By John Mesh
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School and Nickerson High School athletes opened their track and field seasons Thursday at the Russell Invitational.
Hutchinson Trinity’s Isaac Hammersmith finished first in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches. The effort was one of four elite silver-level performance efforts of the meet.
Other elite silver efforts were turned in by Ellis High School’s Natalee North, who placed first in the girls discus (130-6) and shot put (38-11 1/2). Hoxie’s Emily Bainter won the girls javelin with an elite effort (122-1 3/4).
The next level up from silver elite is gold elite.
Hammersmith won the long jump with an effort of 21-4) and was third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.19.
Alex Guajardo won the 400 (53.86) and was fourth in the 200 (24.22). John Lindstrom won the 1600 (5:00.89) and Jacob Lindstrom won the 3200 (10:28.12).
The Celtic boys swept the relay races, placing first in the 4×100 (47.47), the 4×400 (3:41.45) and the 4×800 (8:55.28).
The top effort turned in by the Trinity girls team was the 4×100 relay, which placed seventh (1:00.82).
The Nickerson boys 4×100 relay teams placed second and seventh (47.54 and 50.96), the 4×400 relay placed third (3:50.73) and the 4×800 relay placed third (9:15.78).
Trenton Wood placed second in the long jump (20-7 1/4) and was third the triple jump (40-7). Levi Pauley was second in the 1600 (4:55) and Austin Peterson was third in the 400 (55.71).
Kristopher Monroe placed fourth in the javelin (147-7), Noah Weber fifth in the triple jump (36-11), RaShawn Walker fifth in the 300 hurdles (47.86), James Wallace fifth in the pole vault (9-0), Kason Bright sixth in the triple jump (36-6) and Riley Brawner sixth in the discus (121-3).
Dakota Brinkley and Andy Haggard placed sixth and seventh in the 1600 (11:41.63 and 12:07.16). Gabe Cesar was seventh in the pole vault (8-0).
The Nickerson girls track team’s top effort was turned in by Centhiyan Bankston, who placed second in the long jump (15-5 1/4).
Rachel Nisly placed third in the shot put (33-0 1/2) and fifth in the discus (110-5). Delaney Childs placed fifth in the javelin (110-5) and eighth in the discus (96-2). Dulce Dedira placed fifth in the 3200 (13:35.19).
Hutchinson Trinity results — https://ks.milesplit.com/meets/669481-russell-invitational-2025/teams/36296
Nickerson results —https://ks.milesplit.com/meets/669481-russell-invitational-2025/teams/21843
Russell Invitational results — https://ks.milesplit.com/meets/669481-russell-invitational-2025/results
Trinity tennis duo competes at Conway Springs Invitational
The Hutchinson Trinity High School tennis team only has four players out for this spring and just two of them (sophomores Vincent Wuertz and Sam Madden) competed at the Conway Springs Invitational on Thursday.
Juniors Sam Pennycuff and Ethan Harvey were not available for the tournament because they went out of the state for a choir/band trip.
“Overall, I was pleased with our performances at Conway,” said Trinity tennis coach Gallagher Martin. “The competition was pretty tough, and I thought the boys battled and competed.”
At No. 1 singles, Wuertz posted a 1-2 record for third place.
“I thought Vincent played really well,” “There were some really good players at No. 1 singles that he went up against and competed well. He lost 8-3 to a talented player from McPherson, and then lost 8-0 to one of the best singles players in 3-2-1A from Conway Springs.”
Wuertz rebounded from those two losses to defeat Chaparral’s No. 1 singles player 8-1.
“One of Vincent’s biggest strengths is his mental toughness,” Martin said. “He never gets down on himself and remains solid throughout the entire day. Someone with lesser mental toughness may have gone into that third match against Chaparral and been less sharp, but not Vincent.”
At No. 2 singles, Madden also went 1-2 for third place.
“Sam lost a tiebreaker 8-7 (2) in his first match against McPherson,” Martin said. “He showed great resilience in this match. He was down 6-2 at one point, but battled back to tie the match at 6-6. At 6-6, he lost the next game to go down 7-6. He was down love-40, but won five straight points to send the match to a tiebreaker. Although he lost the tiebreaker, I was still impressed with his ability to fight and battle.
“He then lost 8-4 against a good player from Conway Springs. That match was back and forth toward the beginning, but eventually the Conway kid was able to pull away. Sam did some good things in that match but wasn’t consistent enough to get the win.
“Consistency is something we are working on with Sam because he is a very talented player who just needs to learn to put it all together. His last match of the day he won 8-0 against Chaparral. This was not his best performance of the day, but he overcame two tough losses to end the day on a win.”
Martin said he did not have the team scores for the tournament.
The Trinity tennis team is back in action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at the Buhler Invitational.
The Celtics compete at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Hillsboro Invitational.
Hutchinson Trinity: Boys golf, baseball, junior high tennis postponed
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School announced that the Salina Sacred Heart Invitational boys golf tournament scheduled for Friday was postponed to Tuesday because of rain.
Trinity also announced that home high school baseball and softball doubleheaders against Little River Friday were postponed because of rain.
“We are exploring dates to reschedule,” said the Little River Athletics Facebook page.
Trinity also announced that the Ellinwood Junior High School tennis tournament also has been postponed. No reschedule date has been announced.
Hutchinson Trinity’s McConnaughy, Casebolt place 2nd, 4th at St. John JV golf tournament
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School senior Matthew McConnaughy placed second in the St. John Junior Varsity Golf Tournament Thursday at the Stafford Country Club with a none-hole score of 45.
McConnaughy lost by one stroke to St. John’s Cody Newdigger, who fired a 44 to win first-place medalist honors.
Trinity’s Brandon Casebolt tied for fourth place with a 48 score. McConnaughy and Casebolt were the only Celtic golfers entered in the tournament.
Lyons was paced by Ben DeWitt, who tied for 16th place with a 54 score. Lyons’ Derek Valerio placed 27th (60), Kaileigh Craft tied for 28th (61), Jon Steele tied for 30th (62) and Sam DeWitt placed 37th (71).
No team scores were kept.
St. John JV golf tournament results — https://kansasgolfscores.com/ks_b_25/tourneyResults.php?tid=2400&db=boys
It’s great to read about so many local athletes and all they are achieving! Thanks for reporting on the local sports!!
6’7 high jump is legit!