West Elk High School senior Sonny Lee ended his track career Saturday with a slight dose of heartbreak: he finished in second place in the class 2A men’s 200 meter dash by a mere .03 of one second.

Lee settled for runner-up status after posting the top time in the preliminary round.  However, Manuel Acevedo of Sublette High School beat Lee to the finish line in 22.33 seconds while Lee came in second at 22.36 seconds.

Earlier in the state meet, Lee shattered the class 2A state record in the 400 meter run.  Lee finished in first place in 47.94 seconds.  On Friday, he ran that sprint in 48.01 seconds, which, at that time, was a state record.

Lee won first place in the men’s high jump event on Friday morning with a jump of 6 feet, 10 inches, beating the second-place winner by a half foot.

Lee had hoped to come home with three gold medals — much like he did at the 2008 state meet.  However, he finished the 2009 meet with two golds and one silver in hand.

Lee also has competed in the preliminary heats of the 200 meter and 400 meter sprints finished in first place in each heat.  Lee finished the 200 meter sprint in

21.98 seconds and had an impressive time in the 400 meter run (48.01 seconds), which would be a new state record.

Lee will compete in the finals of the 200 and 400 meter runs on Saturday afternoon at Wichita’s Cessna Stadium.

West Elk men’s and women’s 4×100 meter relay teams failed to qualify for the final round following Friday’s preliminary heats, and the girls’ 4×400 meter relay team from West Elk will compete in the preliminary round on Friday afternoon.

Also on Saturday, Sydney Hines of West Elk finished in seventh place in the women’s 100 meter hurdles in 16.78 seconds.

More details about the state track meet will be printed in the June 2 edition of the Prairie Star.