Jackson track and field team sends 18 to state meet

The Jackson track and field team will be sending 18 of its members to the Class 5 state meet following state-qualifying performances at Saturday's sectional meet at Washington High School in Washington, Missouri.

Junior Dakota Maddox won first place in the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches for the boys team, which finished sixth overall in the team standings. Senior Xominique Davis was one of three Jackson athletes who broke the school record in each of their respective events. Davis finished with a 45-1 1/2 in the triple jump, which gave him second place in the event and shattered the previous school record of 42-10.

On the girls side, junior standout runner Chelsea Drum broke the school record in the 1,600-meter run. She finished fourth in the race with a time of 4 minutes, 56.21 seconds, beating the previous school record of 5:02.

"We knew she was ready to run that fast," Jackson coach Jimmy Stoverink said. "I thought she might run a 4:59 or a 5:00 flat, but she had a really incredible race."

Drum was also a member of the Indians' 3,200 relay, which placed third in the event with a time of 9:24.28 and shattered the approximately 20-year school record of 9:57.

In addition to breaking records, the Indians also had a couple of first-place finishes in the field events. Junior Olivia Brown won the discus with a throw of 110 feet, 5 inches, and sophomore Nicole Humphreys took the gold in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet, 5 inches.

Stoverink said he was thrilled with his teams' performances at the sectional meet.

"We had a really, really fantastic day today," he said. "Almost every athlete that we thought had a chance to qualify, did. ... This year it just seemed like really everybody stepped up and had their best performance of the year."

The top four in each event qualify for next weekend's state meet, which will be held next weekend at Dwight T. Reed Stadium on the campus of Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

In Class 4, Perryville's 800 and 1,600 relays team won their respective races to qualify for state. The Pirates' 3,200 relay team finished fourth to also qualify, as did Notre Dame, which placed third in the event.

CLASS 4

BOYS

Team Scores -- 1. Festus 95; 2. Rockwood Summit 63; 3. Webster Groves 57; 4. (tie) Lutheran South, Gateway, DeSoto 50; 7. Poplar Bluff 49; 8. Hillsboro 48; 9. (tie) Notre Dame, Perryville 34; 11. Affton 33; 12. Sikeston 31; 13. Miller Career Academy 28; 14. Potosi 22; 15. Ste. Genevieve 17; 16. Windsor (Imperial) 16; 17. Farmington 6; 18. Cape Central 4; 19. St. Mary's (St. Louis) 3; 20. North County 1

Local state qualifiers

200 -- 4. Devin Ziegler (ND) 22.94

400 -- 4. Devin Ziegler (ND) 50.13

800 relay -- 1. Perryville (Payton Besand, Moreno Fonseca, Pablo Mattingly, Kyle Wood) 1:31.01

1600 relay -- 1. Perryville (Payton Besand, Moreno Fonseca, Kyle Wood, Emilio Mattingly) 3:24.91

3200 relay -- 3. Notre Dame (Matt Gibbs, Devin Ross, Tyler Schumacker, Devin Ziegler) 8:24.07; 4. Perryville (Austin Hotop, Dylan Moran, Dalton Robinson, Kyle Wood) 8:25.53

High jump -- 2. Bobby Jansen (ND) 6-4

CLASS 5

BOYS

Team Scores -- 1. Lafayette (Wildwood) 146; 2. St. Louis University High 101; 3. Eureka 85; 4. Christian Brothers College Preparatory 79; 5. Lindbergh 63; 6. Jackson 40; 7. (tie) Marquette, Kirkwood 39; 9. Mehlville 23; 10. Northwest (Cedar Hill) 21; 11. Seckman 20; 12. Oakville 17; 13. Chaminade College Preparatory 8; 14. Parkway South 6; 15. St. John Vianney 5; 16. (tie) Fox, Washington 2

Local state qualifiers

3200 relay -- 4. Jackson (Caleb Bess, Ean Buffington, Jackson Givens, Joseph Reed) 8:04.12

Pole vault -- 1. Dakota Maddox (J) 14-6; 4. Shawn Bareiter (J) 13-0

Triple jump -- 2. Xominique Davis (J) 45-1 1/2

GIRLS

Team Scores -- 1. Kirkwood 122; 2. Lafayette (Wildwood) 120; 3. Lindbergh 73; 4. Jackson 70; 5. Eureka 64; 6. Seckman 53; 7. Marquette 46; 8. Nerinx Hall 42; 9. Northwest (Cedar Hill) 30; 10. Mehlville 25; 11. Parkway South 22; 12. Cor Jesu Academy 14; 13. Washington 8; 14. St. Joseph's Academy 6; 15. Fox 2

Local state qualifiers

400 -- 3. Carli Knott (J) 58.65

1600 -- 4. Chelsea Drum (J) 4:56.21

3200 relay -- 3. Jackson (Megan Barnum, Carli Knott, Chelsea Drum, Tayler Winick) 9:24.28

Pole vault -- 2. Katie Schumer (J) 10-6

Discus -- 1. Olivia Brown (J) 110-5; 4. Olivia Leible (J) 103-7

Shot put -- 1. Nicole Humphreys (J) 37-5

-- From staff reports