Prairie View to send three to state track this weekend

Prairie View junior Laramie Stevens tried throwing the javelin for the first time this season. She now holds the school record, is the regional 3A champ and is headed to state with her sights set on a gold medal. (Prairie View Buffalos Facebook)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

Three Prairie View athletes will head to the state championship track meet at Wichita State University on Friday and Saturday, hoping to bring home gold in the Class 3A events.

Junior Laramie Stevens will be looking to leverage her regional win in the javelin at Fredonia on May 22 into a state medal.

Carter Browning, a junior javelin thrower will also be competing for a state medal after being the regional runner-up at Fredonia.

Senior sprinter Parker Schwarz will also be looking to medal in the 100-meter dash, the final contest in his high school career. Schwarz also placed second at the regional meet.

Stevens, who for her freshman and sophomore years focused on running distance races, appears to have found her event with the javelin. At the Buffalo home meeting in late April, she placed second with a throw of 110’-11.” At the Pioneer League meet on May 14, she placed first with a throw of 120-6.

However, at the regional meet last Friday, May 22, she uncorked a throw of 130-1, almost 6 feet farther than the second place thrower.

Stevens also placed fifth in the pole vault at regional with a vault of 8-6.

Junior Carter Browning was runner-up champ in the javelin at the 3A regional in Fredonia. With a series of first-place wins during the season, he will be seeking gold at Wichita. (Prairie View Buffalos Facebook)

Browning has been fairly consistent, winning the Prairie View home meet with a throw of 166-6 and becoming the Pioneer League champ with a mark of 159-3. His best throw at the regional at Fredonia was 163-0 for second place.

Schwarz’s speed has become increasingly important as he looks beyond his high school career. With his status as a preferred walk-on to the Kansas Jayhawks football team as a running back on offense or linebacker on defense, his speed will be crucial.

He took first place in the 100-meter dash at Prairie View’s home meet in late April with a time of 11.12 seconds. He broke the 11-second barrier by becoming Pioneer League champion earlier this month with a time of 10.89.

In the regional meet, he turned in a time of 11.10, good enough for second place and a trip to state.

Senior Parker Schwarz, seen here in the preliminaries at Anderson County earlier this year, has an impressive résumé of first-place finishes this year. (Photo by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)

Other Prairie View athletes who competed at regionals but did not qualify for state included;

• Sophomore Lily Swanson, who placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.14. Swanson has consistently placed in the top five in the event. Swanson also placed ninth in the high jump with a leap of 4-10.

• Freshman Lilly Petric placed fifth in the 800-meter run, 8 seconds away from a trip to state.

• Senior Jenah Swearingen placed 13th in the discus with a throw of 94-6 and sixth in the shot put with a put of 32-8.75/

• Junior Gabby Cullor placed seventh in the javelin with a throw of 104-8.

• Sophomore Aleena Miller placed ninth in the shot put with a put of 30-9.75.

• Freshman Bentley Diediker placed 16th in the 400 meter with a time of 58.22.

• Senior Wyatt Attebery placed eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:10.69

• Sophomore Ethan Teagarden placed sixth in the pole vault with a vault of 11-6.

• Junior Nat Herring placed ninth in the discus with a throw of 123-3.