CENTRAL ADVANCES 32 ATHLETES TO SECTIONAL

ARNOLD, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central and Jackson each qualified a host of track and field athletes for next Saturday's Class 4A sectional in Eureka.

Competing during Saturday's Class 4A, District 1 Meet at Fox High School, Central's girls finished second and the boys were third while Jackson's boys were fourth and the girls placed sixth. Eleven schools participated.

Lindbergh won both the boys and girls divisions, with 143 and 101 1/2 points, respectively. Central's girls scored 94 points while Jackson had 61. On the boys side, Poplar Bluff was a strong second with 134 1/2 points, Central had 89 points and Jackson finished with 72.

The top four finishers in each race move on to sectional competition.

Relay alternates included, Central will send 15 girls and 17 boys to the sectional round.

Central's Heather Jenkins posted a personal record in the discus with a first-place throw of 142 feet 7 inches. Her shot put of 41-3 was also good for first. Also for the Lady Tigers, Vicky Wilson took first in the 100 in 12.7 seconds.

Cape Central was the favorite to win on the girls side, but came up just a bit short.

"Lindbergh had a good day," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. "They've got some good kids there. There were a lot of our kids who maybe didn't finish in the top four but ran their best times."

On the boys side, Central's 4x800 team of Ross Tilghman, Mark Stone, Gabe Austin and Trevor Duncan took first in 8:07.

Jackson was led by Lindsey Meyr, who broke her own school record in the long jump with a leap of 17-7 inches. Meyr was also second in the 400-meters and ran legs on the Lady Indians' victories 4x400 relay team and runner-up 4x100 relay squad.

"She had a great day," said Jackson coach Bob Sink.

The lone winner for Jackson's boys was Stuart McIntosh in the pole vault.

All of Central's and Jackson's sectional qualifiers are in Scoreboard on Page 6B.

BASEBALL

Perryville 9, Dexter 5

DEXTER, Mo. -- Sixth-seeded Perryville knocked off the third-seeded, host squad as the Class 3A, District 1 Tournament got under way.

The Pirates (11-13) got a complete-game pitching performance from Colby Palisch, who allowed seven hits while striking out four and walking one.

Andrew Meyr went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in to pace Perryville's 10-hit attack. Tony Scholl had two hits and two RBIs while Palisch added two hits.

"We played good baseball and it's a big win for us," said Perryville coach Dennis Glueck.

The Pirates advance to Monday's semifinals.

In the other district games, No. 2 Kennett defeated two-time defending district champ Fredericktown (9-14) 13-3 in five innings. No. 5 New Madrid upended Doniphan 6-2.

JV BASEBALLCentral wins title

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central's JV followed up its SEMO Conference regular-season championship by winning the seven-team conference tournament.

In the semifinals, the Tigers (14-5) defeated Notre Dame 8-2 behind the pitching of John Thies, who hurled a four-hitter, with 14 strikeouts and four walks. Travis Johnston led Central offensively with two hits and three RBIs.

Central then rallied past Sikeston 4-3 for the title. After scoring a run in the sixth to pull into a 3-3 tie, Aaron Dohogne delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh to end the contest.

Dohogne, Colin Schermann, Chris Conrad and Chris Daniel all had two hits for the victorious Tigers.

Thies was again the winning pitcher, in relief, as he worked a scoreless seventh.