles — 1. Deterding, H, 14.69; 2. Carrasco, H, 14.79; 3. Willis, N, 15.30; 4. Calvert, SS, 15.92.
100 dash — 1. Cutler, SS, 10.81; 2. Jones, SS, 10.98; 3. (tie) White, VC & Mitchell, H, 11.05.
1,600 run — 1. Drees, H, 4:37.15; 2. Stiner, Great Bend, 4:38.81; 3. Irish, SS, 4:40.94; 4. Christian Graham, Great Bend, 4:45.01.
400 relay — 1. Newton, 43.70; 2. Great Bend (Burley, Antonio Carrasco, Darian Yager, Ty Yager), 44.13; 3. Salina Central, 44.86; 4. Andover Central, 46.20.
400 dash — 1. Cutler, SS, 50.65; 2. Jones, SS, 50.99; 3. Conrad, AC, 51.58; 4. Herrman, H, 52.48.
300 hurdles — 1. Carrasco, H, 39.82; 2. Deterding, H, 40.29; 3. Loerger, A, 40.37; 4. Willis, N, 40.49.
800 run — 1. Brungardt, H, 1:58.70; 2. Fort, H, 2:00.44; 3. Downing, AC, 2:00.63; 4. Stiner, Great Bend, 2:02.55.
200 dash — 1. Jones, SS, 22.46; 2. Mitchell, H, 22.67; 3. Young, A, 22.95; 4. Williams, SS, 23.23.
3,200 run — 1. Chon Chavez, Great Bend, 10:16.38; 2. Drees, H, 10:22.20; 3. Irish, SS, 10:27.34; 4. Dominguez, SS, 10:28.95.
1,600 relay — 1. Salina South, 3:24.78; 2. Hays, 3:26.51; 3. Salina Central, 3:27.14; 4. Andover Central, 3:28.47.

GIRLS

Team scores
Newton 113, Valley Center 112, Salina Central 87, Hays 69, Andover Central 45, Salina South 45, Great Bend 44 and Andover 43.

Individual results
Long jump — 1. Kakoulias, AC, 16-3; 2. Shelby Tracy, Great Bend, 16-0¼; 3. Espinoza, N, 15-10½;  4. Wiebe, AC, 15-7¾.
High jump — 1. Agnew, A, 5-8; 2. Klusener, A, 5-2; 3. Zimmerman, H, 5-2; 4. George, H, 5-0.
Triple jump — 1. Kaylie Doll, Great Bend, 36-3¾; 2. Zimmerman, 35-5¼; 3. Espinoza, N, 34-7½; 4. Kakoulias, AC, 34-5.
Shot put — 1. Williams, VC, 42-5; 2. Roberts-Parker, N, 40-1¾; 3. Kakoulias, AC, 37-2½; 4. Regier, N, 36-11½.
Discus — 1. Regier, N, 130-1; 2. Roberts-Parker, N, 128-1; 3. Williams, VC, 123-2; 4. Harvey, SC, 116-4.
Javelin — 1. Williams, VC, 122-1; 2. Webb, SS, 118-0; 3. Duerksen, N, 111-5; 4. Parker, SC, 110-4.
Pole vault — 1. Selam Ball, Great Bend, 10-0; 2. Ross, SC, 9-6; 3. Hannah Middleton, Great Bend, 9-6; 4. Turner, SC, 9-6.
3,200-meter relay — 1. Valley Center, 10:11.68; 2. Newton, 10:14.51; 3. Hays, 10:14.68; 4. Salina South, 10:15.07.
100 hurdles — 1. Martin, SC, 15.53; 2. Baron, N, 15.75; 3. Schlaefli, H, 15.91; 4. Wood, AC, 16.17.
100 dash — 1. Alexander, VC, 12.77; 2. Mares, A, 12.84; 3. Anderson, N, 13.02; 4. Roets, SS, 13.09.
1,600 run — 1. Wedekind, VC, 5:33.34; 2. Owens, VC, 5:37.61; 3. Barton, VC, 5:38.22; 4. Larson, AC, 5:42.52.
400 relay — 1. Newton, 50.69; 2. Valley Center, 51.11; 3. Salina South, 51.53; 4. Salina Central, 51.57.
400 dash — 1. Greene, SC, 1:01.58; 2. Zimmerman, H, 1:02.01; 3. Valdez, N, 1:03.23; 4. Taylor, VC, 1:03.49.
300 hurdles — 1. Martin, SC, 47.71; 2. Schlaefli, H, 48.08; 3. Bartel, N, 48.22; 4. Wood, AC, 48.41.
800 run — 1. May, SC, 2:25.53; 2. M.Holloway, SS, 2:27.28; 3. Wedekind, VC, 2:28.31; 4. Kaylan Lagerman, Great Bend, 2:31.22.
200 dash — 1. Agnew, A, 26.45; 2. Francois, SC, 27.50; 3. Anderson, N, 28.07; 4. Rose, SS, 28.66.
3,200 run — 1. Wedekind, VC, 12:24.15; 2. Owens, VC, 12:34.54; 3. Stucky, N, 12:36.94; 4. Wills, AC, 12:39.01.
1,600 relay — 1. Salina Central, 4:11.82; 2. Hays, 4:13.76; 3. Salina South, 4:17.48; 4. Valley Center, 4:18.08.