Central's Terry leaves nothing to chance

Central sophomore Tyler Terry didn't come close to matching his personal best in the triple jump Saturday in the Class 4 sectional meet at Parkway South High School, but he was pretty pleased nonetheless.

After just missing out on a state berth last year, Terry topped the sectional field with his triple jump of 43 feet, 6 1/4 inches.

"It surprised me," Terry said of his win. "I was up here last year and this guy beat me by 3 inches and got to state. It feels pretty good."

A jump of 44 feet like Terry performed at the district meet would give him a strong shot at all-state.

"I'm hoping for at least a 45-6," Terry said. "I want to go 46."

The only thing missing from Terry's day was a state berth in the long jump. Terry came in to the sectional with the fourth-best mark, but ended with a disappointing seventh-place finish.

Terry said winning the triple jump and qualifying as part of Central's 400- and 800-meter relays helped relieve the disappointment.

"That was pretty bad," Terry said. "Those two relays helped a little too. We broke a school record."

Central sprinter Allen Walker also was a three-event state qualifier Saturday. Walker took fourth in the 100 and also participated on the state-qualifying 400 and 800 relays. Anwar Glenn and Hykeem Hammonds rounded out the two relays.

Vaulting to success

Central also had a big day from their pole vaulters, with Lance Altenthal and Matt Willingham tying for second with a height of 13 feet, 6 inches.

"Willingham had a personal best, and Lance tied his personal record," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. "They tied for second, great vaulting."

Injury update

For the Central girls, sophomore Nicole Jackson won the 200-meter dash despite her recent battles with a quad injury. Jackson was all-state in the event last year. She also competed on the Central girls 400 and 800 relays that qualified for state.

But Central, which had lost distance runner Jennifer Pancoast and 3,200 relay member Renee Moreland to injuries, saw another distance runner injured Saturday. Holly Shaffer pulled up after running her leg in the 3,200 relay. She was scratched from the open 800 and 1,600, and Central scratched its 1,600 relay due to another injury.

The 3,200 relay unit of Linnea Woldtvedt, Lindsey Pingel, Rachel Burchyett and Shaffer finished third to qualify for state.

Into shot shape

Jackson senior sprinter/thrower Rebecca Martin was part of Jackson's state-qualifying 400 and 800 relay teams Saturday at the sectional meet.

She also won the shot put with a throw of 37 feet, which shows she is getting back into the form she showed while finishing sixth in the state last year.

"My shot I feel like it's starting to come up," Martin said. "I definitely want to do better than I did last year. That's my goal."

Field champions

Jackson also had individual champions in Amy West, who won the girls pole vault, and Andy Glass., who won the boys shot put.

West jumped 10 feet. An all-state pole vaulter last year, she has not lost this season, including the last two weeks while vaulting on an injured foot.

"In the end of April, we didn't even know if she could continue competing after she hurt her foot," Jackson coach Bob Sink said. "She's been competing well."

Glass threw a personal record 55 feet, 3 inches. Both of Glass' throws on Saturday were better than 55 feet.

"He's kind of been in a slump," Sink said, "but hopefully he's out of it now."

In all, the Indians had four throwers qualify for the state meet.

Sophomore Amanda Peiffer set a personal record in the discus with a throw of 108-8. Billy Uren (discus) also qualified individually, as did Martin in the shot put.

Tough luck

Jackson also had their share of tough luck Saturday with four fifth-place finishes. Among those, Heather Hileman in the 300 hurdles and the girls 1,600 relay team just missed state cuts.

The girls 1,600 relay, which was the second-to-last event of the meet, lost its top-four spot at the very last second of the race despite finishing with a season-best time of 4:08.

"We feel like we could have ran it faster, but that's a tough day up there," Sink said.