Photos from day 1 of state track and field

Lee's Summit West's Zach Gray hands the baton to Ben Wharton during the 1,600-meter relay at Friday's state meet. The Titans had the third-fastest time of the prelims to qualify for finals.


Lee's Summit North's Jon LaPlante leads the pack during the first lap of the 800 during Friday's state meet. LaPlante finished in 10th, just outside of the finals.


Lee's Summit North's Shantaja Heath high fives teammate Maddi Wilkins after their 1,600-meter relay team finished fifth during prelims and qualified for the finals with a time of 4:00.32.


Lee's Summit North's Maddi Wilkins runs down the final stretch of the 1,600-meter relay as the anchor leg for the Broncos.


Lee's Summit North's Shantaja Heath hands the baton to teammate Maddi Wilkins during the 1,600-meter relay. The Broncos finished fifth in the prelims.


Lee's Summit North's Madison Smith hands the baton to teammate Carson Severson during the 1,600-meter relay. The Broncos qualified for the finals in fifth.


Lee's Summit West's Zach Gray hands the baton to brother Hartzell during the 400-meter relay. The Titan relay qualified for the finals in fourth with a time of 42.18.


Lee's Summit West's Kevin Colon runs ahead of the field during the two-mile at Friday's state meet. Colon went on to win the event and be the state champ with a time of 9:12.09.


Lee's Summit North's Darrell Whitmore runs the 400-meter dash during Friday's state meet. Whitmore finished in 13th.


Lee's Summit West's Jac'Que Timberlake runs the 400-meter dash at the state meet. Timberlake finished in 16th.


Lee's Summit North's Codi Fritchie comes down the home stretch of the 800-meter run. She finished in 12th.


Lee's Summit's Lynette Cottingham attempts the triple jump during Friday's state meet. Cottingham finished in 11th.


Lee's Summit West's Lauren Cheadle attempts the triple jump during Friday's state meet. Cheadle finished in third. She also qualified for the finals in both the 100 and 200.


Lee's Summit West's Konnor Cordes attempts the high jump at the state meet. Cordes finished in 11th.


Lee's Summit North's Remy Abrought passes the baton to teammate Courtney Lewis during the 400-meter dash. The Broncos finished in ninth.


Lee's Summit West's Eric Carter recieves the baton from Zach Gray in the 800-meter relay. The relay finished 12th.


Lee's Summit West's Essence Chalmers tosses the shot put at Friday's state meet. Chalmers finished in sixth.


Lee's Summit North's Sandra Hampton tosses the shot put at Friday's state meet. Hampton finished in seventh.


Lee's Summit West's Liga Blyholder ran ahead of the field during the mile at Friday's state meet. Blyholder was the state champ with a time of 4:52.26.


Lee's Summit West's Chelsey Phoebus runs the mile at Friday's state meet. Phoebus finished in fifth.


Lee's Summit North's Will Bruce throws the shot put during the state meet Friday. Bruce finished as the state champ with a throw of 56-plus feet.


Lee's Summit North's Ben Pascal throws the shot put during Friday's state meet. Pascal finished in fourth.


Lee's Summit North's Will Bruce, right, is congratulated by teammate Ben Pascal after he won the shot put at the state meet Friday.


Lee's Summit North's Madison Smith clears a hurdle during the 100-meter event at Friday's state meet. Smith took second in prelims. She also qualified in for the finals in the 300 hurdles.


Lee's Summit North's Remy Abrought clears a hurdle in the 100-meter event during state prelims Friday. She had the fastest time in prelims.


Members of the LSN 3,200-meter relay celebrate after taking third at the state meet.


Lee's Summit North Connor Moylan runs his leg of the 3,200-meter relay at the state meet Friday.

State track and field day 1

The first day of the MSHSAA Class 4 state track and field championships are officially finished with seveeral great performances by area performers, with several athletes moving on to the finals tomorrow.

Check back later for results and photos from day one!

Lee's Summit North girls soccer advances

The Lee's Summit North girls soccer team advanced to the Class 3 state quarterfinals with an impressive and dominating 5-0 win over Sedalia Smith-Cotton at Excelsior Springs High School Tuesday night.

The only thing that seemed to be able to slow down the Broncos on this night was the a bus breakdown and the weather.

The Smith-Cotton bus broke down on the way to the game, delaying the start more than an hour, and then 3 minutes into the first half there was a lightning delay.

But when the two teams were on the field, it was all Broncos.

McKenzie Kellogg and Allie Stephenson both netted first half goals for a 2-0 halftime lead as the Broncos dictated the play and were constantly putting pressure on the Tigers.

And the lead was big after both teams had been sitting for so long waiting for the game to start. You just had a feeling those first 2 goals were huge and really set the tone for the Broncos.

Stephenson, Aspen Williamson and Casey Williamson all scored goals in the second half, as North had numerous corners throughout the game.

The win sets up a rubber match with Liberty Saturday, who defeated Truman 8-2.

This is setting up to be a fun game and at this point, I would think Liberty would have to have the edge. The Bronco defense will have their hands full with Shea Groom and Brooke Williams, not to mention Kaysie Clark back in the midfield.

Without Groom and Clark the Broncos beat the Blue Jays 2-0 a few weeks ago, but with them the Blue Jays defeated North 4-0 earlier in the season in a game that was just 1-0 at the half.

I think this game will rest on the shoulders of the Bronco defense. Like I said, they'll have their hands full trying to slow down all the Blue Jays' scoring options.

Make sure to check Friday's Journal for a preview of Saturday's game.