Semoball

Poplar Bluff edges Jackson in SEMO North Conference track and field meet

Jackson's Aaron Brown wins the boys 400-meter run Friday at the SEMO North Conference track meet at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

The Jackson track and field team had a few multi-event winners and put up solid showings, but it wasn't enough to dethrone rival Poplar Bluff.

The Mules swept the SEMO North Conference boys and girls team titles Friday at Cape Girardeau Central High School for the second consecutive year, edging the Indians by five points in the girls competition.

On the boys side, it was a little more comfortable for Poplar Bluff as it finished 23 points ahead of Jackson.

The two squads will face off again in a little over a week in the Class 5 District 1 meet. Until then, the Mules will savor the titles.

Poplar Bluff's Rufus Ward leads the 100-meter hurdles Friday, May 4, 2018 at the SEMO North Conference track meet at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

"Every year we want to win conference and stuff," Poplar Bluff boys coach Mark Barousse said. "This year was extremely big. For boys, for some of our seniors this is their fourth in a row. They've won it every year. That's pretty special getting those guys four wins, and it's a pretty good bunch, pretty good bunch. We're going to miss them.

"The girls had some gritty performances. They really did."

For Poplar Bluff, Wyatt Murphy was a standout performer for the boys, winning the 100 and 200 races. For the girls, Krisman Eakin won the 200 and 400, was a part of the winning 1,600 relay and was second in the 100.

For second-place Jackson, Donya Marx continued his stellar season and finished first in the high jump and triple jump. Ean Buffington also claimed two golds, winning the 1,600-meter race and the 800 while Jackson Rhinehart topped the pole vault field with a 15-foot mark.

On the girls side, Kennedy Bauer won the 1,600 and 3,200 and was part of the first-place Jackson 3,200-relay team, joining Ashlyn Prince, Margot Motes and Abigail Sadler in that event. Katie Schumer, who finished third at Class 5 state last year, won the pole vault, and Kaylee Wilson was another Jackson girls winner, placing first in the 800.

On the boys side, Aaron Brown won the 400 in a time of 50.68 seconds and Justin Crane won the discus with a toss of 147 feet, 11 inches. The foursome of Dylan Alexander, Jeremy Brown, Gavin Jones and Michael Schneider won the 3,200 relay, and Gage Kinder took home gold in the 3,200.

Last year, Jackson finished second to Poplar Bluff in both the boys and girls competition at conference, only for the boys to edge the Mules for the district title a week later.

Behind Jackson in the boys standings was third-place Sikeston, fourth-place Cape Central and fifth-place Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's boys and girls squads were mostly filled with underclassmen Friday with most of the upperclassmen taking the meet off to prepare for prom later in the day.

Notre Dame's Allie Burnett surges past Poplar Bluff's Khelie Spence to win the girls 300-meter hurdles event Friday, May 4, 2018 at the SEMO North Conference track meet at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

"We were little a short-handed," Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said. "We have our prom going on, so some of our big dogs, so to speak, were not here. I thought the young kids handled themselves okay. It's a new experience for them."

Allie Burnett took first for ND in the 300 hurdles on the girls side.

For Central, its sprint relays swept all four events. The boys 800 relay team of Emanuel Harris, Diamonte wilkins, Donye Taylor and Kordell Batchelor were first, along with the 400 relay of Zion Barlett, Wilkins, Aaron Harris and Taylor.

The girls 400 and 800 equaled the boys' performances. In the 800, Brittnee Blackmon, Kaybreonna Clark, Zairee Luttrell-Johnson and Ileeciah Luttrell-Johnson edged second-place Poplar Bluff in 51.01 seconds.

The 400 team was made up of Blackmon, Kwayauna Chisom, Zairee Luttrell-Johnson and Ileeciah Luttrell-Johnson.

Brook Witvoet also won the javelin, and Yienvi Johnson continued her strong senior season with a win in the shot put.

After finishing more than 48 points behind Poplar Bluff last week at the Poplar Bluff invitational, the Central girls were only 20 points behind the Mules Friday, finishing third.

"On the girls side, especially, I think we did very well," Tigers coach Collin Sheridan said. "We went down to Poplar Bluff last week and they crushed everybody. ... I think it got a lot closer than most of the coaches anticipated it being. Give credit to Poplar Bluff, they've got a great team right now, and so does Jackson and Sikeston.

"We're definitely closing the gap on all these teams."

Sikeston was fourth in the girls standings, followed by Notre Dame.

For Poplar Bluff boys, Rufus Ward won the 110 hurdles, Logan Bell took first in javelin and Marquis Johnson was first in the long jump.

Khelie Spence also won the girls 100 hurdles for the Mules.

Sikeston was led by first-place finishers Tyreke Jamison (shot put) and Keon Graham (300 hurdles) on the boys side. Tebrya Benford was the standout on the girls side, winning the triple jump and 100. Teammate Gloria Bennett placed first in the discus, and Morgan Merrill won the high jump.

"We didn't win, but honestly I told my kids this is a loaded conference," Sikeston coach Matt Johnson said. "Bluff and Jackson, Cape girls, it's tough. I just wanted them to compete and think about [personal records], and I thought we did. ... The year that we won state we took third in our own conference, so that's how tough it is."

All these teams now have a week off before district meets next week. They know where they stand. Now, it's just about figuring out the game plan for the postseason.

"Districts is pretty much set," Sheridan said. "This meet was just about us competing against the other schools that are in our conference. ... After this week all we really have to do is go in and start looking at who's the best in what events to decide where we're going to put them and try to see if we want to race them in multiple events or just one."

BOYS

Team standings -- 1. Poplar Bluff 138; 2. Jackson 115; 3. Sikeston 64; 4. Cape Central 45; 5. Notre Dame 33

Top three finishers

High jump -- 1. Donya Marx (J) 5-10; 2. Tyler Webb (J) 5-8; 3. Anthony Miller (CC) 5-8

Pole vault -- 1. Jackson Rinehart (J) 15-00; 2. Brett Barousse (PB) 13-06; 3. David Phelps (ND) 11-06

Long jump -- 1. Marquis Johnson (PB) 20-00.25; 2. Riley Harden (ND) 19-10.5; 3. Chad Casey (PB) 19-9.75

Triple jump -- 1. Marx (J) 43-4; 2. Darrell Wiseman (CC) 42-3.5; 3. Evan Bruenderman (ND) 41-9.5

Discus -- 1. Justin Crane (J) 147-11; 2. David Rowland (S) 138-10; 3. Rashawn McCain (PB) 137-2

Shot put --1. Tyreke Jamison (S) 49-2; 2. McCain (PB) 48-00; 3. Makarius Bell (PB) 46-11.5

Javelin -- 1. Logan Bell (PB) 156-5; 2. McCain (PB) 152-1; 3. Rhet Liley (J) 140-6

3,200 relay -- 1. Jackson (Dylan Alexander, Jeremy Brown, Gavin Jones, Michael Schneider) 8:31.84; 2. Notre Dame (Blake Morris, Ashton Hopper, Sean Harold, Benton Keran) 8:36.03; 3. Poplar Bluff (Xzavier Bartlett, Tyler Cline, Trenton Davis, Jaden Deaton) 8:47.26

110 hurdles -- 1. Rufus Ward (PB) 15.56; 2. Jadarius Pigg (S) 16.54; 3. Stasis Williams (PB) 16.77

100 -- 1. Wyatt Murphy (PB) 11.20; 2. Tyzeek Hill (S) 11.67; 3. Josiah Kilgore (PB) 11.74

800 relay -- 1. Cape Central (Emanuel Harris, Diamonte Wilkins, Donye Taylor, Kordell Batchelor) 1:33.69; 2. Poplar Bluff (Bartlett, Dominique Hardimon, Johnson, Colby Tomlinson) 1:34.61; 3. Sikeston (Hill, Daniel Lawrence, Spencer Clay, Rashaud Howard) 1:35.07

1,600 -- 1. Ean Buffington (J) 4:35.64; 2. Deaton (PB) 4:38.05; 3. Ethan Walz (J) 4:47.88

400 relay -- 1. Cape Central (Zion Barlett, Wilkins, Aaron Harris, Taylor) 44.77; 2. Jackson (Dimechi Herring, Dalton Skrob, Daniel Dickerson, Marx) 45.28; 3. Poplar Bluff (Hardimon, Kilgore, Austin Tinsley, Tomlinson) 45.46

400 -- 1. Aaron Brown (J) 50.68; 2. Murphy (PB) 51.29 ; 3. Bartlett (PB) 52.04

300 hurdles -- 1. Keon Graham (S) 41.31; 2. Ward (PB) 41.53; 3. Caleb Craft (J) 42.63

800 -- 1. Buffington (J) 2:05.53; 2. Walz (J) 2:07.56; 3. Deaton (PB) 2:08,.25

200 -- 1. Murphy (PB) 22.58; 2. Hill (S) 22.94; 3. Taylor (CC) 23.03

3,200 -- 1. Gage Kinder (J) 10:37.75; 2. Deaton (PB) 10:42.13; 3. Luke Wendel (J) 10:58.66

1,600 relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Bartlett, Cline, Trenton Davis, Ward) 3:30.45; 2. Jackson (Brown, Marx, Dickerson, Craft) 3:34.86: 3. Cape Central (Brogan Davis, Wilkins, Batchelor, Taylor) 3:36.88

GIRLS

Team standings -- 1. Poplar Bluff 104; 2. Jackson 99; 3. Cape Central 84; 4. Sikeston 72; 5. Notre Dame 36

Top three finishers

High jump -- 1. Morgan Merrill (S) 5-00; 2. Paige Bradley (PB) 4-8; 3. Lauryn Varner (J) 4-6, Natalie Timpe (ND) 4-6

Pole vault -- 1. Katie Schumer (J) 12-00; 2. Carly Pujol (ND) 11-6; 3. Erin Huff (J) 10-6

Long jump -- 1. Kaylee Eakin (PB) 16-8.75: 2. Lauryn Varner (J) 15-9; 3. Emily Limbaugh (S) 15-6

Triple jump -- 1. Tebrya Benford (S) 36-4; 2. Limbaugh (S) 33-5; 3. Ileeciah Luttrell-Johnson (CC) 32-11

Discus -- 1. Gloria Bennett (S) 118-3; 2. Yienvi Johnson (CC) 115-3; 3. Layla Sumner (CC) 90-00

Shot put -- 1. Johnson (CC) 39-9; 2. Bennett (S) 34-11; 3. Shelby Sievers (PB) 34-6

Javelin -- 1. Brooke Witvoet (CC) 101-2; 2. Jayna Cutsinger (J) 87-8; 3. Catherine Heckemeyer (ND) 86-1

3,200 relay -- 1. Jackson (Ashlyn Prince, Kennedy Bauer, Margot Motes, Abigail Sadler) 10:31.34; 2. Cape Central (McKensi Williams, Morgan Kluge, Alyssa Davis, Macee Hoskins) 10:42.41; 3. Poplar Bluff (Katherine Sliger, Katelyn Moeller, Isabel Esquivel, Ava Smith) 10:54.00

100 hurdles -- 1. Khelie Spence (PB) 16.08; 2. Allie Burnett (ND) 17.53; 3. Elizabeth Turk (CC) 19.53

100 -- 1. Benford (S) 13.01; 2. Krisman Eakin (PB) 13.25; 3. Carly Pujol (ND) 13.29

800 relay -- 1. Cape Central (Brittnee Blackmon, Kaybreonna Clark, Zairee Luttrell-Johnson, I. Luttrell-Johnson) 1:49.63; 2. Poplar Bluff (Kenya Jones, Katherine Pattillo, Bradley, Spence) 1:53.04; 3. Sikeston (Tyennia Stevens, Krisstina Morrow, Deonna Clemons, Limbaugh) 1:53.08

1,600 -- 1. Bauer (J) 5:34.31; 2. Julia Kidwell (J) 5:34.41; 3. Kluge (CC) 5:37.37

400 relay -- 1. Cape Central (Blackmon, Kwayauna Chisom, Z. Luttrell-Johnson, I. Luttrell-Johnson) 50.88; 2. Sikeston (Benford, T'Kaila Freeman, Stevens, Makavia Simmons) 51.01; 3. Poplar Bluff (Annalise Degaris, Madison Pinderski, Pattillo, Spence) 54.04

400 -- 1. Kr. Eakin (PB) 59.04; 2. Bradley (PB) 1:03.63; 3. I (J) 1:05.52

300 hurdles -- 1. Burnett (ND) 50.53; 2. Spence (PB) 50.55; 3. Turk (CC) 56.75

800 -- 1. Kaylee Wilson (J) 2:30.25; 2. Sadler (J) 2:31.74; 3. Sliger (PB) 2:32.17

200 -- 1. Kr. Eakin (PB) 26.26; 2. Benford (S) 27.49; 3. Pattillo (PB) 27.88

3,200 -- 1. Bauer (J) 12:24.80; 2. Motes (J) 12:38.45; 3. Katelyn Moeller (PB) 13:24.16

1,600 relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Bradley, Esquivel, Sliger, Kr. Eakin) 4:16.83; 2. Jackson (Bauer, Wilson, Sadler, Prince) 4:25.65; 3. Notre Dame (Emma Brugger, Burnett, Haley Smith, Delaney Dohogne) 4:30.29

[Editor's note: Story updated to reflect adjustments in results.]

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