MCL yields top competition, teams at conference meet today at Phillipsburg
By CONOR NICHOLL
Smith Center assistant track and field coach Tim Wilson echoed the sentiments of his Mid-Continent League coaching counterparts when he discussed the conference competition earlier this week.
"It is going to be a very difficult meet," he said. "The quality of kids is pretty high. You look across the state and kids from this league are going to place high at the state level."
Based on results and past performances, Wilson's prediction could be absolutely correct.
The MCL conference meet, held today at Phillipsburg, is always strong. This year, though, has arguably one of its top crops of athletes and features many of the top competitors in Class 2A and 3A, including Plainville's Aubrey Frederking, Norton's Laura Lee Baird, Ellis' Whitney Taylor, Smith Center's Braden Wilson and Phillipsburg's Gabe Wickham.
The meet will likely yield one of the most talented conference competitions in the state and arguably the best among the 3A and 2A classifications.
Arguably a dozen or more state titles could come from the MCL.
"You look at their performances during the season and there are a lot of good kids in our league right now," Smith Center head coach Roger Barta said.
Team-wise, Phillipsburg and Norton, both 3A and the biggest MCL schools, are considered the favorites on the boys' side.
Norton is the defending conference champion, while Phillipsburg was second. Both were at least 33 points ahead of the rest of the league last spring, a difference that could happen today.
"I think Phillipsburg is the class of the league (with) Norton," Barta said.
For the girls, the same schools, along with defending champion Osborne, will contend for the crown. All three teams will likely be among the leaders for state titles in two weekends.
"Osborne is deep and they have hurdlers, they have distance runners, they have relays, they are solid all the way around," Ellis head coach Jack Wolf said. "Norton and P-burg have the numbers that we don't have and that sure helps. It will probably be Norton, then P-burg, then Osborne, or Norton, Osborne and then P-burg."
The trio, as well as many of the MCL squads, are led by previous state title contenders or athletes that could win a championship this spring, especially on the girls' side.
"They are really impressive," Barta said. "I think they are among the best in the state. We have some really great women athletes in our league."
Osborne is paced by senior sprinter Demi French and several strong relays, while Phillipsburg has depth in nearly every event, with hurdler Lindsay Dusin leading the way.
Norton, though, has Baird, the only girl, regardless of classification, to rank in the top10 in both the 400 meters (59.8) and 800 meters (2:19.15).
She is also among the leaders in the 1,600-meters (5:24) and could contend for three state titles in the 400, 800 and 1,600.
"She is very serious about what she is doing," Norton head coach Jason Jones said earlier this season. "She takes each day and each workout seriously. She works very hard at that and she is very disciplined."
Baird will match up against Plainville's Frederking, 2A's best in the 1,600 meters, in the distance races.
Frederking, a cross country and track state champion who swept the distance events at MCL in 2007, also has the best 2A time in the 3,200 meters (11:54.3). The 3,200 will feature Frederking, Osborne's Paige Noel and Ellis' Haley Wolf, all of whom should reach state.
Wolf's teammate, Whitney Taylor, could be the best individual at the meet. She is in the top two in the Class 2A in all four of her events, the 100, 200, high jump and discus and is favored to sweep all four today.
She could break the conference record of 12 seconds in the 100 and 25.7 in the 200.
On the boys' side, distance runner Zach Bainter and sprinter/jumper Terrell Lane, arguably the league's best freshman, paces Norton.
Senior Gabe Wickham is one of the Panthers' leaders. He carries the third-fastest time in 3A for the 110-meter hurdles (14.9), and leads the conference after he finished fifth at MCL last spring. He could also contend for a title in the 300-meter hurdles.
Panther senior Ryan Swatzell, a state wrestling champion in the winter, will compete in the pole vault with teammate Trevor Smith and Smith Center's Colt Rogers, another wrestling champ. All three have vaulted either 13 feet or 12-6 and are among the state leaders in 3A and 2A.
"I think the pole vault could be quality," Phillipsburg assistant coach Joe Buresh said. "Hopefully we get a nice day for it. I think there are three or four kids that are right around the 12-6, 13 mark. It could come down to misses, it could be real competitive I think."
Panther Zach Wood has 3A's third-best mark in the javelin (180-05), while teammate Keath Thomas will compete with Smith Center's Braden Wilson, a Kansas State football signee, in the discus.
Wilson had some injuries earlier this season and took several weeks off, but tossed a season-best 154-9 on Monday, second-best in 2A and 16 inches better than Thomas' top mark.
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