Nine members of the Council Grove Braves track and field team have qualified for the 2026 Kansas State High School Activities Association State Track and Field Meet, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Cessna Stadium in Wichita.
The Braves added another state entry when the boys 4x400-meter relay team received an at-large berth. The relay team placed fifth at regionals and includes Colton Elsen, Blaise French, Jadyn Picolet, Kayden Schmidt, Logan Stockwell and Easton Stohs. A high school can qualify a maximum of eight runners per 4 x 400 relay team for championship meets, such as districts, sectionals, and state.
Stockwell, a sophomore, will have a busy state schedule after qualifying in three events. He won the regional championship in the 110-meter hurdles, placed second in the 300-meter hurdles and is also part of the 4x400-meter relay team.
Elkan Spear, a senior, also qualified in the hurdles, placing third in the 300-meter hurdles at regionals. Sy’ied Smith Jenkins, a junior, qualified in the long jump after placing second. Mason Samuels, a junior, qualified in the javelin with a thirdplace regional finish.
Other state qualifiers for the Braves are Elsen, a sophomore; French, a senior; Picolet, a junior; Schmidt, a senior; and Stohs, a freshman, all as members of the 4x400-meter relay.
According to the state meet schedule, Class 3A boys javelin is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Friday. The Class 3A boys 110-meter hurdles preliminaries are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday, followed by the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries at 4:45 p.m. The boys 4x400-meter relay preliminaries are scheduled for 6:25 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, Class 3A boys long jump is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. If Council Grove athletes advance through preliminaries, the boys 110-meter hurdles finals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, the boys 300-meter hurdles finals at 4:50 p.m. and the boys 4x400-meter relay finals at 7 p.m.
Council Grove also had several athletes place at regionals and narrowly miss state qualification.
Elsen, Hadyen Horton, Picolet and Schmidt were members of the 4x800-meter relay team that placed sixth and missed state qualification by one spot. Picolet also placed fourth in the 3200-meter run.
On the girls side, Mazie Hayes placed fifth in the 4x400-meter relay, sixth in the 300-meter hurdles and seventh in the 4x100-meter relay. Savannah Stewart, Grace Tyner and Taegan Wilkens were also part of the relay efforts, each placing fifth in the 4x400-meter relay and seventh in the 4x100-meter relay. Kayden Hewitt placed seventh in the javelin.
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