By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After fighting through a lingering leg injury for nearly nine months, Seaman senior track superstar Ryin Miller chalked up Thursday as a win as soon as she stepped on the Washburn Rural track.
Seaman five-time state champion Ryin Miller (right) returned from an injury Thursday to win the girls 800 meters in the Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The fact that she took control on the final lap to win the girls 800-meter run in the Jerry Beardslee Invitational was a bonus.
"I felt good,'' said Miller, a five-time Class 5A state champion. "This injury (IT band) is kind of weird. If I get some speed it doesn't seem to bother me too much and I'm just tired of not racing, so I was like, 'You know what, I'm just going to jump in here, I'm not going to warm up, I'll just do some strides and try to warm my body up without taking a warmup jog and step in and see what happens.' ''
The Arkansas signee ran with Mill Valley junior Audrey Howard through much of the race before taking the lead down the home stretch and pulling away for the win in 2 minutes, 23.65 seconds while Howard was second in 2:25.17.
"I feel really good about it,'' Miller said. "It was a good race. Obviously, eventually I want a lot, lot more of myself, but you have to learn to celebrate the small wins along the way and I've been working so hard this winter and year in just different ways, so I have to come out here and even just toeing the line, I have to be proud of that.''
Just being on track marked a return to Miller's happy place.
"It means everything to me,'' she said. "I was definitely nervous, but I was kind of reminding myself that it is such a gift to be nervous and it's way better than not being nervous and watching other people be nervous, so I was trying to embrace it and take the load off.
"I was like, 'I have literally nothing to lose, everything to gain. If I start, that's a win,' so I tried to take all the pressure out of it and run and enjoy it.''
Senior Brody Anderson shattered the Seaman school record in the 1,600-meter run by nearly six seconds in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Anderson shatters school record
After flirting with the Seaman school record in the 1,600-meter run in the season-opening Topeka High Invitational, Viking distance star Brody Anderson knew that the record was there for the taking in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational.
And Anderson left no doubt about who is the best metric miler in school history, shattering the previous record by right at six seconds in a winning time of 4:11.94 while winning by nearly 14 seconds.
"I went into today knowing that it was very possible and was there,'' Anderson said. "I didn't know it was going to happen, I didn't want to force anything, but it came natural and felt really smooth and I just shattered it.
"I definitely didn't think it was going to happen by six seconds at this point in the year, but it was a fun jump to take for sure.''
Anderson came back later in the evening to post a second impressive performance, winning the 800 meters by more than three seconds in a time of 1:56.49 and is now a perfect four for four on the season.
Other meet highlights:
• Washburn Rural senior multi-time Class 6A state champion Liam Morrison opened his 2026 season with a sweep in the hurdles races on Thursday.
Washburn Rural senior state champion Liam Morrison (right) won the 110 and 300-meter hurdles in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Morrison won the 110-meter highs in 14.43 seconds before coming back later to take a win in the 300s in 38.74.
The Junior Blues also got boys wins from junior Christian Hartman-Babb in the 200-meter dash (22.78) and from the 4x800 relay team (8:38.13).
• Washburn Rural's girls posted wins in two of the three throws in Thursday's meet while also adding a pair of runnerup finishes.
Rural junior Kailyn Petersen won the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 11 inches and finished second in the discus (121-2) while junior Morgan Ray won the javelin with a throw of 144-4 while her Junior Blue teammate, Katie Smith, was second (120-5).
Washburn Rural senior Emily Graf cruised to a victory in the girls 3,200 meters in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
• Washburn Rural also got a win from senior Emily Graf, who won the girls 3,200 in 11:25.73 while Seaman's boys won the 4x100 relay in 43.84.
JERRY BEARDSLEE INVITATIONAL
At Washburn Rural
GIRLS
Individual results
100 -- 1. Madison Bausby, Mill Valley, 12.79; 2. Nora Harmon, Mill Valley, 12.81; 3. Parker Jones, Free State, 12.89.
200 -- 1. LaKeyshia Woods, Lawrence, 26.75; 2. Adriana Raub, Washburn Rural, 27.27; 3. Julia Molleker, Seaman, 27.45.
400 -- 1. Beatrice Essman, Free State, 61.01; 2. Nora Harmon, Mill Valley, 61.35; 3. Aiyanna Moss, Free State, 61.75.
800 -- 1. Ryan Miller, Seaman, 2:23.65; 2. Audrey Howard, Mill Valley, 2:25.17; 3. Elin Diskin, Mill Valley, 2:27.97.
1,600 -- 1. Audrey Howard, Mill Valley, 5:11.33; 2. Taylor Hulcher, Free State, 5:23.25; 3. Kenzie Maddox, Washburn Rural, 5:24.46.
3,200 -- 1. Emily Graf, Washburn Rural, 11:25.73; 2. Kate Culbertson, Mill Valley, 11:42.17; 3. Brynn Spencer, Seaman, 11:47.62.
100 hurdles -- 1. Molly Rusco, Emporia, 17.44; 2. Shana Teenor, Free State, 18.11; 3. Allison Aeschliman, Emporia, 18.39.
300 hurdles -- 1. Harper Graham, Free State, 48.30; 2. Kaylee DeWitt, Emporia, 49.00; 3. Peyton Moore, Free State, 49.99.
4x100 relay -- 1. Mill Valley, 50.43; 2. Free State, 50.69; 3. Seaman, 53.07.
4x400 relay -- 1. Mill Valley, 4:10.79; 2. Free State, 4:11.65; 3. Washburn Rural, 4:21.04.
4x800 relay -- 1. Mill Valley, 10:31.78; 2. Washburn Rural, 10:40.03; 3. Free State, 10:53.04.
High jump -- 1. Miley Strathman, Mill Valley, 5-5; 2. Baylee Ayres, Seaman, 5-0; 3. (tie) Mia Kenkel, Mill Valley, and Ellie Bain, Mill Valley, 4-10.
Pole vault -- 1. Jane Cast, Free State, 11-0; 2. Chloe Voss, Free State, 10-0; 3. Vivenne Pro, Free State, 9-0.
Long jump -- 1. Parker Jones, Free State, 17-7.50; 2. Paige Newland, Emporia, 17-5.25; 3. Kaidence Alston, Mill Valley, 16-11.75.
Triple jump -- 1. Kaidence Alston, Mill Valley, 38-7.50; 2. Paige Newland, Emporia, 37-4.25; 3. Chloe Voss, Free State, 33-3.00.
Shot put -- 1. Kailyn Petersen, Washburn Rural, 36-11; 2. Morgan McCoy, Emporia, 32-6; 3. Aria Edgar, Washburn Rural, 31-9.
Discus -- 1. Sadie Reynolds, Free State, 147-9; 2. Kailyn Petersen, Washburn Rural, 121-2; 3. Aria Edgar, Washburn Rural, 103-3.
.Javelin -- 1. Morgan Ray, Washburn Rural, 144-4; 2. Katie Smith, Washburn Rural, 120-5; 3. Corinne Schwindt, Mill Valley, Manhattan, 108-8.
BOYS
Individual results
100 -- 1. Rylan Crowell, Emporia, 11.43; 2. Josh Brown, Seaman, 11.44; 3. Carter Frost, Washburn Rural, 11.55.
200 -- 1. Christian Hartman-Babb, Washburn Rural, 22.78; 3. Landon Stockwell, Mill Valley, 23.38; 3. Josh Hochard, Seaman, 23.38.
400 -- 1. Braydon Jones, Mill Valley, 52.03; 2. Nick Palmer, Lawrence, 52.43; 3. Tyler Jakle, Washburn Rural, 53.53.
800 -- 1. Brody Anderson, Seaman, 1:56.49; 2. Gus Malone, Mill Valley, 1:59.75; 3. Brooks Kehoe, Washburn Rural, 2:01.36.
1,600 -- 1. Brody Anderson, Seaman, 4:11.94; 2. Brooks Kehoe, Washburn Rural, 4:25.63; 3. Anderson Strack, Mill Valley, 4:25.84.
3,200 -- 1. Jordan Schierbaum, Mill Valley, 9:56.74; 2. Clayton Fink, Washburn Rural, 9:58.46; 3. Jonah Frye, Free State, 10:00.63.
110 hurdles -- 1. Liam Morrison, Washburn Rural, 14.43; 2. David Johnson, Mill Valley, 14.45; 3. Christian Hartman-Babb, Washburn Rural, 15.80.
300 hurdles -- 1. Liam Morrison, Washburn Rural, 38.74; 2. David Johnson, Mill Valley, 41.37; 3. Kellan Parcaro, Seaman, 42.36.
4x100 relay -- 1. Seaman, 43.84; 2. Emporia, 43.96; 3. Washburn Rural, 44.02.
4x400 relay -- 1. Lawrence, 3:28.71; 2. Emporia, 3:35.15; 3. Washburn Rural, 3:35.78.
4x800 relay -- 1. Washburn Rural, 8:38.13; 2. Lawrence, 8:47.43; 3. Emporia, 8:49.61.
High jump -- 1. Rylan Howard, Mill Valley, 6-2; 2. Nathan Huerter, Free State, 6-2; 3. Jack Carpenter, Mill Valley, 6-2.
Pole vault -- 1. Ethan Cooper, Mill Valley, 13-0; 2. Aaden Chee, 12-0; 3. Cohen Bloomquist, Emporia, 11-6.
Long jump -- 1. Truth Pope, Lawrence, 20-11; 2. Rylan Howard, Mill Valley, 20-8; 3. Joseph Lucas, Lawrence, 20-6.
Triple jump -- 1. Joseph Lucas, Lawrence, 43-8.50; 2. Garrett LeBlanc, Emporia, 41-3.50; 3. Baden Masenthin, Lawrence, 39-7.
Shot put -- 1. Chance Duncan, Emporia, 51-1; 2. James Kahungura, Free State, 48-3; Braylon Nelson, Mill Valley, 46-6.50.
Discus -- 1. Chase Duncan, Emporia, 169-4; 2. Zachary Hancock, Washburn Rural, 156-7; 3. Ben Gosch, Mill Valley, 146-0.
Javelin -- 1. Tyler Dye, Lawrence, 186-3; 2. Jenner Scobee, Mill Valley, 176-11; 3. Hudson Andrew, Free State, 171-1.
