Xander Fuller wasn’t having a good afternoon.
The Crest High junior was in danger of failing to qualify for a return trip to the Class 1A state track meet in Wichita.
He was sitting in fourth place in the long jump, one spot short of automatically qualifying, with one jump left.
It was time to stop thinking about it.
“I finally got out of my head and just jumped,” Fuller said.
Magic.
Fuller’s leap of 19 feet, 6.5 inches earned him a 1A regional championship as well as a spot in this weekend’s state meet at Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium.
Fuller, who took second at regionals last year, said he was happy but not satisfied.
That’s because he’s still gunning for that elusive 21-foot barrier. (His career best at 20’9” was set last year.)
“I feel pretty good physically,” he said.
Fuller was one of a handful of athletes who punched their ticket to state at the 1A regional hosted by Waverly High School and held at Iola’s Riverside Park.
Marmaton Valley High’s Todd Stevenson and Dagan Barney earned automatic bids to Wichita, courtesy of their third-place finishes. Stevenson took the bronze in the long jump, with a mark of 18.82.5”. Barney, meanwhile, threw the discus 131’5” for his qualifying bid.
Two other Crest athletes had to sweat a bit before learning their fate, courtesy of taking fourth in their respective competitions.
Hanna Schmidt took fourth in the girls long jump with a leap of 16’2”, as did Kinley Edgerton in the javelin at 114’4”.
The top three finishers at each of the 1A regionals in the state earned automatic bids, while the next six best marks from across the state also made it.
Edgerton had the second-longest throw of the non-qualifiers to earn her bid. Schmidt, who earned state bids as both a freshman and sophomore, eked in with the sixth and final mark.
