Clifton-Clyde Girls Track and Field Team Win State Championship
The Clifton-Clyde varsity girls track and field team won its first-ever Class 1A State Track and Field Championship on Saturday, May 30th, at the 2026 KSHSAA State Championship Meet held in Wichita. This is the Eagles' 6th track and field title overall after 1999, 1995, 1994, 1993, and 1983, all in 2A.
A total of 45 1A schools had at least one athlete compete down in Wichita, the largest number of teams in a single class at the meet. Below are the top teams on the Class 1A podium:
1 Clifton-Clyde 53.50
2 Ellis 48
3 Hanover 42
4 South Gray 41
5 Ness City 38
6 Onaga 33
7 Wallace County 32.50
8 Centralia 29
Calyn Baker got the action started for the Eagles with a third-place finish in the shot put. On Baker's 5th throw of the competition, she got a clean throw of 39'8.50 to move her into third place. This earned the Eagles 6 team points.
Sevy Wurtz then clinched the first individual state championship of the meet with a win in the long jump. After already clinching a first-place finish on her 4th jump of the competition with a jump of 17'10.75, Wurtz landed in the sand on her 5th jump with a clean mark of 18'4! The only athlete to get above 18 feet and win the state championship, earning the Eagles 10 team points.
Jordi Fahey added to the Eagles team score after tying for 3rd in the pole vault on Friday afternoon. Fahey cleared 9', 9'6, and 10' all on her first attempt to immediately put her into the top 4 of the competition. On her third and final attempt, Fahey got over the bar set at 10'6 to finish tied for third with Kallie Richardson of Wallace County, who also got over the 10'6 height on her third attempt. With this tied score, Fahey added 5.5 more team points for Clifton-Clyde.
Following a third-place finish in the shot put, Calyn Baker finished second in the discus. Baker secured a spot on the podium with her third throw of the competition, pushing her into the top 5 after a throw of 131'1. On the very next throw, Baker jumped all the way into second with a throw of 132'7. This throw was enough to hold off Rachael Barnhardt of Lebo, who on her 5th throw was just a little short of Baker with a throw of 132'1. Baker, with the second-place finish, earned the Eagles 8 more team points.
On Saturday, Wurtz got the Eagles started with a third-place finish in the triple jump. On her second jump of the competition, Wurtz landed in the sand with a clean jump of 36'8.50. With the third-place finish, Wurtz earned the Eagles 6 team points to help keep them in the hunt for that state title.
Sophomore Paige Joy then helped Clifton-Clyde with a 5th-place finish in the javelin. On Joy's third throw of the competition, she got a clean mark of 128'9, moving ahead of Lillian McGaughey of La Crosse, who threw 123'7 on her first throw. With the 5th-place finish, Joy grabbed 4 more team points for her Eagle team.
On the track, Wurtz collected the final points necessary for the team title. In the 100m dash, Wurtz finished in second with a time of 12.24. Taegin Liggett of Ness City won the state championship after setting a meet record time of 12.11, the fastest 1A girls time in Kansas history. Wurtz, with the runner-up finish, earned Clifton-Clyde 8 more team points.
The final challenge for the Eagles fell to Wurtz once again. Sevy needed to finish at least 8th in the 200m dash to secure the top overall spot over Ellis for the team title. Wurtz delivered, finishing in 3rd and securing the team title! Wurtz finished with a time of 25.74. Evelyn Merriman of Ellis ended up winning the state title with a time of 25.54, but with Wurtz finishing in the top 8, the Eagles were state champions!
To see the full results, click here.