The talented twosome of De Soto senior Lamont Allen and Hillsboro junior Isaiah Martin will be front and center at this year’s Class 4 championships in Jefferson City Friday and Saturday.
Both qualified in all four events they competed in at the Class 4 Sectional 1 meet Saturday at Hillsboro.
They met head-to-head in one event, the long jump, with Allen placing third (21-7) and Martin seven inches behind him in fourth.
The friendly rivals, who don’t get to socialize much outside of meets, have a standing bet: the first to reach 23 feet in the long jump owes the other a sweet treat. For Martin it’s an iced honey bun, while Allen is jumping for a brownie.
“Lamont is closer (to 23) than I am, but I’m going to do it before he does,” Martin said. “I do the high jump, (too), but I’m not anywhere as good as he is.”
Allen won the high jump at 6-8, was second in the triple jump in 45-4 and anchored the Dragons’ 4x100 relay team to first place in a school-record 43.63. JaDan Brown, Trevor Johnson and Mayson DeRousse ran the first three legs. Johnson had the fastest split at 10.4 seconds.
Martin won championships in the javelin (155-2) and the 110 hurdles (14.44). He was third in a very fast field in the 300 hurdles in 39.18.
Allen, a three-time state medalist in the high jump, has a personal best of 6-10. He said he’s going to have to reach that height, or higher, on Saturday to win a state title.
“That’s the bare minimum,” he said.
At that height, Allen said, he has to remember to pick up his heels when he’s going over the bar.
“I can’t tell you what the difference is, but sometimes those two inches feels like three feet,” Allen said. “People think it’s just two inches, but when you jump four or five times and run all of the other events, two inches is a lot.”
Hillsboro senior Jacob McNees took second in the discus with a toss of 141-5 and missed qualifying in the shot put by two and one-quarter inches. Hawk junior Josef Marshuetz advanced in the boys 400, finishing third in 50.46.
Grandview boys redeemed on track, field
It’s been a tough year for the boys varsity sports teams at Grandview.
The football team finished 0-9, unable to complete its schedule because of too many injuries, and will drop to junior varsity-only for 2017. Last October, standout guard Koby Klaus tore knee ligaments and missed the entire basketball season as the Eagles went 3-21. This spring, the baseball team won two of 16 games.
But the boys track and field team gave Eagle fans a reason to celebrate as the school year ends. Led by junior Owen Johnson, Grandview finished sixth with 42 points at the Class 3 Sectional 1 meet Saturday at Hillsboro and will send three athletes to the state Class 3 championships Friday and Saturday in Jefferson City.
“A lot of it comes with coaching with a positive mentality instead of being negative like this generation can be, and they’re just putting it out there,” Grandview head coach Mike Loyd said.
Johnson won the pole vault by clearing 14-0, almost a foot and a half higher than the second-place vaulter. He scored another 10 points in winning the 110-meter hurdles in 15.66 seconds.
Senior teammate Sam Huskey qualified for state in three events: the pole vault (fourth, 12 feet), 110 hurdles (third, 16.55 seconds) and javelin (fourth, 122-11).
“Owen is an incredible kid who continues to rise above everybody and improve,” Loyd said. “He’s getting a little frustrated because he wants to get over 15 feet in the vault. He’s got it in him. On top of that, he’s one of our top juniors and that class is so rich with talent.”
Sophomore Noah Richardson bounded 43-1 to finish third in the triple jump and set a new school record. He will join Johnson and Huskey at state.
“We have a ton of personal records today,” Loyd said. “We’ve had a good day. We peaked at the right time.”
The Grandview girls finished third with 79 points. Like the boys, two Eagles qualified for state in the pole vault. Junior Melina Eaker had the second best vault at 9-0, while sophomore Kayla Norris was third in 8-6. Eaker also finished fourth in the triple jump (33-2).
Junior Mariah Oliversen finished second in the discus for the Eagles with a throw of 102-10 and was fourth in the shot put (33-0). Both are personal records for Oliverson, who’s going to state for the first time. Freshman Isabelle Kuczka also is headed for Jefferson City, in her first season of high school track, after finishing fourth in the javelin (85-11).
The Grandview 4x800 relay team of Allison Wakeland, Rebecca Wakeland, Kuczka and Kyrsten Elder finished second in 10:31.50. In the 800, Wakeland qualified for the second straight year, finishing fourth in 2:28.84.
“We had a good ride at districts and our kids bought in and had that team mentality and pushed each other,” Loyd said.
Blackcat boys, girls have strong showings
Distance runners lifted the Herculaneum boys to third place with 68.5 points and the girls to fourth with 66 points on Saturday at Hillsboro.
“We had some kids (who) had to PR to move on, but we’ve done what I expected today,” head coach Dave Cook said. “We’re in the fastest sectional in the state.”
Herky produced three individual champions and took first place in the girls 4x800 relay (10:24.81) with the team of Haley Damkroger, Emily Enghauser, Chloe Richardson and Nautica Stricklin.
Junior Loki Cortner won the boys 1,600 in 4:37.03 with freshman Johnathon Coffman right behind in 4:37.85. Coffman won the 3,200 in 10:09.26. Junior Emily Fischer outkicked the field in the girls 800, clocking 2:26.95.
“My ultimate goal is to kick at 300 (meters) but I kicked today about 225 because I didn’t want anybody behind me catching me,” Fischer said.
Other Blackcat boys advancing to state are junior James Moloney (third, pole vault, 12-0); the 4x800 relay team (Corben Clubb, Blake Cobb, Jacob Arnold, and Cortner, third, 8:25.20); Clubb (third, 800, 2:00.31); and the 4x400 (Cortner, Cobb, Clubb and Austin Stepp, fourth, 3:37.44).
On the girls side, additional qualifiers included Victoria Duncan (second, shot put, 33-11.75); Danielle Prince (fourth, 1,600, 5:33.49 and third, 3,200, 12:44.91); Emily Enghauser (second, 3,200, 12:40.41) and the 4x400 (Alexandria Becker, Ashley Vaughn, Prince and Richardson, fourth, 4:22.91).
St. Pius X has two state qualifiers in Class 3. Junior Grace Steed finished third in the high jump (4-10) and Lancer senior Zach Morlock won the long jump with a leap of 21-5.
Owls’ Barton wins pole vault
Windsor’s Nicole Barton won the Class 4 girls pole vault at Saturday’s sectional at 11-0. The senior and JCAA champ will make her third trip to state in the event, after placing 14th as a sophomore (9-6) and ninth as a junior (10-3).
Owl junior Taylor Richey qualified for state in the 100 (second, 12.30), 400 (fourth, 1:00.57), 200 (second, 25.69) and as the anchor of the 4x200 team (third, 1:48.94).