Jackson girls track and field team finishes first at Class 5 District 1 meet

The 1600 relay may go down as the Jackson girls track and field team's favorite event this season.

The Indians -- Carli Knott, Alyssa Kimmich, Chelsea Drum and Morgan Stone -- won the event with a time of 4 minutes, 12.84 seconds but it was the team that followed behind them in second place that quickly became their new best friends: Mehlville finished 0.41 seconds ahead of Lindbergh in the event to give Jackson the championship plaque at Saturday's Class 5 District 1 meet at Seckman High School in Imperial, Mo.

"We were down by three points going into that race. We knew we had to win and Lindbergh had to finish two places behind," Jackson coach Jimmy Stoverink said.

The Panthers gave the Indians just the result they were hoping for.

"The girls were just giddy," Stoverink said. "...Some of our girls were cheering for the Mehlville team to catch Lindbergh and that went right down to the wire. Our girls were over there thanking the Mehlville girls."

In addition to the 1600 relay, the Indians won first place in nine events to clinch the district championship. Junior standout Chelsea Drum swept the 800, 1600 and 3200 runs to lead the Indians. She was also on the 3200 relay team that clinched the gold for Jackson, as was junior Carli Knott, who also took first place in the 400 dash.

Freshman Katie Schumer won the pole vault with a height of 10 feet for the Indians. Junior Olivia Brown captured first in the discus with a throw of 116 feet and sophomore Nicole Humphreys received the gold in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 4 inches.

Stoverink said it was his first district title in his 21 years of coaching.

"It was really a total team effort," he said. "We won 10 events out of 18, so to win over half the events with over eight teams there, that's really remarkable. It's huge."

On the boys' side, the Indians placed first in five events to finish third overall. Freshman Ean Buffington won the 3200 run for the Indians with a time of 10 minutes, 2.39 seconds. Freshman Justin Crane won the discus with a throw of 130 feet, 5 inches for the Indians. Junior Dakota Maddox topped the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches, while senior Xominique Davis clinched first in the triple jump for Jackson.

The Indians will now advance to the next round of sectional competition, which will be held Saturday, May 23 at Washington High School in Washington, Mo.

"Sectionals is going to be brutal," Stoverink said. "It's going to be really tough. We have several kids that have a really good shot of qualifying for state this year."

BOYS

Team Scores -- 1. St. Louis University High 176; 2. Lindbergh 122; 3. Jackson 104.5; 4. Mehlville 87.5; 5. Northwest (Cedar Hill) 70; 6. Oakville 59; 7. Seckman 54; 8. Fox 27

Local state qualifiers

800 -- 4. Caleb Bess (J) 2:02.86

3200 -- 1. Ean Buffington (J) 10:02.39

300 hurdles -- 2. Ty Crowden (J) 40.81

1,600 relay -- 3. Jackson (Ty Crowden, Alex Philipps, Jackson Givens, Gabe Dudley) 3:35.91

3,200 relay -- 1. Jackson (Caleb Bess, Ean Buffington, Jackson Givens, Joseph Reed) 8:13.91

Pole vault -- 1. Dakota Maddox (J) 14-6; 3. Shawn Bareiter (J) 12-0

Triple jump -- 1. Xominique Davis (J) 42-11 1/2

Discus -- 1. Justin Crane (J) 130-5

GIRLS

Team Scores -- 1. Jackson 163; 2. Lindbergh 162; 3. Seckman 106; 4. Northwest (Cedar Hill) 99.5; 5. Mehlville 76; 6. Cor Jesu Academy 55.5; 7. Fox 16; 8. Oakville 14

Local state qualifiers

100 -- 4. Morgan Stone (J) 13.10

200 -- 4. Morgan Stone (J) 26.93

400 -- 1. Carli Knott (J) 59.81; 3. Morgan Stone (J) 1:01.97

800 -- 1. Chelsea Drum (J) 2:20.94; 2. Carli Knott (J) 2:21.77

1600 -- 1. Chelsea Drum (J) 5:20.12; 2. Tayler Winick (J) 5:23.81

3200 -- 1. Chelsea Drum (J) 11:40.09

300 hurdles -- 3. Kassidy Adams (J) 50.73

1,600 relay -- 1. Jackson (Carli Knott, Alyssa Kimmich, Chelsea Drum, Morgan Stone) 4:12.84

3,200 relay -- 1. Jackson (Megan Barnum, Carli Knott, Chelsea Drum, Tayler Winick) 10:02.60

Pole vault -- 1. Katie Schumer (J) 10-0

Triple jump -- 3. Macey Huff (J) 34-9 1/4

Discus -- 1. Olivia Brown (J) 116-0; 2. Olivia Leible (J) 102-10

Shot put -- 1. Nicole Humphreys (J) 39-4

Class 4 District 1

The Perryville boys track and field team captured first in the 800 and 1600 relays to tie Sikeston for fifth place overall in the team standings at Saturday's Class 4 District 1 meet at Hillsboro High School.

Notre Dame finished nine points behind in seventh place. Senior Devin Ziegler posted a first-place time of 51.08 seconds in the 400 dash for the Bulldogs.

On the girls' side, Central's Quetaja Martin took second in the discus with a throw of 111 feet, 10 inches for the Tigers.

The top four athletes in each event qualify to compete at next weekend's sectional competition, which will be held at Lutheran South High School in the suburban St. Louis area.

BOYS

Team Scores -- 1. Festus 154; 2. Hillsboro 89; 3. Poplar Bluff 74; 4. DeSoto 62; 5. (tie) Perryville, Sikeston 60; 7. Notre Dame 51; 8. Farmington 35; 9. Ste. Genevieve 34; 10. Cape Central 33; 11. Potosi 30; 12. North County 17

Local sectional qualifiers

100 -- 2. Zyshon Mallory (C) 11.43

200 -- 2. Devin Ziegler (ND) 22.72; 4. Payton Besand (P) 23.52

400 -- 1. Devin Ziegler (ND) 51.08; 3. Pablo Mattingly (P) 51.81

400 relay -- 4. Central 45.10

800 relay -- 1. Perryville 1:31.96

1,600 relay -- 1. Perryville 3:27.95; 3. Notre Dame 3:34.41

3,200 relay -- 2. Notre Dame 8:38.31; 3. Perryville 8:41.65

High jump -- 3. Bobby Jansen (ND) 6-2

Long jump -- 2. Devin Ross (ND) 19-9

Triple jump -- 2. Pablo Mattingly (P) 44-0 1/2

GIRLS

Team Scores -- 1. Poplar Bluff 185; 2. Ste. Genevieve 97; 3. Sikeston 81; 4. Farmington 60; 5. Cape Central 55; 6. DeSoto 54; 7. Festus 53; 8. Hillsboro 45; 9. Notre Dame 29; 10. (tie) North County, Perryville 16; 12. Potosi 9

Local sectional qualifiers

100 -- 3. Alexus Walker (C) 13.01

800 -- 3. Lydia Cook (P) 2:25.66

400 relay -- 3. Central 50.86; 4. Notre Dame 50.88

High jump -- 4. Jazreil Hill (C) 4-10

Pole vault -- 3. Jaden Barnes (ND) 9-0

Triple jump -- 3. Mackenzie Mitchell (C) 33-10

Discus -- 2. Quetaja Martin (C) 111-10

Shot put -- 4. Quetaja Martin (C) 35-4 3/4

-- From staff reports