This Kansas Athlete Won Four State Titles In Insane Fashion


* Kendra Wait achieved some Kansas history over the weekend at the track and field championships

Photo Credit: Kansas MileSplit

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Few performances in Kansas history were like Kendra Wait's this weekend at the state track and field championships in Wichita. 

The Creighton University volleyball signee won the Kansas High School Athletic Association's Class 6A 100m, shot put, long jump and the pole vault.

All within a day's work, even. 

As the Kansas City Star pointed out on Tuesday, this feat was obviously in a world of its own. While Wait became the 18th girls athlete to win four titles in a single state championship, she was the first to do it in the 6A classification. And yet, no female had ever done it like this

Two of those events -- the 100m and long jump -- are like one another, but none were like the shot put. Or for that matter, the pole vault. 

Wait's performance was among Kansas' finest ever. 

And while maybe no one could have seen this coming, there were some indications Wait was headed toward a big weekend.

The Gardner-Edgerton High School senior came from a family of exceptional pole vaulters -- her brother had been a Kansas state champion, and her sister had set the state's pole vault state meet record.

Kendra had won her first state title as a freshman, and then she pulled off the rare Class 6A 100m and shot put double in 2019.

She had cleared 13-feet in the pole vault as a senior, landing the sixth-best mark in Kansas history.

In year's past, she had medaled in the 200m and pole vault. But this year, Wait decided to add long jump to her resume. 

Like anything, some fortune played into Wait's hand. According to the Star, Wait landed her winning long jump on her first attempt. She also won the pole vault with an 11-foot mark on her one and only attempt.

In most states, that pole vault mark wouldn't necessarily claim a state title in its largest classification. Wait's clearance happened to come after she was done with every other event; it just so happened, too, that it was over a height that was relatively convenient. 

Sometimes, though, you need things to fall your way.

And Wait certainly had the cards in her favor over the weekend. 

Perhaps the craziest part to all of this is that Wait isn't even a track and field recruit. She's headed to Creighton in the fall as a prized 5-foot-10 setter. 

"There's no doubt about it that she's going down as one of the all-time Kansas greats," Gardner-Edgerton's throws coach, John Yockey, told the Star. "It's been incredible to watch her do all of the different athletic feats that she does every single track meet."