Lady Indians’ Zimmerman earns Athlete of Year honor
It’s only been two seasons for Kip Keely to be the head girls’ track coach at Hays High School, but in that short period of time, he’s made a significant impact on the program.
After watching Great Bend’s girls capture Western Athletic Conference titles in 2023 and 2024 with Hays finishing second each year, Keeley has now turned that formular upside down with the Lady Indians winning in 2025 after a 20-year drought.
The Indians did so with a slender 95-88 margin over Garden City. This year, the Lady Indians wrapped up its second consecutive title with a ribbon that totaled 114 points to runner-up Dodge City’s 84.
“Both championships were special, but they felt different,” Keeley said. “Last yiear’s title was significant because it ended a long drought. This year’s championship was rewarding because it showed the growth and depth of our program.”
Keeley said that by winning the meet by 30 poiints, it showed the depth of the team.
“Winning by 30 points wasn’t about one or two standout performances,” Keeley said. “It was the result of athletes scoring across a wide variety of events and consistently contributing points throughout the meet.”
In fact, the Indians won eight of the 18 events, with junior Lyndi Zimmerman earning the Athlete of the Year award by scoring the most points of any contestant with 24. The fleet-footed Zimmerman won both the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles and then running the second leg of the winning 4×100-meter relay and then capping it off with a runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles.
But, Zimmerman was not only in winning events. Chloe Crawford took the high jump (5-2), Kenlee Vehige captured the pole vault (10-6), Brooke Bieker earned gold in the triple jump (36-7), Zoe Winter was first in the shot put (38-1.25) and Sydney Lewallen blitzed the 400-meter field with a winning time of 57.49 seconds.
Keeley said one of the ways the program has stepped up is in building a strong culture and creating consistency in everything they do.
“We emphasize daily habits, accountability, and getting athletes to believe in themselves and in the team,” Keeley said. “When athletes improve across all event areas, the entire program becomes stronger.”
Keeley said he is fortunate to have high quality assistants to help break down the athletes as they go through an extensive evaluation process to determine what events the athletes are best in which to compete.
“We want to identify and develop strengths as early as possible,” Keeley said. “We encourage athletes to try different events and aren’t afraid to move them into areas where they have the potential to succeed.”
By the third week of a given season, Keeley and his staff have a good idea of where athletes fit into the different events.
“It’s always an ongoing process,” Keeley said. “Early in the season we experiment and evaluate different combinations to see where athletes can help the team most. As the season progresses and championship meeets approach, we become more focused on maximizing team scoring opportunities and putting athletes in positions where they can be sucessful.”
In many instances, athletes remain in the same events throughout the season while others may be moved around, depending upon the team needs and where they can have the biggest impact, Keeley said.
“The WAC meet definitely moves quicker than most,” Keeley said. “With just five teams and no prelims, there is not a lot of recovery time. For athletes who are competing in multiple events, we look at that when making liineup decisions. We try to make sure athletes are set up for success throughout the day.”
LYNDI ZIMMERMAN, HAYS, JR./TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
When Lyndi Zimmerman, a junior from Hays, was standing around the awards podium at the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Track & Field Championship in Dodge City, all she was thinking about was celebrating the team’s second consecutive championship.
As a sophomore in 2025, Zimmerman helped the Lady Indians snap a 20-year drought with their first title since 2005.
While she was trying to celebrate the team’s victory with her teammates, the public address announcer bellowed out her name as the winner of the Athlete of the Year Award, which goes to the individual who scores the most points in the meet.
This year, Zimmerman put together a nearly 100 percent efficient performance by winning the 100-meter dash (12.16s), the 100-meter hurdles (14.96s), running the second leg of the winning 4×100-meter relay (48.81s) and then placing second in the 300-meter hurdles.
“Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with the award, so when I heard my name, I had to ask my teammates what that was all about,” Zimmerman said. “I thought there were other good athletes, but I wasn’t aware of what it was. My first reaction was, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m really shocked.’”
Of her different events, Zimmerman enjoys the 100-meter dash, and the 100-meter hurdles the most.
“Anything that is a short race is the best for me,” Zimmerman said. “The 100 hurdles is always just ‘my’ event, but I love the 100-meter dash too. Anything short I like.”
Even with her fast times in the two events, Zimmerman feels like she can do better. The 12.16 is her best in the 100-meters and her fastest in the hurdles is 14.57 (sophomore) and she clocked in at 14.58 this season.
“My start is kind of slow, so I need to work on staying in control and being consistent with my form,” she said. “In the hurdles, I think I do a good job between the hurdles, but there is always room to improve.”
The 300-meter hurdle race is the biggest challenge for Zimmerman.
“It’s a pretty hard race and requires a lot of mental toughness,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t do very well in that event.”
Despite being a taented athlete, Zimmerman now foregoes volleyball and basketball to focus on track.
“Track is the main sport for me, so I spend the offseason training to get faster and stronger,” Zimmerman said.
After such a strong regular season capped off by the WAC award, Zimmernan had her season end earlier than she would have wanted.
At the Class 5A regional on her home track, Zimmerman pulled up at the 50-meter mark of the 100-meter dash with what was diagnosed as a torn hamstring.
“Ite was a really bad one because I heard something pop and then it just really hurt,” she said. “I didn’t get to run at state so that was pretty much a tough way for the season to end.”
Her coach, Kip Keeley, said Zimmerman has a strong work ethic that combines with her physical ability to make her an elite track standout.
“She has a great deal of competitiveness and attention to detail,” Keeley said. “She consistently approaches training with a high level of focus and has a desire to keep improving. Physically, she has excellent speed and explosiveness, but what separates her is her ability to compete when the stakes are highest.”
Zimmerman is already well into her rehabilitation program and hopes to be fully recovered by the end of the summer. She can then prepare for her senior season.
“I’ll be ready and good to go next year,” Zimmerman said.
While she is undecided about her college destination, she hopes to be able to run track at the next level. When she arrives in college, she will pursue a degree in radiology.
Western Athletic Conference
2026 Girls Track & Field Championship
May 14 • Memorial Stadium, Dodge City
| TEAM | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hays | 114 |
| 2 | Dodge City | 84 |
| 3 | Great Bend | 80 |
| 4 | Garden City | 69 |
| 5 | Liberal | 28 |
All-WAC Track & Field Team
| EVENT | NAME | SCHOOL | MARK |
|---|---|---|---|
| High jump | Chloe Crawford | Hays | 5-02 |
| Pole vault | Kenlee Vehige | Hays | 10-06 |
| Long jump | Brooke Savolt | Garden City | 17-05 |
| Triple jump | Brooke Bieker | Hays | 36-07 |
| Discus throw | NaZiah Williams | Liberal | 141-00 |
| Javelin throw | Jersey Bogner | Dodge City | 122-00 |
| Shot put | Zoe Winters | Hays | 38-01.25 |
| 100m dash | Lyndi Zimmerman | Hays | 12.16 |
| 200m dash | Karys Leu | Great Bend | 25.30 |
| 400m dash | Sydney Lewallen | Hays | 57.49 |
| 800m run | Sydney Stein | Great Bend | 2:26.88 |
| 1600m run | Decorah Schroeter | Great Bend | 5:26.68 |
| 3200m run | Decorah Schroeder | Great Bend | 12:30.35 |
| 100m hurdles | Lyndi Zimmerman | Hays | 14.96 |
| 300m hurdles | Lily Pfaff | Dodge City | 46.53 |
| 4x100m relay | Sydney Lewallen Lyndi Zimmerman Brooke Bieker Kamryn McCall | Hays | 48.81 |
| 4x400m relay | ThayLee Powers Gracyn Doll Erin Finch Ava Luna | Garden City | 4:03.93 |
| 4x800m relay | Anna Clevenger Rory Gamblin Janelle Barragan Krishna Perez Martinez | Dodge City | 10:16.80 |
