This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Fox Boys Enjoy Stellar Afternoon at District Track Meet

The Warriors finish third overall with 90 points and qualify 11 for sectionals at the district boys meet.

Weather conditions may not have been ideal for the Class 4 District 1 track and field meet on Saturday at Oakville High School. But with chances to qualify for sectionals on the line, athletes from 12 schools battled through the rain and wind in hope of continuing their seasons.

Despite the elements, several athletes set school and personal records in their respective events. On the boys’ side, Rockwood Summit took the team championship by totaling 104 points, 12 points better than second-place Central (Cape Girardeau) High School.

Fox (90 points), Lindbergh (85 points) and Mehlville (68.5) rounded out the top five for the boys. Seckman came in sixth, followed by Jackson, Oakville, Northwest, Poplar Bluff and Vianney.

Find out what's happening in Arnoldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For the girls, Lindbergh dominated the field of teams by scoring 174.5 points, 65 points better than second-place Rockwood Summit. Cor Jesu Academy took third with 91.5 points, while Jackson (64) and Northwest (61.5) came in fourth and fifth.

Oakville finished in sixth, followed by Central, Mehlville, Fox, Poplar Bluff and Seckman.

Find out what's happening in Arnoldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For both the boys and girls, the top four individual qualifiers in each of the 18 events advanced to sectionals, which will take place Saturday, May 21 at Lafayette High School.

The top four finishers for each event at sectionals then moves on to the state championship, which will be held May 27 and 28 at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. 

FOX QUALIFIES FOR SECTIONALS IN 13 EVENTS

Seniors Zach English, Tyler Holmes and Sendin Bajric and junior Cameron Blanton helped the Fox boys track and field team to an outstanding day. The Warriors finished third overall with 90 points and qualified for sectionals in 11 events.

“As a team, we’ve actually done as good or better than what we expected,” said Eric Van Matre, head boys coach. “There may be one or so disappointments, but for the most part, I have to say we all came to form very well, especially in these conditions. And we had an awful lot of personal records today.”

English won the high jump with a personal-record jump of six-feet, six-inches.  English also finished second in both the long jump and triple jump.

Holmes recorded a second-place time of 4 minutes, 27 seconds in the 1,600-meter run and a third-place time of 1:58.6 in the 800.

Bajric ran the first leg in the 4x800 relay, and the Warriors placed second. He also qualified for sectionals in the 800 by finishing fourth.

Blanton won the 100-meter dash in 11.35 seconds. He helped the 4x100 and the 4x200 relay teams to fourth-place finishes.

For the girls, senior Shawntanay Johnson took home gold in the 100 and silver in the 200. Johnson’s time of 12.77 seconds in the 100 was five-hundredths of a second better than Central’s Asia Thomas. Thomas was about half a second quicker than Johnson in the 200, as Johnson ran the event in 25.6.

Johnson was the lone athlete from the Warriors to make it to sectionals. Her great day paced the Warriors to a ninth-place finish out of 11 teams.

“Based on today, I think she has a pretty good shot to make it to state,” said girls coach Emily Werner. “The 100 is her stronger event. I know we’re in a hard sectional, but she was great there last year and I think she’ll do great this year as well.”

SECKMAN OUTPERFORMS EXPECTATIONS

Entering the day, boys coach Alan Farmer knew he had several athletes who were on the bubble regarding qualification for sectionals. Many of those athletes exceeded their seeds, which helped the Jaguars to 63 total points and sixth-place in the 11-team field.

Farmer pointed to senior Tyler Sparks as the perfect example for how Seckman’s day went. Sparks was seeded eighth in the high jump coming into the day, but earned a second-place medal thanks to his six-foot leap.

Senior Mike Neal also stepped up for the Jaguars. Neal was seeded 11th in the discus throw entering the competition. His toss of 133 feet, 4 inches got him through to the sectional round with a fourth-place finish. That throw was better than the 11th-place finisher by 16 feet, 4 inches.

Senior Kyle Eaves lived up to expectations by performing well in both the shot put and discus. Eaves won both events—the discus by only two inches—and will be a favorite to make it through to state.

“We expected him to do real well, to at least be in the top two of each event,” Farmer said. “What his chances are in state we won’t know until we get a chance to see what’s happening on the other side. I think Kyle Eaves has a really good chance to go to state. I’ll tell you, it couldn’t happen to a greater kid.”

The girls team finished in last place with 13 total points. The 4x800-meter relay team grabbed fifth place and the 4x400 team took sixth. Junior Alee Tyner had the Jaguars’ best performance of the day, as she placed sixth in the discus throw with a toss of 100 feet, 6 inches.

LINDBERGH GIRLS TAKE DISTRICT TITLE

The Flyers dominated the field to the tune of 174.5 points and a first-place finish overall. Senior Colleen Riley led the way by winning each of her four events. Junior Jill Harmon won two district titles, while freshman Anne Massey took one.

“It’s been a great day,” said Tom Gose, who co-coaches the team with Jim Wilder. “There were some things that were disappointing, but considering the elements, that’s true of everybody’s team. Sometimes you get caught up in your own things, and you have to look back on the results to see that in the big picture, despite your flaws, it was a good performance.”

Riley, who will attend Iowa State University next year, won the 800 and the 1,600. She anchored the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams in their victories.

Harmon won championships in both the long jump and the triple jump. Massey won the district title in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.23 seconds.

“We hope to get 10 events qualified to state,” Gose said. “When I say events, it could be two kids in a given event, which would be two events. There’s an outside chance we can win the sectional next week. The other district is very tough.”

For the boys, senior Tim Hamm-Bey and junior Ryan Woodland paced Lindbergh to 85 points and a fourth-place finish. Hamm-Bey finished less than half of a second behind Woodland in the 200, as the duo swept the top two spots.

Hamm-Bey won the district title for the 400 and anchored the 4x200 relay team that grabbed a championship. Woodland ran the first leg for the 4x200 team as well as the 4x100 team that placed second.

Sophomore Justin Simmons chipped in with a district title of his own, as he completed the 110 hurdles in a time of 15.94.

HARVEY, RELAY TEAMS SHOW STRENGTH FOR OAKVILLE

Sophomore Nekole Harvey’s outstanding day helped the girls track and field team to a sixth-place finish overall. Harvey placed third in both the 100 and the 200, and she led two relay teams to top-four finishes. So, Harvey will be participating in four events at sectionals.

Harvey ran the second leg for Oakville’s 4x200 team, which won the district championship. Girls coach Mike Bishop said he likes the relay team’s chances to qualify for state.

“Our 4x200 was the favorite coming in and they won today, so we’re very proud of them,” Bishop said. “They have our best shot of getting through to state. We’d like to see that team break the school record.”

Anchoring the 4x200 team was freshman Blessing Oparaji, who narrowly missed out on advancing to sectionals in three other events. Oparaji placed fifth in the 100, fifth in the 200 (one-tenth of a second behind fourth-place runner Crystal Harris of Rockwood Summit) and fifth in the 4x400.

Freshman Melissa Brown had a similar day to Oparaji. Brown set two personal records, but missed a trip to sectionals by less than two seconds in the 1,600. She also placed fifth in the 3,200.

“Overall, we finished about where we expected,” Bishop said. “We have a very young, inexperienced team. We were only able to fill about half the events with varsity-caliber athletes this year. We finished sixth out of 11 teams, but we were only eight points from finishing fourth.”

The boys track and field team qualified for sectionals in six events and finished eighth overall at the meet with 51.5 points. Junior Luke Miller’s personal record placed him third in the 400 while junior Jake Bast took third in the 1600.

Freshman Elvir Sarajlic got through to sectionals courtesy of a fourth-place finish in the 3,200. Right behind Sarajlic in that event was Bast, who nabbed a fifth-place finish.

Also qualifying for the sectional meet was junior Jaron Henderson, who recorded a 6-0 jump to tie for third in the high jump. Additionally, the Tigers’ 4x200 team and 4x800 team advanced to sectionals.

“We definitely hit the numbers that we were supposed to hit,” said Terry Wood, assistant boys coach. “Our 4x800 team has been dropping time all over the place. That’s going to be the big team ticket to move on to state. Our 4x200 relay team has a great shot as well.” 

MEHLVILLE’S SULYA AND PARTEE ENJOY SUCCESS

Junior Michael Sulya and sophomore Patrick Partee qualified for four sectional events apiece en route to leading the boys track and field team to 68.5 points and a fifth-place team finish.

Sulya tied for third in the high jump with a leap of 6-0, and he placed fourth in the long jump. Sulya also helped the 4x100 and the 4x400 teams two to third-place finishes.

“I’ve done better than I thought I would. I didn’t think I’d make it in the long jump because I’ve been up and down on that event this season, but I did better than I expected to,” Sulya said.

Partee won the district title for the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40 seconds, his best run of the season. He placed fourth in the triple jump and helped the 4x200 and 4x400 teams to third-place finishes.

Boys coach Jay Holtmeyer said that if the sectional qualifiers can improve in certain areas of their events, they’ll each have a shot at state.

“It’s a new game; it will be a new weekend with new teams,” Holtmeyer said. “The weather may change, so if our kids come back with an as good or better performance, they all have a chance.”

For the girls, junior Carly Klein helped the Panthers to an eighth-place finish. Klein took second in the triple jump and third in the 300 hurdles to qualify for sectionals in two events.

Junior Jennifer Carter was the only other Mehlville athlete to make it through to sectionals. She finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:23.6, which was one-tenth of a second behind Lindbergh’s Grace Watt, who earned a bronze medal.

The Panthers’ 4x800 team finished fourth and seemingly broke a school record, but they were disqualified for a handoff out of the exchange zone. A second relay team, the 4x400, also put up a good time, but they too were disqualified. 

NORTHWEST WINS TITLES IN POLE VAULT AND SHOT PUT

The Lions’ girls track team was led by senior Jennifer Sturgeon and sophomore Alysiah Whittaker, who each captured district titles. Sturgeon took gold in the pole vault by clearing 10-6. She finished fifth in the state championship last year.

“For Jenny Sturgeon in the pole vault, she just missed a school record; she’s got that tied right now,” said girls coach Glen House. “She’s repeated as district champ and hopefully, if things go well next week, she’ll have her fourth trip to state in four years.”

Whittaker won the shot put with a throw of 39-6, which broke the Northwest school record. Whittaker also qualified for sectionals in the discus throw. Whittaker’s throw of 105-7 earned her a fourth-place finish.

Senior Taylor Hosna earned second-place in the long jump while her teammate, senior Emily Weiss, finished fourth in the same event. Hosna also qualified for sectionals in the triple jump by finishing fourth in that event.

“We’ve come a long way in the last five years,” House said. “Five years ago, we had one girl qualify to a sectional meet. The last few years, we’ve had multiple girls going to state. I’d like to see all of our girls get to state this year, and I believe it’s possible.

“In all of the events, we will either be seeded to qualify to state or be right there with a chance.”

For the boys’ track and field team, no one won a district title, but the Lions will advance to the sectional meet in seven events. Northwest finished ninth overall with 48 points.

Senior Matt Diehl and sophomore Gino Bono finished second and third, respectively, in the 300 hurdles. Senior George Willis placed third in the shot put while senior Nick Tufts took third in the discus throw.

Sophomore Josiah Icenesse barely beat out Mehlville’s Donald Allen to take fourth in the 110 hurdles. The 4x400 and 4x800 teams both finished in fourth to advance to sectionals. 

MAZAR, WOOD CARRY SUMMIT TO CHAMPIONSHIP

The Falcons’ boys track and field team, led by the one-two tandem of seniors Daniel Mazar and Curt Wood, swept through the field to earn a district team championship. Rockwood Summit will advance to the sectional meet in 10 events.

Mazar, who recently moved to Missouri after attending Edwardsville High School last year, won four district championships. Mazar won gold medals in the 800, the 1,600, the 4x400 relay and the 4x800.

Mazar’s teammate and good friend Wood finished second to Mazar in the 800-meter run and helped the Falcons win district championships in the 4x400 relay, which Wood anchored, and the 4x800. Wood said he loves running with and against Mazar.

“It’s amazing,” Wood said. “Me and him have become real close. No matter who wins, we know we’ve got each other’s backs. If I happen to get my day and beat him, he’s going to be just as proud for me. I’m always just as proud for him and we’re always there to give each other the first high-five at the finish line.”

Mazar, who has been friends with Wood for three years, said that competing with and against Wood makes both athletes stronger.

“We have a really good friendship,” Mazar said. “We’re best friends and we train every day together. It’s a good time to race each other and we push each other.”

For the girls track and field team, the Falcons will advance to the sectional meet in 12 events. Senior Crystal Harris finished fourth in three of her four events. With a second-place finish in the other event, the 4x100, Harris qualified for sectionals in each of her four events.

Senior Jenny Govero earned first place in the 3,200 and second-place in the 1,600 and the 4x800. Seniors Sidney Baudendistel and Jordan Thomas placed first and second, respectively, in the high jump.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Arnold