OLATHE, Kan. – Many Kansas high school athletes are frustrated, particularly an Olathe student athlete who had to sit on the sidelines at the state track and field meeting.
She qualified for the state championship in two sports and said a scheduling conflict prevented her from competing in either of those competitions.
“It was really hard to watch because I was supposed to be down there, but I wanted my teammates to know I was there to support them one way or the other,” said rising senior Kendall Yarnell.
Yarnell and another dual athlete are hoping the Kansas State High Schools Activities Association will make a change so this doesn’t happen to other future athletes. KSHSAA said it is possible.
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“Obviously we can’t change what happened, but we can change the dates and that’s what we want to do,” Yarnell said.
Two Kansas City-area athletes play for different high schools, but they agree on one thing.
“I’d like to see where there’s no overlap,” said former Piper senior Kylie Brockman.
“The whole thing that needs to change is the overlap of dates,” Yarnell said.
Yarnell is a member of the Olathe Northwest varsity softball and track teams. Brockman played softball and threw javelins for Piper High School.
The Olathe Northwest softball team made it to Lawrence; Yarnell also qualified for the throwing, shot put, and discus in Wichita State.
But the championship events took place on the same day.
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“The conflict, just the way the schedule worked, wasn’t good,” said Shawn Lopez, Olathe Northwest softball coach.
He said his team fought hard for 12 innings but came up short in the semifinals.
Yarnell decided to go to the track meet. She already missed the shot put, but there was still time to throw discus for the third straight year.
While warming up, Yarnell was told she wasn’t scratching properly and couldn’t keep up.
“It was heartbreaking,” Yarnell said. “It almost felt like something was being taken away from me that was supposed to be – and how I could change it – and it’s like there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Lopez said being a two-sport player is difficult, but his team is made up of five players and three have made it in both sports.
He wants changes to the KSHSAA schedule so athletes don’t have to make a heartbreaking decision.
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“Nothing changes without sacrifice,” Lopez said, “and hopefully that’s the sacrifice that creates change.”
Bill Faflick, executive director of KSHSAA, said state schedules are crowd-driven.
“If our board says we’d like to run these events on other weekends, that would certainly be something we would consider,” Faflick said.
Faflick said he couldn’t speculate on whether the board will lean one way or the other, but that the final decision rests with the board members.
“They don’t want to get too far into the summer because we know we’re losing kids when they start working and they start planning family vacations,” Faflick said.
Yarnell’s family said there were also two athletes at Baldwin High School who had to choose between soccer and track.
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“You want to be great at two things, but if you’re not allowed to do something, then what’s the point,” Brockman said.
“You work so hard for something all year long and it gets taken away from you at the end. So I think that will only push the kids away and we will lose great athletes.”
She and Yarnell want to ensure there is no overlap for future student athletes.
“I would hate it if they were that good at both and then missed an opportunity,” Yarnell said. “You can change so many stories just by letting the dates be different and not overlapping them.”
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