YUKON — Several area track and field athletes in Class 5A were overwhelmed with joy on Saturday after taking gold or still finding themselves on the podium with a medal draped around their neck.
The Drapeau twins — Kelsey and Keith — from Elgin, shared the podium spotlight together, with Keith winning the high jump on Friday and Kelsey leaping for third place in the long jump on Saturday.
Connor Roddy of Duncan went out on top with his fourth discus state championship in four years. Roddy also finished runner-up in shot put, propelling the Duncan boys to a second place team finish with 54 points. Carl Albert was crowned the Class 5A boys champion with 135 points.
The Demons also had help from Roderick Standokes, who won the sprint doubles title, taking gold in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
The Duncan girls also had a strong showing, showcasing three athletes on the podium in the 100 meter hurdles with Savannah Reynolds taking home gold.
Lakysia Johnson of Altus edged Aleigha Lowe of Elgin in the home stretch to win the 300 meter hurdles.
Here is how some of the standouts’ journeys to the podium unfolded on Saturday at Yukon High School.
Roddy runs table, takes discus gold
The boys discus title is staying with the Roddy family. Connor Roddy of Duncan threw 181 feet, 2 inches to win the discus in a landslide, marking six straight years a Roddy has won the event.
Roddy was just 6 years old when he went out to the field to start getting a feel for throwing with his dad, Craig who threw for Oklahoma State.
Roddy’s uncle also threw and his grandpa coached while Roddy’s older brother, Kevin, won the past two titles, and has a family-best throw of 195 feet, also the Duncan school record.
“It’s been in the family for a while,” Roddy said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to compete the past four years against some of the best in the state. I’ve met a lot of great people and a lot of great throwers. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Roddy, who will attend Texas A&M to pursue a degree in engineering, rebounded from a second place finish in shot put, throwing 51 feet, 9 inches, a personal best this season.
“I really hoping to win shot put,” Roddy said. “I just had to put that in the past and do the best that I could today.”
Another Duncan thrower, senior Rosaria Milton, won the girls shot put with a throw of 41 feet, 2 inches.
Lady Demons hurdle to podium
Duncan teammates Savannah Reynolds and Makayla Gibson couldn’t stop shedding tears of joy after both medaled in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles together on Saturday afternoon.
“Savannah deserves it and has worked so hard for this,” Gibson said. “Seeing her take first motivates me to get on the top.”
“Don’t make me cry, too,” Reynolds laughed.
Reynolds took home gold in the 100 meter hurdles, winning the event in a time of 14.79, running a hundredth of a second faster than her prelim clocking of 14.80 on Friday.
Reynolds’ championship run of 14.79 was a new PR (personal record) as was her prelims run, which marked the first time this season she had dipped under 15 seconds.
Gibson wasn’t far behind, finishing fourth in 15.55. To make the day even sweeter, Reynolds and Gibson were joined on the 100 meter hurdles’ podium by teammate Kaitlin Hunter, who placed sixth in 15.96.
“I can’t even explain the feeling,” Reynolds said after winning gold. “We haven’t had three Duncan girls together on the podium in a long time. We’ve been hurdling together for three years so this was amazing.”
Duncan took home five medals in the two hurdles events, lifting the Demons to a sixth place team finish with 43 points.
“It’s a testament to their hard work,” Duncan coach Todd Ledford said. “Next to pole vault, hurdles are probably the second most tactical event there is. It’s tough. These kids are always cut up and bruised with the amount of time they’ve spent working on it this year, but seeing them succeed like they did today is the ultimate goal.”
In the 300 hurdles, Reynolds snagged bronze with a third place time of 47.5 while Gibson finished fourth in 47.81.
“We pushed each other the entire season so this was our goal to be together on the podium in both hurdles and we accomplished that,” Reynolds said.
In the 300s, Reynolds pushed Gibson down the home stretch despite both Demons having to dodge a Claremore runner who tripped and flipped over a hurdle around the curve at the 150 meter mark.
“It was great having Savannah being there for me and to push me,” Gibson said. “For us to be on the podium together was a really good feeling.”
What made this season unique was the fact Reynolds, who specialized in the 100s, didn’t place high in the 300s — Gibson’s strongest event — until this season. Gibson, a junior, had practiced with the 100s since her freshman year but didn’t compete in them until this season.
“My forte has always been the 100s and Makayla’s has always been the 3s,” Reynolds said. “Then we flip-flopped and here we are.”
Reynolds, a senior, accepted a full-ride scholarship to run track at the University of Central Oklahoma.
“I left a legacy,” said Reynolds, who also finished runner-up in high jump this weekend with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches. “And I want Makayla to build a legacy next year, too.”
Standokes seizes sprints double
Out in lane eight, the odds were stacked against Duncan sprinter Roderick Standokes.
Standokes didn’t mind as the sophomore claimed the impressive sprints double, winning both the 100 meter and 200 meter dash on Saturday.
While his 100 meter gold was won with a new PR in a time of 10.6, it was his 200 meter gold in a time of 22.6 that turned heads. Standokes was out in lane eight, but was able to edge Texas Tech football commit, Dadrion Taylor of Carl Albert, by a hundredth of a second.
“I put in a lot of hard work this season and it paid off,” Standokes said. “It’s just a blessing.”
The 100 meter gold may have been even more special with teammate Coby Kirkland holding Standokes’ blocks. Instead of basking in the podium limelight for his third place finish in the 110 meter hurdles, Kirkland sprinted over from the podium.
It was a simple, but selfless act for the friends who have both been battling nagging hamstring injuries the past few weeks.
“It means a lot,” Standokes said of Kirkland helping him out with both the blocks and his hamstring. “He’s like family to me.”
“We’re all like family and want to see one another succeed,” echoed Kirkland.
Before regionals, Kirkland had never medaled this deep into the season, but he took bronze in the 110s in a time of 15.08 while Bishop McGuinness hurdlers Randy Illecukwu (14.37) and Slater Ward (14.44) took first and second place, respectively.
“That’s how you run it! That’s how you run it!” Ward shouted repeatedly at his Irish teammate at the finish line.
In prelims, Kirkland ran in the lane next to Illecukwu as the speedy Irish duo pushed Kirkland to a new PR in the finals.
“I was sticking with him (Illecukwu) and he helped me get that faster feeling so I could keep barreling down on those hurdles in between,” said Kirkland, a senior who will play football at Washington & Lee University in Lexington Virginia starting this fall.
Meanwhile, Duncan’s Javion Dangerfield took third place in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 8 inches.
The Duncan boys were also named the Class 5A State academic champions.
“It makes us feel like we’ve done it all,” Kirkland said. “We’ve done the school part, done the athletic part so it makes you feel like a well-rounded person, not just an athlete. Our days in track are numbered so what we do in the classroom will help later in life.”
Duncan showcased several state champions along with a second place boys and a sixth place girls team finish, capping another impressive track & field season for the Demons’ program.
“This is a really tight-knit group of kids who all care about each other,” Ledford said. “They all want to see one another succeed. They’re all selfless and I couldn’t ask for a better group to coach.”
Johnson wins gold in 300 hurdles
Just a freshman, Lakysia Johnson of Altus stole the show in the 300 meter hurdles, winning the event in 46.43 seconds, just 0.31 seconds ahead of Elgin’s Aleigha Lowe.
Johnson out-kicked Lowe down the home stretch in a thrilling final 15 meters.
“To become a state champion as a freshman was a big thing for me,” Johnson said. “I’ve worked hard all year for this but I knew I had to give it my all to make it there.”
Johnson then helped lead the Altus girls to a fifth place finish in the mile relay as the Lady Bulldogs won their heat, the first, in 4:11.
Johnson was joined by teammates Haley Leyja, Rylee Borrego and Nia Hill.
“Being a senior, track means a lot to Nia so I just wanted to give my all for her,” Johnson said.
“It felt good we went from running in the 4:20s at the beginning of the season to a 4:11,” Hill echoed. “We haven’t come to State for a 4x1 and competed for years so we’re happy to be here.”
Jordan Benway of Altus finished second in the discus with a throw of 125 feet, 3 inches.
Meanwhile, on the boys side, Josh Baker of Altus finished seventh in boys 400 meter dash in 52.12 while the Altus 4x400 meter (3:24) and 4x100 meter relays (1:30) took second and third place, respectively.
Twins share podium moment
It was a proud weekend for the Drapeau twins of Elgin.
After tearing her right and left ACL’s during basketball her freshman and sophomore year, Kelsey Drapeau was thrilled to finish third in the long jump and also run in the Elgin girls’ 4x100 meter relay which finished seventh in a time of 51.6, six hundredths of a second off a medal.
Kelsey’s leap of 17 feet, 4 inches in the long jump set a new personal record while her twin brother, Keith won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 8 inches, a year after taking silver.
“I was really excited for him because I know he wanted it so badly,” Kelsey said. “For me, it felt great and meant a lot to me considering I haven’t been able to compete.”
Like most siblings, Kelsey and Keith are close, but now the dynamic field event duo, both juniors, can say they both medaled at the state track and field meet.
“It means a lot to see her succeed after all the knee injuries,” Keith said. “We’re really close and she’s definitely one of my best friends, as cliché as it sounds. I know I always have someone to talk to.”
Despite jumping higher in practice, Keith had been stuck at 6 feet, 6 inches all season before jumping 6 feet, 8 inches on his first attempt, effectively giving him gold via scratch tie as Del City’s Greggory Whittenburg also cleared 6 feet, 8 inches, but only on his second attempt.
Though not as close as his twin, Keith and Whittenburg are close friends outside of track despite splitting high jump state titles the past two years. Keith’s gold set up a rubber match come 2019.
“We joke around with each other and said it’s now a best-of-3 deal next year,” Keith said. “It’ll motivate us for both our senior years.”
Lowe takes silver, carries Lady Owls
Elgin sophomore Aleigha Lowe had the best time in Class 5A for the 300 meter hurdles coming into the weekend. Even though Lowe finished second place in 46.74 seconds — 0.31 seconds from gold — she still held her head high after a thrilling race that saw her and Altus’ Lakysia Johnson fight for every hundredth of a second down the home stretch.
“I just kept fighting through the pain from an ankle injury during basketball,” Lowe said. “I just kept on overcoming that battle so it meant a lot. I pushed all I could, but it was a good race.”
Lowe then helped lead Elgin to a fourth place finish in the mile relay as the Owls clocked a 4:10, a season PR.
Elgin’s Kamree Castle finished 10th place in the mile run in a time of 5:52 while teammate Chloe Phillips finished 12th in 5:58. Phillips was 10th in the 800 meter run, clocking 2:36.
Samantha Pratt of Elgin finished eighth in the 400 meter dash in a time of 1:03.28. The Owls finished 10th place as a team with 24 points.