The Northern Heights track and field team had four athletes qualify for the Class 3A State track and field meet after their performances at Regionals in Marion on Friday.
As expected, the contingent is headlined by field star Jacquelyne Leffler, a three-time State champion in the discus and the shot put.
Leffler easily qualified in her two showcase events, winning the discus by nearly 46 feet with a throw of 160 feet, 1 inches. She then dominated the shot put competition with a throw of 46-9 1/2, more than 11 feet better than her closest competitor.
Leffler’s also qualified in the javelin, placing third with a throw of 118-7. Mission Valley’s Vanessa Finlay won the javelin with a distance of 131-4.
Heights got another one of its qualifiers in the field events on the boys side, as David Hanks took fourth in the shot put with a heave of 45-1 1/4.
On the track, Pete Symmonds qualified in the 800-meter run with a fourth-place finish in a time of 2 minutes, 2.80 seconds, while Kaylee Eklund earned a bid to State in the long jump with a leap of 16-1, good enough to place her fourth at the Regionals.
Area athletes qualify for Class 2A meet
Lyndon, Chase County, Lebo and Flinthills all will be sending athletes to the Class 2A State track and field meet after turning in top-four performances at the Pleasanton Regional on Friday.
On the girls side, Lyndon’s Andrea Hoke ran away with three Regional titles, as she won the javelin (115-9) the shot put (38-5 1/2) and the discus (119-10).
Chase County distance runner Julie Dorneker came away with a pair of titles, winning the 1,600-meter run in a time of 5:31.84 before taking the 3,200 title in a time of 12:03.29.
Flinthills’ Carley Dunham picked up a pair of Regional titles also, as she won the 800-meter run (2:27.06) and the 100-meter hurdles (17.22). Dunham’s teammate, Sydney Idleman, finished second in the 100-meter dash (13.53) and third in the long jump (15-2).
The other qualifiers on the girls side were: Lyndon’s Jenny Neuenschwander, third in the 1,600 (5:41.51); Lebo’s Chancy Keifer, third in the 300 hurdles (53.66); Chase County’s Riley Tanner, third in the javelin (101-10); Flinthills’ Renee Simon, fourth in the 1,600 (5:42.41); Lebo’s Morgan Tastove, fourth in the shot put (32-3 1/2); Lebo’s Anthony Dru, fourth in the 300 hurdles (54.10); Flinthills’ 4x400 relay, fourth (4:32.15); Flinthills’ 4x800 relay, fourth (11:12.37); and Chase County’s 4x100 relay, fourth (55.78).
On the boys side, there was only one individual Regional title from an area athlete.
Chase County’s Alec Wold won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.12 seconds, while Lyndon’s Jesse Filburn was second in a time of 11.21 seconds.
Wold went on to place second in the 200 (23.24), while Lebo’s Cameron Smith was third (23.61) and Filburn was fourth (23.76).
Lyndon’s Keene Niemack placed second in the 400 in a time of 50.70 seconds and finished third in the long jump with a leap of 20-5. Also, Lyndon’s Dylan Filburn placed third in the 800 (2:03.50).
Flinthills’ Jacob Ritter qualified individually in a pair of events, coming in second in the 3,200 (10:23.79) and third in the 1,600 (4:37.53). Ritter’s teammates, Ethan Eisenbarth and Logan Fullerton, placed second in the 110 hurdles (16.53) and fourth in the 800 (2:04.19), respectively.
Lebo’s Alex Linsey and Chase County’s Cody Paterson each came away with runner-up finishes, as Linsey was second in the javelin (147-9) while Paterson placed second in the shot put (44-3 1/2).
The other qualifiers on the boys side were: Lyndon’s 4x100 relay, first (44.28); Lyndon’s 4x400 relay, first (3:34.33); Flinthills’ 4x800 relay, first (8:43.92); Flinthills’ 4x400 relay, second (3:36.49); Lebo’s Dylan Montgomery, third in the discus (113-3); Lebo’s Blake Jones, fourth in the 110 hurdles (17.02); Flinthills’ Tyler Wilson, fourth in the shot put (43-0); Lyndon’s Daniel Wilson, fourth in the 300 hurdles (42.85); and Chase County’s 4x100 relay, fourth (46.01).
Stout leads area qualifiers into 1A meet
Madison sophomore Morgan Stout leads a lengthy list of area athletes that qualified for the Class 1A State track and field meet after their showings at the Madison Regional last Friday.
Stout qualified in four events, finishing first in three while placing third in another.
She won the 100- and 200-meter dashes, taking the 100 title in a time of 12.68 seconds before winning the 200 in a time of 26.77 seconds. Stout then won the triple jump with a distance of 35-0 1/2 before tying for third in the high jump with a clearance of 4-10.
Olpe freshman Katelyn Henderson came through with a two-title day, as she won the 800-meter run (2:32.89) and the 1,600 (5:38.26). Henderson also came in second in the 3,200 (12:32.76), finishing behind teammate Sharon Zeller, who won in a time of 12:28.56 and is the defending State champion in the event. Zeller also finishing second in the 1,600 (5:43.30).
Burlingame’s Miranda Fagan, Waverly’s Megan Steward and Madison’s Tera Titus won the other area girls individual Regional titles, as Fagan won the shot put with a heave of 39-2, Steward won the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet and Titus took the discus title with a throw of 119-11.
Olpe’s 4x800 relay squad also took first in a time of 10:44.49.
The other area State qualifiers on the girls side were: Waverly’s Shelby Woods, second in the 400 (1:01.23) and fourth in the 200 (28.20); Olpe’s Kelsey Camien, second in the 800 (2:34.92); Madison’s Ashley Martell, second in the pole vault (8-6); Olpe’s Megan Woods, second in the shot put (38-3); Madison’s Shelby Buster, third in the discus (102-5) and the javelin (101-10) and fourth in the shot put (34-4 1/2); Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Jessica Schmidt, third in the triple jump (33-0) and fourth in the javelin (101-8); Hartford’s Jessica Wilson, third in the pole vault (6-6); Burlingame’s 4x100 relay, third (55.51); Madison’s Malacie Bybee, fourth in the pole vault (6-6); Waverly’s Julie Gifford, fourth in the long jump (15-1 1/2); Olpe’s Natalie Kuhlman, fourth in the 300 hurdles (52.46); Madison’s 4x100 relay, fourth (55.72); Olpe’s 4x400 relay, fourth (4:35.10); and Waverly’s 4x800 relay, fourth (11:04.06).
On the boys side, Marais des Cygnes Valley’s Chisom Spencer turned in a big day, placing first in two events and second in another.
Spencer won the long jump (21-9 3/4) and the triple jump (42-5 1/2) and placed second in the 400 (53.57).
Olpe’s Bradley Argabright won the 800-meter run (2:00.64) and placed fourth in the triple jump (40-0 1/4), Hartford’s Aaron Thomsen placed first in the 1,600 (4:46.33) and second in the 3,200 (10:53.09) and Waverly’s Kale Hamm finished first in the high jump (6-2) and second in both the 110 hurdles (15.85) and the 300 hurdles (42.26) to round out the top area qualifiers on the boys side.
Hartford’s Cody Barrett finished second in the 100 in a time of 11.91 seconds, Burlingame’s Joel Bevitt was second in the high jump (6-0) and Madison’s Ben Dains placed second in the pole vault (11-0) while his teammate, Zach Fox, came in third (10-6).
The other area State qualifiers on the boys side were: Olpe’s 4x400 relay, second (3:37.63); Olpe’s 4x800 relay, second (8:43.14); Burlingame’s Cory Smart, second in the long jump (20-0) and fourth in the shot put (42-3); Waverly’s Jared Maxwell, third in the shot put (43-1 1/2); Madison’s Dylan Barnard, third in the discus (119-4); Hartford’s 4x100 relay, third (47.76); Burlingame’s 4x800 relay, third (8:50.55); Waverly’s Chris Restoff, tied for third in the high jump (5-8); Madison’s Henry Ott, fourth in the javelin (161-6); MdCV’s Michael Zabel, fourth in the discus (117-1); Madison’s 4x800 relay, fourth (8:55.54); Burlingame’s Dustin Droege, fourth in the 1,600 (4:57.00); MdCV’s Brandon Litch, fourth in the 3,200 (11:05.60); Burlingame’s 4x100 relay, fourth (47.91); and Burlingame’s 4x400 relay, fourth (3:39.62).