Katelyn Rupe breaks two school records to highlight Salina Central Invitational track meet

Dylan Sherwood, Salina Journal
·4 min read

Katelyn Rupe woke up Friday morning and ran three miles.

That helped her get in the mindset, relax, loosen her legs up and get some of the nerves out before competing in the Salina Central Invitational later that afternoon. What she didn't expect to do was to break both school records she set earlier in the season.

First Rupe broke her 1,600-meter record with a time of 5 minutes, 11.12 seconds, then followed that up with a 10:55.45 clocking in the 3,200. She won both each evens.

"It felt super good," Rupe said of her new 1,600 record. "It wasn't necessarily even the record. Just setting PRs is super accomplishing."

Salina Central's Katelyn Rupe passes a Dodge City runner during the 3,200-meter run of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.
Salina Central's Katelyn Rupe passes a Dodge City runner during the 3,200-meter run of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.

After running the 1,600 and right before 3,200, Rupe finished second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:30.89.

"I knew that I was going to have competition in that race, and just trying to get the most out of that competition," Rupe said.

Previously: Southeast of Saline's Jentrie Alderson helps Salina Central's Katelyn Rupe excel

Rupe had a goal of running the 3,200 in under 11 minutes and broke her school record by 13 seconds.

"I really just wanted to kind of turn that around and get a better time," she said. "I'm super happy and I'm glad I was able to have this great opportunity with this nice weather and there's no wind at all."

With this being her first season of high school track, she doesn't know what will happen when the postseason kicks into high gear next Friday with the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division II meet in Valley Center.

More: Two school records highlight top high school performers in Saline County for week of May 2

"I didn't really know how track was going to be set up, and how it was going to be (like)," Rupe said. "I think it's kind of hard to tell really because I don't have anything to compare how I feel right now."

Mykayla Cunningham, Salina Central

Salina Central's Mykayla Cunningham clears a height during the high jump of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.
Salina Central's Mykayla Cunningham clears a height during the high jump of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.

Mykayla Cunningham had a goal of breaking a personal record in the high jump.

She did just that by clearing 5-6 and winning the event.

"It felt really great," Cunningham said. "I had the confidence to get it, so I got it."

Cunningham also was on the winning 400-meter relay that and the 1,600 relay that took second. And she finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 17-0.

Anna Hogeland, Salina Central

Salina Central's Anna Hogeland prepares to clear a mark during the pole vault of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.
Salina Central's Anna Hogeland prepares to clear a mark during the pole vault of the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.

Anna Hogeland cleared 10-0, tying her personal best, on her first try of the pole vault.

That was good enough for her to win the event over Salina South's Bethany Hicklin, who also cleared 10-0 but had more attempts.

"I'm pretty happy with my performance," Hogeland said. "It's really exciting to watch yourself improve and just like keep getting better. I'm really excited to hopefully go back to state again this year and repeat what I did last year and do even better."

Hogeland, a sophomore, qualified for state as a freshman and looks to break her personal best at either the AVCTL-II championships or regionals and then eventually wants to break her new best clearance at state.

Elle Denning, Salina Central

Salina Central's Elle Denning runs the 400-meter dash during the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.
Salina Central's Elle Denning runs the 400-meter dash during the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.

Elle Denning anchored both the 400 and 1,600 relays to top-two finishes. Denning teamed up with Saniay Triplett, Cunningham and Camila Lopez Galindo to win the 400 with a time of 50.18. She was joined by Cunningham, Ytzel McClendon and Haley Freeman to finish second in the 1,600, recording a time of 4:17.67.

Denning also finished second in the 400 (59.15).

"I think that I compete better with competition and it helps me drop my times," Denning said. "I think we all just need to have like a positive attitude, and like with myself also, I think like every practice, we just need to keep working hard and staying positive at this point of the season."

Kayson Dietz, Salina South

Salina South's Kayson Dietz finishes releasing the shot put during the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.
Salina South's Kayson Dietz finishes releasing the shot put during the Central Invitational Friday, May 6, 2022, at Salina Stadium.

Kayson Dietz's high school track career is about to come to a close.

With one more meet next Friday with the AVCTL-I meet at Salina Stadium, Dietz is throwing with confidence after winning the shot put at 50-1.

"I knew if I wanted to get some big points for my team, I had to had a big day today," Dietz said.

Dylan Sherwood has been a sports reporter for the Salina Journal since August 2019. He can be reached at dsherwood@salina.com or on Twitter @DSherwoodSJ

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina Central's Katelyn Rupe highlights Central Invitational track