Four Prairie View athletes reach the podium at state track meet

Prairie View's Bree Allen runs one of her final high school races on her way to a silver medal at state. (Billy Roudybush / Special to the Journal)

By Roger Sims with reporting by Billy Roudybush

WICHITA – Prairie View went to the state track Class 3A meet with high hopes on a few of their participants. They came out with four of their athletes making it to the podium during the Kansas State Track and Field Championships in Wichita on Friday and Saturday, May 30-31.

Senior Bree Allen took the silver medal and title of runner-up champion in both the 1,600- and the 3,200-meter runs.

For the past couple of years, Allen has battled Emily Hein of Trinity Academy in Wichita at state meets for both cross country and long distances on the track. During the 2023-24 school year, Hein won the Class 3A cross country championship during miserably wet and snowy conditions. However, Allen bounced back in the spring of 2024 to take the crowns in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

Mary Jane Britz won a bronze medal in the discus with a new school record. (Prairie View Facebook)

But this spring Hein, a junior, had more endurance, and turned in a time of 11:05.39 in the 3,200 on Friday. In that race, Allen was close behind with a time of 11:18.10. The same was true on Saturday in the 1,600-meter run where Allen turned in a time of 5:14.29 with Hein shaving about 7 seconds off that mark.

Despite the second place spot on the podium this spring, Allen has enjoyed an incredible high school career at Prairie View and has earned the title of state champion in cross country and the 1,600- and 3,200-meter events. She also is the holder of a number of league and regional championships. She has twice been invited to complete in the KU Relays as well as a regional meet of elite runners at Rim Rock, KU’s cross country course.

Allen moves on now to Kansas State University, where she has been recruited to be a distance runner for the Wildcats.

Wayne Atteberry for a second year in a row made the podium with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump. (Submitted photo)

Senior Mary Jane Britz did very well by placing third in the discus with a throw of 135 feet 10 inches, and seventh in the shot put with a throw of 38-9. Before heading to the state event, Britz broke the school record for the girls discus with a throw of 131-6 and bettered that record at the state meet.

For the second year in a row junior Wyatt Atteberry found himself on the podium after earning sixth in the triple jump  with a leap of 42-1.75. Last year Atteberry was the only Prairie View boy to earn a berth at the state meet. 

This year he was joined by juniors Parker Schwarz and Josh Goodwin. During the football season Schwarz used his size and speed to become one of the most prolific running backs in the state while Goodwin used his power to make short yardage plays through the opponents’ lines.

Parker Schwarz unleashes his speed in the 100-meter dash. He won eighth place and all-state recognition at the state meet. (Billy Roudybush / Special to the Journal)

In the 100-meter dash preliminaries, Schwarz turned in a time of 11.08 seconds, faster than the 11.15 time in regionals that qualified him for state. That preliminary time was just enough by about 2/10ths of a second to get him into finals. His 11:10 time in the finals earn him eighth place and a trip to the podium although his time was the same as the seventh-place finisher.

As for Goodwin, his best throw in the discus was 140-3, short of the 148-1 throw that earned him a trip to state. However, it was good for 10th place.

Josh Goodwin pauses before his throw in state discus competition. He placed 10th in the Class 3A competition. (Prairie View Facebook)