WICHITA — Sophomore Molly Ehrlich battled through injury the last half of the track season, and concluded the season by placing 14th at the state meet.

The meet, held May 30-31 on the campus of Wichita State University, hosts all schools 1A-6A at the event.

Ehrlich ran the 3,200m race in 12:39.21.

“I felt I competed to the best of my ability I could and was just thankful that I was out there running at state,” she said. “I feel like the season did not go as planned but this will help me be stronger next year.”

Head coach Nick Rodriguez said Ehrlich lost some ground physically in May.

“So being able to compete in the state 3,200m finals is a huge accomplishment,” he said. “Now she can focus on getting healed up and preparing for her fall cross country season.”

Three other athletes competed at state, but did not advance to the final rounds.

“In the preliminary races in the sprints, an athlete had to finish in the top eight to qualify for the final race,” Rodriguez said.

Junior Lainey Peschka competed in the 100m and 200m prelim races. She placed 15th with a time of 12.96 and 10th with a time of 26.78, respectively, in the prelims. She did not advance to the finals.

“I didn’t run my best in my events, but there are a lot of talented runners in 3A,” Peschka said. “After qualifying and placing at the state meet last year, I knew my goal for the season was to get back to state. I was a little disappointed in my race, but I’m still so glad I was able to get back and compete there again.”

Senior Keeley Pflughoeft’s best javelin throw for the weekend was 115’-11.”

“In the javelin throw, they take the nine best throwers from the prelims and let them throw three more times to see if placing can improve,” Rodriguez said. “Keeley was 8-9 for a long time, then a couple girls there were just a bit better than her on their last throws and moved her into 11th after prelims.”

While she did not advance to the finals, Pflughoeft said she was gearing up for state all season.

“I thought that the competition was tough and intense, and I knew I had to give it my all, knowing that everyone would give it their all as well,” she said.

The state track meet concludes the Bearcats’ season.

“Overall, it’s disappointing for our kids not to bring home a state medal, but the opportunity to participate in state competition is a great achievement,” Rodriguez said. “(There are) lots of positives for this year’s team, and we can use our state meet results as motivation to get back here and do it all again.”