Area athletes prepare for state track and field meet

May 24—Joplin High School athletes will compete in 11 events at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City this weekend. The championship begins Friday and continues Saturday for classes 3-5. Classes 1-2 events were held last weekend.

Senior Hobbs Campbell will represent the Eagles in the distance races after finishing first in the 1,600-meter race, with a time of 4:16:00, third in the 800-meter race, with a time of 1:54:00, and third in the 3,200-=meter race, with a time of 09:48:00 in Saturday's Class 5, Sectional 3 meet in Springfield.

The top four finishers in each event at sectionals advance to state.

Campbell, a University of Kansas signee, was runner-up in the 1,600-meter race at last year's state meet and finished fifth in the 800-meter run.

Freshman Brylee Strickland will compete on the girls side for the Eagles after qualifying in four events. Strickland finished second in the 400-meter race, with a time of 58.94 seconds, third in the 200-meter race, with a time of 25.58 seconds, fourth in the 100-meter run, with a time of 12.57 seconds, and was a member of the third-place 4x100-meter relay team, with a time of 49.14 seconds.

Joining Strickland and Campbell at the state meet will be senior Orion Norris, who will compete in two events after placing fourth in the 200-meter run, with a time of 22.53) seconds, and finishing third with the 4×100-meter relay, which came in at 42.85 seconds. Freshman Cordell Washington advanced with a third-place finish in the high jump (1.97 meters) and senior Drew VanGilder was third in the javelin (51.13 meters).

Neosho

After capturing the sectional title on Saturday in Springfield, the Neosho High School boys track and field team will be sending athletes in six events to the state meet.

Izaiah Hill qualified with a first-place finish in the 400-meter race (49.41) at the Class 5 Sectional 3 meet last Saturday. He will be joined by Tyrese Hill, who took second in both the 100-meter (11.04) and 200-meter races (21.84). Collyn Kivett won first-place with a javelin throw of 52.88 meters. Jared Siler qualified in two events, claiming first place in the high jump (2 meters) and second in the long jump (6.89 meters).

Carthage

Carthage will send athletes in six events to this weekend's championships.

Senior Miguel Solano qualified with a first-place performance in the 800-meter race (1:54.59). Freshman Chasity Straw will compete in the girls' discus after a third-place performance at sectionals with a throw of 34.94 meters.

Sophomore Trent Yates advanced with a fourth-place finish in the triple jump (13.4 meters), and senior Micah Lindsay also was fourth with a 17.56-meter put in the shot put. Junior Daryl Martin was fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (00:41:00) and sophomore Karlie Nichols advanced with a fourth-place finish in the shot put (10.6 meters).

Webb City

In Class 4, the Webb City boys claimed first as a team at their Class 4, Sectional 3 in West Plains last weekend. They will send boys in 11 events and girls in six events.

Defending state champion pole vaulter Grayson Smith, a senior, won the pole vault (4.87 meters) and will be joined at state by fellow vaulter junior Jadon Brisco, who finished second behind Smith with a 4.27-meter vault.

Junior Nate Miller won the boys discus (47.96 meters), Junior Tucker Liberatore won the javelin (52.29 meters) and junior Evan Stevens took first place in both the 1,600-meter (04:25:00) and the 3,200-meter (09:47:00) distance runs.

On the girls side, junior Dawsyn Decker finished first in the javelin (42.45 meters) and freshman Brooke Hedger won the 800-meter race (02:18:00).

Sophomore Ryan Reid took second in the boys' high jump (1.83 meters) and senior Abi Street was second in both the girls' 1,600-meter (05:19:00) and 3,200-meter (11:22:00) races.

Sophomore Eric Lathan was third in the shot put (15.51 meters), senior Trey Roets was third in the javelin (49.45 meters), and senior Jordan Thornburg finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.26 seconds. Junior Aubree Lassiter was fourth in the discus (32.63 meters).

The Cardinals finished third in the girls' 4×100 relay, at 50.34 seconds. Webb City also will send three boys' relay teams to the state meet after finishing third in the 4x200 (01:30:95) and 4x800m (08:18:78) and fourth in the 4x400-meter run (3:32:50).

Carl Junction

Sophomore sprinter Sydney Ward led Carl Junction with two first-place finishes. She won the 100-meter race in 12.31 seconds, and the 200-meter race with a time of 24.92 seconds.

Junior Acadia Badgley finished second in the pole vault (3.06 meters) and sophomore Madilyn Olds was third in the javelin (36.89 meters). Bella Montez, a freshman, took fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.1 seconds, and the girls 4x200-meter relay team qualified for state with a fourth-place finish (1:46:82).

Donnie Keith will be the lone representative for the Carl Junction boys after finishing fourth in the discus (41.85 meters).

McDonald County

McDonald County advanced athletes to state with a second place in the boys 4x400 relay (03:29:00) and a third-place finish in the 4x100 (00:43:.69).

Junior Toby Moore was third in the discus (43.18 meters), and on the girls' side, the Mustangs will advance its 4x400 relay team that finished fourth (04:13:00).

Lamar

In Class 3, Lamar captured the Class 3, Sectional 3 title at West Plains with 109 team points and East Newton was runner-up with 72.5 points.

Lamar senior Tyson Williams won the boys discus (45.64 meters) and was runner-up in the shot put (14.74 meters). Lamar also had a first-place finish courtesy of its boys 4x100-meter relay (00:43:50).

Senior Kiersten Potter led the Lamar girls with a win in the 3,200-meter race (11:33:00) and also was runner-up in the 1,600-meter race (05:20:00). Elise Ferris captured the sectional title in the long jump (5.13 meters).

Junior Pierce Heins was second in the 400-meter race, at 51.35 seconds, and senior Jase Dillon was second in the high jump (1.83 meters). The Tigers also placed second in the boys 4×800-meter relay (08:28.04).

Junior sprinter Ian Ngugi finished third in 100-meter race with a time of 11.23 seconds, and the 200-meter race, at 22.64 seconds. Sophomore Carson Sturgell took third in the pole vault (3.91 meters) as did senior Cameron Sturgell in the javelin (45.31 meters). Junior Trace Wooldridge claimed third in the boys shot put (14.59 meters) and senior Terrill Davis was third in the long jump (6.11 meters).

On the girls' side, Junior Audra Lloyd was third in the discus (30.75 meters).

Lamar will also send it boys 4×200 (01:32.77) and 4×400 (03:28.88) relay teams to state after third-place finishes in both events. Senior Blaine Breshears rounds out the field of Lamar's state qualifiers after a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter race with a time of 52.31 seconds.

College Heights

The College Heights Cougars girls' team qualified athletes in three events. The Cougars 4×400-meter relay team of Jesalin Bever, Jayli Johnson, Allie Stout and Lauren Ukena finished third (04:15:00), and their 4×200-meter relay team comprised of the same athletes was fourth (01:48:00).

Johnson, a senior, also placed fourth in the 400-meter race (01:01:00).

East Newton

East Newton junior Chase Sorrell took first in two events and fourth in another to lead the Patriot boys. Sorrell won the 800-meter race (01:58:00) and the 1600-meter race (04:31:00) and placed fourth in the 3,200-meter race (10:21:55).

Junior Eden Enlow took first in the javelin (46.71 meters), senior Michael Crowe won the high jump (1.86 meters) and senior Dominic Shaw took first in the shot put (14.88 meters). Shaw also finished second in the discus (45.38 meters).

For the Patriot girls, freshman Brooke White was third in the shot put (10.5 meters).

Seneca

Seneca's lone qualifier for the state meet was Isabella Renfro, who won the shot put (11.96 meters).