No Limit Sprinters

The No Limit Sprinters were founded in 1998, comprised of four sprinters at Blue Valley North High School (Overland Park, KS). The team comprised juniors Kowin Casey, Josh Kropf, and Brandon McKay and sophomore Phil Anderson. The No Limit Sprinters initially concentrated their efforts on competing in the 4x400m relay throughout the 1998 spring high school track & field season. Ultimately, their relay team finished in 5th place at the Kansas 6A State High School Championship in the 4x400m relay.

During the 1998/1999 Indoor track season, the No Limit Sprinters finished first in the 4x400m relay at the USA Track & Field National Invitational in Chicago, IL.

In the spring of 1999, the No Limit Sprinters ran their first 4x100m race at the Topeka Seaman relays. Running out of the “slow heat,” the foursome not only won the event, but also ran the fastest time in the state at that time. The No Limit Sprinters continued to perform very well in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays throughout the 1999 spring season, typically finishing in the top two in both events. The regular track season ended with the No Limit Sprinters qualifying for the Kansas 6A State Championship in both events. Senior Brandon McKay also qualified in the 100m and 400m dashes. Senior Kowin Casey also qualified in the 300m intermediate hurdles.

The No Limit Sprinters ran very well on the first day of qualifying at the Kansas 6A State Championship, qualifying as the second seed in the 4x100m relay and as the top seed in the 4x400m relay.

Senior Brandon McKay started the final day at the State Championship by winning the individual title in the 400m dash with a time of 49.33 seconds. Senior Kowin Casey followed that performance by finishing third in the 300m intermediate hurdles with a time of 40.18 seconds. Senior Colin Damas also placed second in the javelin with a throw of 215'5". Unfortunately for the Blue Valley North Mustangs, Sophomore runner Scott Loftin was sidelined with an illness and was unable to compete in the 1600m and 3200m race despite having run the top time in the state in both events.

The No Limit Sprinters first competed in the 4x100m relay during the afternoon. Senior Kowin Casey sped around the first curve and made a smooth handoff to junior Phil Anderson. Anderson sped down the backstretch and handed off to Senior Josh Kropf. Kropf motored around the curve and handed to McKay. McKay sprinted down the homestretch picking off a few teams and ultimately finished in second place with a total time of 43.16 seconds. Click here to watch the race!

Coming into the final event of the day, the 4x400m relay, the No Limit Sprinters and Blue Valley North found themselves in third place with 38 points, two points behind second place Wichita Heights (Wichita, KS), and six points behind first place Olathe East (Olathe, KS). To win the 6A State Championship, the No Limit Sprinters would need to finish in at least second place and would Olathe East to finish no better than sixth place.

Anderson started the race and sped around the track, maintaining a solid position in the race. Kropf grabbed the baton and held his ground around the track. As he approached the exchange zone, the runner from Blue Valley High School (Stilwell, KS) and the runner from Olathe East collided, creating a pile-up in the already crowded track. Fortunately, Casey was able to maneuver around the bodies and emerged in third place. After running a strong third leg, Casey handed to McKay still behind Wichita Southeast (Wichita, KS) and Shawnee Mission South (Overland Park, KS). McKay quickly caught the two leaders within the first 200m of his leg. Finishing down the homestretch, McKay was able to catch and pass the anchor runner from Shawnee Mission South and finish second in the event with a time of 3:23.13, setting a new Blue Valley North High School record. Their effort was also good enough to give the Mustangs a total of 46 points, good enough to take the State Championship. It was the school’s first championship since 1993. Click here to watch the race!

----

Sources:
1. 1999 KSHSAA Track & Field Results, http://www.kcctfca.org/Results/StateTFResults/1998-1999%20State%20T&F%20Results.PDF
2. "Mustangs Fly at Nationals." Kansas City Star. Matt Weeks. 2/13/1999.
3. "BV Boys run to Track Title." Kansas City Star. Howard Richman. 6/2/1999

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu