Semoball

Jackson, Notre Dame, Saxony Lutheran and Cape Central track and field look to make mark at state championships

Jackson freshman Layla Fliege runs the 3,200-meter relay during the SEMO Regional Conference track and field meet April 27 at Notre Dame Regional High School. Fliege and relay teammates Kaylee Wilson , Kennedy Bauer and Ashlyn Prince will be among the Jackson qualifiers competing Saturday at the Class 5 Track and Field Championships at Battle High School in Columbia, Missouri.
Jacob Wiegand

It's that time of year again. State championships are on the line when the Class 3, 4 and 5 state track and field state championships kick off Saturday across the state.

Due to tornadoes that damaged Jefferson City, Missouri, late Wednesday evening, the state championships have been moved from there and will be one-day events instead of two.

The Class 3 state championship will be held at Audrey J. Walton Stadium on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and Class 5 will also be in Columbia at Battle High School. The Class 4 state meet will be at Washington High School in Washington, Missouri.

Notre Dame's Riley Burger lands in the triple jump during the SEMO North Conference track meet Friday, May 5, 2017, at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium.
David Jenkins ~ Sikeston Standard-Democrat

Notre Dame is sending competitors in 15 events, the most it has ever sent to a state championship. Jackson will have someone competing in 11 events on the girls and boys side. Cape Girardeau Central will also have a handful of athletes there, and Saxony Lutheran is riding high after several first-place finishes at the Class 3 Sectional 1 meet this past weekend.

Below is a brief preview on each school heading into its respective state championship meet, starting with Jackson, the only Class 5 program among the trio.

Jackson

The Indians are coming off two sectional titles on the boys side, good enough for a fourth-place team showing, and three second-place finishes for the girls, who came in seventh.

"We're taking a pretty good group, pretty sizable group up to state," Jackson coach Jimmy Stoverink said Tuesday. "We feel like a lot of our kids have a chance to make the podium and at least compete really well. That's really my main expectation for both teams. We're going to go up and compete hard. We have a good mixture of some seniors, some veterans that have been there before. We have four kids that have been on the podium at state before. I think that's good they have that experience they can share with the other kids."

One of those two sectional winners was Donya Marx, who went to state as a freshman in 2017 in the high jump but didn't qualify last year. He won the high jump sectional title after the top-ranked jumper declined to continue having already clinched his spot at state in the event and with the goal of qualifying in other events, according to Stoverink.

Marx was in a similar boat. It just so happened his last jump of 6 feet, 4 inches was enough to win.

Cape Central junior Stasis Williams, right, jumps a hurdle near Cape Central junior Jackson Andrews, left, while running 110 meter hurdle prelims during the SEMO Regional Conference track and field meet on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau.
Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

"The biggest thing is his confidence and just his poise," Stoverink said. "I think last year the pressure may have got to him a little bit. The kids, they're always nervous when you get to districts and sectionals and then state, so we try to work on handling that. I always tell them, 'It's good that you're nervous because it's important to you.' ... This year he had poise and confidence and he knew he was one of the best jumpers there."

Marx was also the third leg of the 1,600-meter relay that finished first in 3 minutes, 27.12 seconds. Stoverink commended the foursome, which included Daniel Dickerson, Caleb Craft and Aaron Brown, for running a smart race in windy conditions.

"The times overall were not super fast for a sectional race. We talked about it before the race. We wanted to be able to draft on the backside if you could, but you have to read the situation. ... If you're in good position and have opportunity to draft on the backstretch and move onto the homestretch, do it."

That's exactly what the Indians did to win a sectional title in the 1,600 relay for the first time in Stoverink's lengthy coaching career.

Brown and Craft also will compete at state individually in the 400 and 110 hurdles, respectively. Craft shattered his personal-best time in the hurdles after coming into the race seeded fifth or sixth.

Saxony Lutheran junior Clara Yokley, left, runs the 4x800 meter relay while followed by other contestants during the SEMO Regional Conference track and field meet on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau.
Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

"Our program has always been really well known for our distance program," Stoverink said. "We have a great cross country team and great distance coach in Andrea Talley. Really, our distance kids on the boys side just had some injures there so that hurt us there.

"Sprinters are having a good year for us."

Connor Tollison also qualified in the discus.

Continuing a storied tradition, Jackson is sending a male and female pole vaulter to state in Jackson Rinehart and Erin Huff, and Stoverink said both are favorites to make the podium.

The girls team has more of a distance feel with seniors Kaylee Wilson (800) and Kennedy Bauer (800 and 1,600) leading the way.

"They've both been there," Stoverink said. "They're the last two remaining members of our state championship cross country team three years ago. They're used to big-meet pressure. They've both been to state in track."

Both are also part of the 3,200 relay that includes Ashlyn Prince and Layla Fliege.

"They do a great job with the 4x800 and being the leaders on it and coming with confidence and courage," Stoverink said. "That relay team is ranked fourth in the state, and I think they're going to contend for a podium spot."

Freshman Ryleigh Kilhafner is also going in the 100 after a second-place finish at the sectional meet.

Notre Dame

After finishing sixth in Class 4 last year with just six competitors, the Notre Dame girls team is looking for the program's first top-four finish.

"We're hoping to place somehow at state for the first time," Bulldogs coach Ryan Long said. "That's our new goal. This is the most kids we've ever got out of the sectional heat, event-wise. We're hoping we can do well at state."

No matter what happens, most of his athletes will be back next year. There's one senior going on the girls side, Carly Pujol, and one on the boys side in Brock Lange (discus). Pujol, a Louisville signee, will be looking to defend her pole vault state title and is also competing in the 100.

That doesn't mean the Bulldogs don't have athletes who are used to competing at state. Riley Burger is looking to claim a state title in the high jump, long jump and triple jump after placing first in all three events at sectional.

Burger is the reigning two-time state champion in the triple jump.

"She's going in with pretty high goals," Long said.

Another junior on the boys side, Blake Morris, won the 3,200 at sectionals with a time 15 seconds slower than his personal best. He's entering the event with a top-five seed.

"He wasn't even pushed at sectionals," Long said. "We're really excited to see what he can do at state. That's the only event he'll have."

After sending one girls relay -- the 1,600 -- to state last year, the Bulldogs are sending two after the 400 and 800 relay teams won sectional titles. Long credits the addition of assistant coach Brady Vetter, a Notre Dame alum and former sprinter at Missouri S&T, along with a deep pool of runners for the improvement in the sprint relays.

"We've got a lot of girls with our relays, so we have a lot of options," Long said. "In the past we had maybe four girls exactly, so it's hard if somebody gets injured or whatever."

Delaney Dohogne was part of both relays along with Pujol. Laura Brown and Leah Jansen were on the 400, and Natalie Timpe and Burger were part of the 800.

Timpe is also running in the 400, Haley Smith is competing in the 1,600, and Allie Burnett is in both hurdle events -- the 100 and 300. Evan Bruenderman and Hayden Jansen are going in the triple jump and long jump, respectively.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Saxony Lutheran's Caleb Cornelius finishes second in the boys 1600-meter run Saturday, April 21, 2018 at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

Saxony Lutheran

Briann Jenkins and Caleb Cornelius lead the Crusaders, who are competing in Class 3 for the first time.

Cornelius won a Class 2 state championship in the 3,200 last year and will also be running in the 1,600 plus the 3,200 relay Saturday.

Jenkins is competing in the 100, 200, long jump and 1,600 relay. In the 100 and 200, she will run in the preliminary heats in the morning, and if she advances, the championship heats in the afternoon due to the compressed schedule.

"They're in a good mental state to perform well," Saxony Lutheran coach Larry Cleair said. "Bri's been doing multi-events all season, and at our conference meet she had prelims and finals the same day. In the district meet, she had prelims and finals the same day. This is nothing new for her. Kind of the same for Caleb. He's been running the 4x8 (3,200 relay), 1,600 and 3,200."

Macy Morehead will also have to juggle events, competing in the discus, javelin and shot put. Chris Palmer also will be competing in the javelin, and Sam Varnon is running the 400.

Along with Jenkins, Khloe Koch, Clara Yokley and Anna Thomason are on the 1,600 relay. Yorkley, Thomason, Abigail Thomason and Stacie Bangert make up the 3,200 relay.

The boys 3,200 relay is made up of Trevor Ochs and Samuel Elfrink along with Cornelius and Varnon.

"We had a great showing at district and a really good showing at sectionals, but this meet is going to be tough," Cleair said. "We've moved up a class. Some excellent schools, some great programs, and some great athletes."

Cape Central

The Tigers are sending senior Jaden Kight, a recent Southeast Missouri State signee, and junior Donye Taylor along with a boys 800 relay team to the Class 4 state meet.

Kight was all-state in javelin in 2016 and 2017 before an elbow injury led to Tommy John Surgery last season.

"She probably could have been a four-year state person except she got the injury to her elbow," Central coach Collin Sheridan said. "She's at least a little experienced in the area and she's got a pretty decent throw."

Taylor is running in the 200 and is also part of the 800 relay team along with Kordell Batchelor, Stasis Williams and Jeremiah Johnson.

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