Central's Deisher sails to school-record heights in pole vault at SEMO North Conference meet

Senior Matt Deisher provided the highlight for the Central boys track team Friday, helping it capture the SEMO North Conference meet title.

And as far as highlights go, this one was quite high.

Fifteen feet, 7 inches to be exact, and it raised the bar on a Central school record in a field event the Tigers have excelled in over the years.

The record-setting performance was one of eight first-place finishes by the Tigers, who edged Jackson by seven points in the team standings. Central finished with 83 points, Jackson had 76, Sikeston 73 and Poplar Bluff 29.

"My personal best has been the same for two years, but I just kept improving on the little things and finally it paid off," Deisher said.

Jackson's Blake Smith competes in the 100 meters Friday during the SEMO North Conference meet in Jackson. (Laura Simon)

He improved quickly on his previous standards after entering the competition at 13-6.

Deisher and Jackson's Chris Reed both cleared 13-6, but Deisher kept on moving the bar upward as the sun sank lower in the evening sky at Jackson Junior High School.

"I had a feeling today was going to be a good day," Deisher said. "I woke up and I was feeling good. I wasn't tired and wasn't sore. The weather turned out to be just perfect -- a slight tail wind and not too hot and not too cold. And as soon as I got the pole in my hands and was on the runway, I was in a zone and nothing could take me out of it."

The competition turned into a showcase as he first confronted his own personal barrier.

He cleared 15-0, emerging from the pit area with fists pumping.

Central's Von Martin competes in the long jump Friday.

"I'm glad I did it now and got it over with because it was one of those things," Deisher said. "You know it was a plateau, and the plateau turned into a mental blockade. To finally break through that barrier is a great feeling. I can't really describe it."

But he said he also had the feeling there was more to come.

The PA announcer directed the crowd's attention to the pole vault area as Deisher moved the bar to 15-7 -- one inch higher than the Central school record set by Jimmy Fox in 1992.

After waiting two years to go beyond 14-6, Deisher needed just two attempts to clear 15-7.

In a matter of minutes, he was at the top of a rich history of Central vaulters.

"I've had a lot of good vaulters set examples," Deisher said. "Matt Willingham, a state champion, he graduated when I was in the eighth grade. And then Raymond Woldtvedt, he's down at Missouri Southern now vaulting. He was a senior when I was a junior, so we always pushed each other."

Collin Sheridan, a former Southeast Missouri State pole vaulter, has been Deisher's vault coach for four years.

"It's a real exciting day," Sheridan said. "We've been waiting for this one for a while.

"I had a feeling these things were coming because he's been progressing, progressing, progressing. But we're really excited today because he's got even more potential. He's set and ready to go from here on."

Central coach Matt Hale was thrilled Deisher was able to break his personal barrier.

"It's very, very exciting to see that happen as we enter into district and sectionals, and hopefully state," Hale said. "We're really excited about that and we're excited about our men's team who are conference champs."

Senior hurdler Thomas McElmurry turned in a pair of victories for the Tigers, winning both the 110- and 300-meter races. McElmurry was the defending conference champion in the 300.

"It's good to see my hard work pay off," McElmurry said. "I'm the conference champion in both my races so it's an improvement from last year."

Sophomore Billy Leighton turned in a personal-best performance in the 1,600 as he led a 1-2 finish with his senior brother, Roy.

"It was a neat thing to see," Hale said about the brothers leading the pack. "Those are two great distance runners along with Eric Schott, who won the 3,200."

Billy credited his brother for helping him finish in 4 minutes, 33.51 seconds. Roy led for most of the race but gave way to Billy on the final lap.

"It's getting toward the end of the season and he's just trying to help me with my time," Billy said. "He ran hard for 1,200 and I just sort of hanged on. I went ahead on the last lap and tried to run a 4:30, but I fell just a little short."

There's no sibling rivalry between the brothers on the track.

"I was trying to take the wind for as long as I could so he could get a really good time," said Roy, an all-district runner in both the 1,600 and 3,200 last season. "I figured if I could do that, I could hold on for second and it seemed to work out."

Billy Leighton broke the school's 3,200 freshman record last season.

"He's a promising runner," Hale said. "He's very talented.

"Our distance team as a whole did a really good job. We went 1-2 in a lot of events. That's what we needed to do today, and they did just that."

Billy Leighton also was part of another 1-2 finish by the Tigers in the 3,200, won by Schott, a senior, who crossed the line in 9:54.

Collin Summers also turned in a victory for the Tigers in the 800, winning in 2:04.11, while Zach Horrell won the discus with a toss of 154-9.

An interesting competition took place in the long jump, where Sikeston senior Trey Lewis won with a personal-best jump of 23-0 1/2. Lewis, the defending Class 3 state champion in the event, uncorked the jump on his final attempt to overtake teammate Darryl Howard (22-2) and Jackson senior Blake Smith (21-11).

Lewis, who played quarterback for Sikeston and has signed a letter of intent to play football at Southeast Missouri State, had a previous best of 22-10 at the state meet.

"I feel like I can get a lot farther than that this year," Lewis said. "I'm just now peaking. I'm looking forward to getting better."

Smith, who jumped a career-best 23-1 3/4 earlier this season, scratched on his final attempt that went 23-2.

Smith did win the 100 meters, avenging a narrow loss at last season's conference meet.

"Last year I lost by a hundredth of a second to a Poplar Bluff kid, so I wanted to win that one for sure," Smith said. "I wanted to win the long jump, but I didn't have a good day today."

Jackson also received victories by sophomore Brandon Wright (51.67) in the 400, Ben Rushin (50-4 1/2) in the shot put and the 1,600 relay team (3:32.62) of Adam Brown, Calvin Lysell, Lowgn Wren and Wright.

The Indians could find at least seven lost points in the relays. They were disqualified in both the 400 and 800 relays due to a lane violation and a dropped baton.

"All year long our relays have really been outstanding," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "Just sometimes weird things happen. It wasn't because of a lack of effort or preparation, it's just something that happened."

Team results -- 1. Central 83, 2. Jackson 76, 3. Sikeston 73, 4. Poplar Bluff 29

3,200 relay -- 1. Central (Roy Leighton, Eric Schott, Lane Staton, Collin Summers), 8:29.25; 2. Jackson, 8:50.11; 3. Sikeston, 8:56.69; 4. Poplar Bluff, 10:08.56

100 hurdles -- 1. Thomas McElmurry (C), 15.72; 2. James Watson (S), 16.10; 3. Keldon Warfield (S), 16.37; 4. Colton Johnson (J), 18.41; 5. Cody Fromm (PB), 18.96

100 -- 1. Blake Smith (J), 11.46; 2. Nic Pattillo (PB), 11.53; 3. Josh Freeman (PB), 11.75; 4. Ray Clark (S), 11.87; 5. Chris Martin (C), 11.88

800 relay -- 1. Sikeston, 1;31.03; 2. Central, 1:34.87;

1,600 -- 1. Billy Leighton (C), 4:33.51; 2. R. Leighton (C), 4:46.82; 3. Ethan Scherer (S), 4:52.46; 4. Austin Koenig (J), 4:54.34; 5. Ray Hecht (J), 4:55.18

400 relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Freeman, Pattillo, William Whitfield, Kimbrayl Miller), 43.73; 2. Sikeston, 44.15

400 -- 1. Brannen Wright (J), 51.67; 2. Lowgn Wren (J), 51.86; 3. Trenton Eudaley (PB), 53.32; 4. Terry Jamison (S), 54.76; 5. Jawuan Howard (C), 58.83

300 IM hurdles -- 1. McElmurry (C), 41.50; 2. Spencer Clark (S), 43.47; 3. Johnson (J), 44.75; 4. Caleb Bishop (J), 49.15; 5. Fromm (PB), 49.99

800 -- 1. Summers (C), 2:04.11; 2. Calvin Lysell (J), 2:08.18; 3. Adam Brown (J), 2:09.55; 4. Jason Keena (PB), 2:12.65; 5. Scherer (S), 2:14.79

200 dash -- 1. Quentin Washington (S), 22.72; 2. Pattillo (PB), 22.79; 3. Wright (J), 22.95; 4. Nick Nichols (S), 23.19; 5. R. Martin (C), 24.69

3,200 -- 1. Schott (C), 9:54; 2. B. Leighton (C), 10:11; 3. Riley Talbut (J), 10:24; 4. Matt Gibson (J), 10:53; 5. Bailey Davidson (PB), 11:11

1,600 relay -- 1. Jackson (Brown, Lysell, Wren, Wright), 3:32.62; 2. Central, 3:35.47; 3. Sikeston, 3:44.03; 4. Poplar Bluff, 3:55.04

Discus -- 1. Zach Horrell (C), 154-9; 2. Ben Rushin (J), 144-4; 3. Luke Stevens (J), 130-2; 4. Isaac Engram (S), 124-2; 5. TJ Williams (PB), 122-2

Long jump -- 1. Trey Lewis (S), 23-0 1/2; 2. Darryl Howard (S), 22-2 1/2; 3. Smith (J), 21-11; 4. Martin (C), 17-8; 5. Brandon Smith (PB), 17-5 1/2

Triple jump -- 1. Lewis (S), 45-9; 2. Martin (C), 43-11; 3. Jamison (S), 42-8; 4. Von Martin (C), 36-4 3/4

Shot put -- 1. Rushin (J), 50-4 1/2; 2. Horrell (C), 46-0; 3. Troylee McClanahan (J), 41-1 1/2; 4. Nicholas Michael (PB), 40-2; 5. Meshach Thomas (C), 38-4

High jump -- 1. Lewis (S), 5-10; 2. Kalen Gross (S), 5-8

Pole vault -- 1. Matt Deisher (C), 15-7; 2. Chris Reed (J), 13-6; 3. Alex Bess-Rhodes (C), 13-0; 4. Jordan Jeffers (J), 12-6; 5. Kenneth Moy (S), 10-6