Jackson's Maddox repeats as Class 4 pole vault champion

Sierra Maddox probably could not have had a better day than the one she had Saturday.

The Jackson senior and defending state champion pole vaulter repeated her state-winning height of 12 feet, 6 inches to retain her title and cap a flawless, undefeated senior season at the Class 4 state meet at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

"It felt really good," Maddox said about winning state again. "I was at least hoping to break the state record, but unfortunately it didn't happen today."

Maddox missed breaking that record, which was set in 2012 by Lee's Summit West's Brittany Kallenberger, by 4 inches. She did, however, finish 6 inches ahead of Lee's Summit West sophomore Nicole Kallenberger and one foot above Camdenton senior Judy Keys to defend her title. In addition to being a repeat state champion, Maddox ended her high school track and field career with a perfect record as she did not lose a single meet all season long.

"I mean, I would have liked for it to have happened, and it did," she said. "But even if it didn't happen, I wouldn't have been too depressed about it, so it worked out really well."

To prepare herself for the event, Maddox said she focused more on herself and less on her competitors.

"I had some competition today, and I was just trying to think about how I would want to vault instead of worrying about them, so I knew I just had to worry about myself and how it would evolve."

The strategy worked well for Maddox, who ended her impressive high school track and field career.

Sophomore Carli Knott also earned all-state honors in the 400-meter run with an eighth-place time of 58.84 seconds for Jackson, which finished 22nd overall in the team standings with a cumulative team score of 11.

On the boys' side, senior Clay Darnell led the way for the Indians with a third-place finish in the discus with a throw of 177-3. It was his third year of receiving all-state honors in the discus.

Darnell finished nearly 20 feet behind Blue Springs junior Khalil Davis (197-0) and almost 35 feet behind Blue Springs senior Carlos Davis (212-5). Davis shattered the state record of 201-4 that Lee's Summit North's Chris Rohr set in 2004.

Sophomore Dakota Maddox also clinched an all-state honor in the pole vault with an eighth-place height of 13-6.

Senior Dylan Rush entered as the favorite in the boys pole vault but did not complete a vault at the meet.

"He just didn't have a good day," Stoverink said. "It was kind of a fluke. It can happen."

Rush finished third and the state meet last year and was all-state twice.

"He's a great kid who just had a bad day," Stoverink said.

The Jackson boys tied Staley for 28th place overall in the team standings with seven total team points.

"We had high expectations," Jackson coach Jimmy Stoverink said. "I'm very proud of how they performed this weekend. We had some really good performances. Even though they weren't all-state, it was a tremendous accomplishment for them. I just could not be anymore prouder of these athletes."

Maddox will continue her career at the University of South Dakota next year.

"I guess I would just say that you have to work hard to get where you want to be," Maddox said when asked what advice she would give to her underclassmen teammates. "If they want it, they have to work hard for it."

GIRLS

Top 10 Team Scores -- 1. McCluer North 65; 2. Lee's Summit West 52; 3. Hazelwood Central 46; 4. Eureka 40; 5. Lee's Summit North 38; 6. Jefferson City 30; 7. (tie) Rock Bridge, Francis Howell 23; 9. Blue Springs 20; 10. Camdenton 18

Local (Jackson) results

400 -- 8. Carli Knott 58.84

3,200 relay -- 10. (Ana Compton, Tayler Winick, Carli Knott, Chelsea Drum) 9:48.70

Pole vault -- 1. Sierra Maddox 12-6

BOYS

Top 10 Team Scores -- 1. Blue Springs 83; 2. Lafayette (Wildwood) 44; 3. Hazelwood Central 42; 4. Christian Brothers College Preparatory 35; 5. Rock Bridge, Raytown South, Francis Howell Central 30; 8. Blue Springs South 26; 9. McCluer 25; 10. (tie) Kirkwood, Lee's Summit West 21

Local (Jackson) results

3,200 -- 10. (Gabe Dudley, Jack Jeffers, Calvin Lysell, Gabe Underwood) 8:06.07

High jump -- 15. Blake Reimann 6-0

Pole vault -- 8. Dakota Maddox 13-6, 13. Dylan Rush NH

Discus -- 3. Clay Darnell 177-03

Shot put -- 10. Nick Keser 50-2 1/4