The Excelsior Springs High School class of 2023 is sending another student athlete off to college. Dalton Layton, who graduated in May, has signed a national letter of intent to continue his education and compete in track and field at Rockhurst University in Kansas City. Layton chose Rockhurst over Central Methodist University, an NAIA school based in Fayette; and Liberty-based William Jewell College, an NCAA Division II school, because of its business education program, he said. He also chose it because Rockhurst is an NCAA Division II school, he said. Layton heads to Rockhurst after qualifying for this year’s Class 4 state meet in the triple jump. He placed 15th in the event. With his signing, Layton continues a track and field career that began in the seventh grade at Excelsior Springs Middle School, where he learned the fundamentals and techniques of the jumps. “Coach ( Beau) Thompson helped me to get to sectionals my junior year and then to state in my senior year,” said…