WICHITA — Second- and third-place finishes at the Class 6-1A state track and field championships are hard to come by.
Even so, Great Bend High School’s Jacy Quade felt a little disappointed with her third-place turn in the 5A portion of the discus.
“It could’ve been a whole lot better,” Quade said. “I moved up one place from last year. I moved up three places from last year in the shot, so I was happy with that.”
Quade finished as the runner-up in the shot put with a heave of 38 feet, seven inches, just four inches behind her personal best.
“Shot put was good,” Quade said. “Coming off a couple weeks slump, I got here. I was able to put together a pretty good series. I always say winning isn’t everything, but to me, winning is achieving a goal, and I did that in shot.”
She propelled the discus 125-3 on her first throw in the finals. She led most of the way, but Megan Teahan of St. Thomas Aquinas uncorked a throw of 132-9 on her final attempt.
“She really competed today,” head coach Bo Black said. “She led heading into the final throw. She had a good day in the shot, too.”
Brooke Regier of Newton also past Quade’s mark on her final attempt, throwing 126-5 for second place.
“Second and third in state is good,” Quade said. “It will always look good in the books, but I don’t know.”
Quade said that she was happy to be competing, and that she would be happy with the results.
“I’m here, and that’s all that matters,” Quade said. “Every other meet this year was just practice to get to this point. Now, I can say that I was here.”
Fellow Great Bend thrower Jayce Brack finished 11th in the shot put on Saturday.
Brack reached 45-0 1/4, while Hays’ Cade Sharp finished in first with a distance of 54-6.
“We’re asking a lot out of a freshman,” Black said. “He was obviously disappointed he didn’t make the finals. He’s going to write a long book before its over. This is just the first chapter.”