Bethany Slovensky enjoyed another outstanding trip to Jefferson City.

For the second year in a row, the Wellsville-Middletown sophomore earned a pair of all-state medals in track as she placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 1 state track championship meet at Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium.

“I’m pretty excited for being all-state,” Slovensky said. “I’m not really too happy about my performances, but I still got in the top eight and on the podium.”

Slovensky finished with a time of 17.37 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 50.52 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. Last year, she placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the triple jump.

Slovensky said she was thrilled that she got her first all-state medal in the 300-meter hurdles. A year ago, she was in first place in the event before she tripped on the final hurdle and ended up finishing ninth, one place short of a medal.

“I was really happy I made it to the finals this year and I was able to get a medal and be on the podium for it,” Slovensky said. “I worked all year for it and it finally paid off.”

Slovensky was the only W-M athlete to earn all-state honors. Five other W-M athletes – seniors Isaac Seabaugh, Keaton Mayes and Layne Norris, junior Jacob Mandrell and freshman Hunter Bickell – competed at state, but didn’t receive medals.

Seabaugh and Mayes finished 13th and 16th, respectively, in the 800. They also helped the 3,200-meter relay team – which included Norris and Bickell – finish 12th.

Mandrell finished 12th in the triple jump and placed 13th in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles.

Seabaugh, Mayes, Bickell and Mandrell participated in their third state event in the 2021-22 school year. Last fall, they were members of the cross country team that finished third at state. In March, they helped the boys basketball squad come in fourth at the Show-Me Showdown.

Seabaugh, who earned all-state medals in the 800 and 4x800 last year, said he was happy that he got to compete at state with Mayes, who is his longtime friend.

“It’s nice to make it back,” Seabaugh said. “I know I didn’t set a PR or anything, but it was nice to make it here this year and get to run with my friend.”

Slovensky qualified for the finals in both hurdle events by getting top-eight finishes in the preliminaries on May 20. She set season-best times in both events, running 16.58 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 49.22 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. It was the first time she ran in preliminaries at the state meet.

“I did not enjoy the prelims,” Slovensky said.

Slovensky competed in three events at state. The sophomore also ran in the 100-meter dash, where she finished 15th in 13.63 seconds in preliminaries.

“There were so many fast girls here,” Slovensky said. “The competition is crazy. Coming in third at sectionals to not make it to the finals is just crazy.”

Slovensky’s first race, the 100-meter hurdle finals, was delayed for nearly two hours due to rain in the Jefferson City area. Crystal Smith of Jasper won the race in 16.02 seconds.
Kendall Holweg of Delta won the 300-meter hurdles championship in 47.36 seconds.

Slovensky said she’s already looking forward to her junior year.

“I’m excited because the competition changes each year,” Slovensky said. “I was going from third last year in the 100 hurdles to fifth this year. The competition changes each year and gets better. I just hope I can keep up with them and get better, too.”

Slovensky qualified for state by winning the 100-meter hurdles, placing second in the 300-meter hurdles and coming in third in the 100 at the Class 1 sectional meet at Lutheran North High School on May 14.