GREAT BEND — Allen Community College’s men’s track team earned a conference title Saturday. “FRIDAY’S EVENTS really got it started,” DeGrado said. “Our 4×800 team, Josh Whittaker, Evan Adams, Tucker Morgan and Tegan Michael broke the school record in some very windy conditions. That was huge for us. It really set the tone for the entire team.” ON THE women’s side, Terika Henry is the conference champion in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 24.44 seconds. She finished second in the 100-meter dash, while Debra Kime finished third in the 1500 meters.
Allen’s athletes secured several top finishes as the Red Devils topped Coffeyville, 192 points to 186, for the title.
“We knew going in we had a huge gap to make up against Coffeyville,” Red Devil track coach Vince DeGrado said. “I’ll be honest. This conference championship means more to me than the one we won in cross country, mainly because we weren’t favored to win this one, and we were overlooked by almost everybody.”
The foundation for Allen’s success, as it has been all season, was through distance running, DeGrado said, “because we could cover so many different events.”
The key to the conference title, however, came from the ascension of the Red Devil sprinters, under the tutelage of Coach Tony Davis, DeGrado said.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have Tony coaching with me,” DeGrado said. “We both are still in shock a little bit that we just won a conference title.”
The conference championship is Allen’s first since 1986.
In Region VI standings, which includes schools from the Jayhawk Western Conference, Allen finished fourth with 95 points. Hutchinson won the Region VI crown with 138 points. Allen was only three points out of third place in Region VI.
“That was our goal from the start,” DeGrado said, “to win a conference title and get top three in Region VI.”
Leading the way for the Red Devils was Bruce Barclay, who won the 110-meter hurdles in both the Jayhawk Conference and in Region VI in 14.26 seconds.
He was the only Region VI champ from Allen.
There were several other conference winners, including Kyle Schauvliege, who won the 10,000-meter run in 33 minutes, 22.13 seconds, and Chris Donald, who won the 400-meter hurdles in 55.3 seconds.
Jacob Spence led an Allen 1-2-3 finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:08.25. Following close behind were Garret Colglazier in second and Kevin White in third. All three earned all-conference honors for their performance. That feat was repeated by Schauvliege, Brock Artis and Parker in the 10,000 meters.
The Red Devils also have a pair of conference champion relay teams.
Allen’s 4×800-meter relay team of Evan Adams, Tucker Morgan, Tegan Michael and Josh Whittaker won with a time of 7:50.12. The 4×400-meter squad, meanwhile, of Donald, Kelvin Gant, Kyle Smith and Rickcardo Bailey produced a winning time of 3:19.78.
“This meet wasn’t about one or two performances,” DeGrado said. “It was everybody stepping up and doing their part.”
Michael narrowly missed out on a conference and regional title in the 1500-meter run. He was edged by Neosho County’s Michael Kenuthia, by .02. Michael’s time was 4:06.80.
Athletes taking second earn second-team all-conference or all-region status for their finishes. Third-place finishers receive honorable mention.
Others earning all-conference for Allen were Jethro St. Hubert, third in the 100-meter dash; Smith, second, and Bailey, third, in the 400-meter dash; Ryan Pulsifer and Dakota Parker, who were second and third, respectively, in the 5000-meter run. Michael Burns took second in the triple jump.
The Red Devils were without the services of one of their leading females. Gabby Ruiz didn’t compete because of a family emergency, DeGrado said.
She will return in two weeks with Henry and a number of the male athletes at the NJCAA national meet in Hutchinson May 16-18.
Allen’s results, with its respective finishes in the conference and Region VI standings, follow.
Women
Jayhawk Region
Conf. VI
100-meter dash
Terika Henry, 11.83 2 4
200-meter dash
Henry, 24.44 1 2
800-meter run
Debra Kime, 2:41.22 6 14
Kim Boyle, 2:42.33 7 17
1500-meter run
Kime, 5:26.49 3 5
3000-meter steeplechase
Mahilia Soap, 13:44.22 4 8
Men
Jayhawk Region
Conf. VI
100-meter dash
Jethro St. Hubert, 10.67 3 9
Rodrick Simmons, 10.68 4 11
Jordan Fountain, 10.91 9 19
200-meter dash
St. Hubert, 21.98 6 16
Simmons, 22.14 8 23
400-meter dash
Kyle Smith, 50.49 2 9
Rickcardo Bailey, 50.63 3 10
Rondell Simmons, 53.13 11 23
800-meter run
Tegan Michael, 1:59.91 4 9
Evan Adams, 2:00.59 5 10
Jordan Caudill, 2:07.90 12 23
1500-meter run
Michael, 4:06.80 2 2
Tucker Morgan, 4:13.63 4 6
Josh Whittaker, 4:17.60 7 9
5000-meter run
Ryan Pulsifer, 16:07.53 2 5
Dakota Parker, 16:12.07 3 7
Patrick Rachford, 16:13.77 5 9
10,000-meter run
Kyle Schauvliege, 33:22.13 1 4
Brock Artis, 33:34.13 2 5
Dakota Parker, 33:41.95 3 6
110-meter hurdles
Bruce Barclay, 14.26 1 1
Chris Donald, 17.62 4 8
400-meter hurdles
Donald, 55.30 1 2
Antonio Duncan, 57.22 2 5
Barclay, 1:00.06 6 12
3000-meter steeplechase
Jacob Spence, 10:08.25 1 2
Garrett Colglazier, 10:22.08 2 3
Kevin White, 10:44.93 3 5
4×100-meter relay
Allen (Rod. Simmons, St. Hubert, Fountain, Michael Burns), 42.70 3 5
4×800-meter relay
Allen (Adams, Morgan, Michael, Whittaker), 7:50.12 1 2
4×400-meter relay
Allen (Donald, Kelvin Gant, Smith, Bailey), 3:19.78 1 2
Long jump
Burns, 6.41 7 11
St. Hubert, 6.27 9 14
Andrew Boggs, 6.16 11 17
Triple jump
Burns, 14.11 2 4
Boggs, 12.38 8 13
Jayhawk Conference team standings.
Women
1. Johnson County, 179; 6. Allen, 34.
Men
1. Allen, 192
Region VI team standings
Women
1. Butler County, 135; 10. Allen, 18
Men
1. Hutchinson, 138; 4. Allen, 95
Allen men nab conference track title
