For the first time in his high school career, Southern Boone’s Connor Burns didn’t have to run the 1,600-meters prior to competing in the 3,200-meter run Friday at the Class 3 track and field state championships at Adkins Stadium.
He showed he was well-rested, shattering the all-class state record with a first-place time of 8:48.76.
The previous all-class record was 8:54.23, set in 2017 by Lafayette: Wildwood’s Austin Hindman. Burns shattered the previous Class 3 state record of 9:07.48, set in 1987 by Willard’s Jason Pyrah.
“The 8:54 state record was the goal,” Burns said. “It was within reach, for sure. I knew I had to come out and make it fast.”
Burns was in first place at the end of each of the eight laps. He ran his first 400 meters in 1:02.83 and he ran his final 400 in 1:02.98, winning the event by nearly 11 seconds.
“The first mile, I was at 4:21,” he said. “I felt super-easy and smooth, so I was happy with that.”
Burns trimmed more than a minute off last Saturday’s sectional time of 9:54.59 in the 3,200. But there’s an explanation for that.
“At sectionals, I was just jogging,” he said. “The goal was just to win easy and get through without very much effort.”
Next up for Burns is the 1,600, which begins at 12:35 p.m. today. He is seeded No. 1 in that event after finishing runner-up at state last season.
“My goal coming in was to get the mile and the two-mile state records,” Burns said.
School of the Osage’s Brockton McLaughlin advanced to today’s finals in three events for the Indians.
McLaughlin posted the fastest time in the 100-meter dash preliminaries, finishing in 11.03 seconds. He also had the second-fastest time the 200-meter dash preliminaries at 22.12 seconds.
McLaughlin anchored the 4×200-meter relay for the Indians, who won their heat and had the second-fastest preliminary time at 1:30.92. Noah Northrip, Keigan Vaughn and Konner Vaughn also ran on the Indians’ relay.
In his fourth event, McLaughlin and the Indians placed 11th in the 4×100-meter relay preliminaries with a time of 44.21 seconds. Eric Hood, Northrip and Konner Vaughn rounded out that relay, missing the cut for the final by 0.12 seconds.
In today’s events, McLaughlin will run in the 100 final at 11:35 a.m., the 4×200 relay final at 12:05 p.m. and the 200 final at 3 p.m.
Devin Williams picked up Osage’s first state point, placing eighth in the boys discus with a throw of 149 feet, 4 inches.
Andrew Groos took 12th place in the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 43.09 seconds for the Indians, while Keigan Vaughn finished 13th in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries in a time of 16.50 seconds.
Also scoring points Friday was Versailles’ Kyle Flieger, who placed fifth in the boys pole vault with a height of 12-8, edging his personal-best by three-quarters of an inch.
Flieger narrowly qualified for state, placing fourth last weekend in sectionals with a height of 10-11.75.
“I knew I could get a lot higher than I got at sectionals,” he said. “I was on a new pole because I broke mine two days before sectionals.”
Eldon’s Nicholas Martonfi finished ninth in the pole vault with a height of 11-11.75.
Versailles’ 4×400-meter relay team of Flieger, Daniel Shewmaker, Jacob Schrock and Tye Edgar finished 10th in their preliminaries with a time of 3:33.13.
Through five events in the Class 3 boys team standings, Westminster Christian is first with 19 points, followed by Lutheran: St. Charles (17) and East Newton (15). El Dorado Springs and Park Hills Central are tied with 13 points for fourth place.
In addition to Osage’s three finals events, Konner Vaughn will compete in the boys long jump at 12:30 p.m. today, while Eldon’s Nathan Reynolds will join Burns in the 1,600. Versailles’ Justin Hamrick competes in the high jump at 3 p.m. and Eldon’s Jasper DeGraffenreid, Versailles’ Joseph Bland and Southern Boone’s Tyler Hilgedick are all entered in the shot put at 3:30 p.m.
