Kelly girls finish third at districts

JACKSON — Kelly's top long distance runner Tara Johnson and the Hawks' top short distance runner Londyn Backfisch enjoy cheering on each other at meets.

"We always yell at each other when we watch each other race, 'You're my hero,'" Johnson joked. "We kind of motivate each other. We've definitely been doing it the whole season because I usually pretty much win the distance events and she usually takes the sprinting. So we always yell out during all the races, 'You're my hero.'"

Johnson, a junior, again took care of business in the long distance runs Saturday at the Class 2, District 1 track meet, while Backfisch, a sophomore, ran well in the short distance races. Their combined effort led the Kelly girls track and field team to a third-place finish with 77 points.

Johnson placed first in both the 1-mile run (5 minutes, 36.29 seconds) and the 2-mile run (12:48.49), while also earning a third-place finish in the 800.

Backfisch finished first in the 200 (25.76) and also earned second in the 100 and high jump, with a third in the 400.

"We have a really small girls team," Johnson said. "I think there are nine of us. ... I think our team did really well. And I'm proud of Londyn. She's an awesome sprinter."

Backfisch said of Johnson: "She's my hero. We just encourage each other. She's really fun."

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Scott City's Stephanie Essner cruised to a win in her heat of the 100-meter hurdles Saturday.

Johnson and Backfisch now advance to the sectional meet next week, trying to earn trips to the state tournament.

Backfisch qualified for state last year in all four of her events. She finished fourth in the 200 and fifth in the 100 at state last year.

Johnson, after making state her freshman year, missed the state meet last year as a sophomore. She was unable to make the top four in her running events at sectionals.

She said she is ready to return to state after a disappointing spring last year.

"I was disappointed," Johnson said. "I probably cried for two hours after the race. I was so upset. But I still went and cheered my team on at state and cheered Londyn on and stuff. It was definitely motivating. The whole summer all I wanted to do was run because I didn't want to feel that feeling ever again."

To put herself in a position to make state this spring, Johnson spent last summer partaking in AAU track. She also said she trained a lot with Malden runner T.J. Matthews.

Johnson's work paid off last fall with a strong cross country season, and she is sure she will perform better at sectionals next week.

"I'm very confident," Johnson said. "I was all-state in cross country this past fall. And I'm pretty confident that I have all the work put in that I need."

Kelly coach Matt Hale added about Johnson: "As far as this year goes, she is running a lot better than she did last year. I think last year woke her up a little bit with not making it to state. And she's driven and she's determined to make it to state this year and to be an all-state runner. She works hard every single day."

Like Johnson, Backfisch, for the most part, was pleased with her performance Saturday.

"The 100, I was pretty [happy] with that," Backfisch said. "The 400, I was disappointed in. It's not my favorite race, so I'm not always going through it with a smile all the time. But I was OK with the performance. I would want better. The 200, I was really happy with that. I broke my new PR by .01 seconds."

Backfisch, who has earned personal bests in both the 100 and 200 this year, again was pitted against talented Scott City sprinter Stephanie Essner in two races Saturday.

"I would consider us more of teammates than rivals," Backfisch said about her and Essner. "People think we're really bad enemies, but before we run, we're like, 'Hey, good luck. [Let] the best person win.'"

Essner beat Backfisch in the 400 and the preliminaries of the 200. But Backfisch battled back to beat Essner in the finals of the 200.

"We weren't in the same heat in the preliminaries," Backfisch said. "Her strides are really, really long. Mine our shorter. So I had to pick up my speed, not lengthen my strides, and I could get past her faster. So it was kind of nice being able to see how she ran so I could see how I could correct myself."

Essner has strong performance

In addition to winning the 400 in a time of 58.65, Essner placed second to Backfisch in the 200 and took second in the 100 hurdles.

"I think I trained a lot better for it this year," Essner said. "And my endurance level is a lot better than last year. It's been a good day.

"I love running against [Backfisch]. She's good competition. She pushes me. I push her. ... When we got done running the 200, she was like, 'OK, you got me in the 400, but I got you in the 200.'"

Arnzen continues to jump high

Scott City senior Craig Arnzen continued to perform well in the high jump Saturday, winning the event with a jump of 6 feet, 6 inches.

"This year has been awesome," he said. "I haven't been beat yet. I'll have another big meet next week. But it's great to win district."

Arnzen earned his first first-place district finish after finishing third in the high jump as a sophomore and junior. He has more confidence in himself this year.

"It started falling together for me," Arnzen said. "I did some private lessons. ... Last year I had a bad day at sectionals, and I didn't even qualify for state. This year my PR is 5 inches higher than it was last year. So I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get to state."

Arnzen said he will attend the University of Missouri, where he will take part in the high jump and possibly the decathlon.

He said he was not offered a scholarship for his first year, but there is a chance he could earn one as he progresses during his college career.

"I'd like to get to 6-10," Arnzen said about his goal for the rest of this season. "I felt like I should have jumped 6-7, 6-8 today. But it just didn't go together for me. I would like to get into the 6-10 area though. That's where I need to be. Next year I need to be up to 6-11."

Chaffee's success

Chaffee coach Terry Glenzy was excited with the performance of Sarah Sigman, who placed second in the girls triple jump and earned a third in the long jump.

He also was pleased with Daniel Lawson, who placed second in the shot put, and Walker Rice, who earned third in the same event.

"Daniel, I was a little surprised because he's only been throwing the shot the last three or four weeks," Glenzy said. "Sarah Sigman on the girls side was [second] in the triple jump, third in the long jump and she's just a sophomore. And she did an excellent job. I think our kids overall did a good job. I'm pretty pleased."

Class 2 District 1 track

BOYS

Team standings — Principia 113, Crystal City 101, Maplewood-Richmond Heights 89, Malden 79, Hayti 72, Scott City 61, Chaffee 57, Festus St. Pius 49, East Prairie 33, Kelly 27, Charleston 7, Caruthersville 5, Brentwood 4, Arcadia Valley 2, Grandview 1.

Individuals

(Top four qualify for sectional)

400 — 6, Collin Dannenmueller (Chaf), 55.27; 8, Matthew Koehler (SC), 56.73.

800 — 3, Cody Kern (K), 2:02.06; 4, Charles Klinge (SC), 2:03.58.

1,600 — 4, Derek Laxton (SC), 4:36.35; 6, Blake Wade (K), 5:03.09; 7, Zac Wachter (Chaf), 5:17.58; 8, Stephen Schott (SC), 5:20.83.

3,200 — 4, Thomas Bridges (K), 11:15.71; 6, Nathan Cicardi (Chaf), 11:41.95.

110 hurdles — 5. Gage Harrell (Chaf), 17.91; 7, Wade Keesee (SC), 19.25.

300 hurdles — 1, Derek Goodin (SC), 40.97; 3, Harrell (Chaf), 42.01; 5, Jordan Weiss (SC), 45.46.

800 relay — 5, Scott City, 1:37.43; 6, Chaffee, 1:38.14; 8, Kelly, 1:46.70.

1,600 relay — 2, Scott City (Klinge, Goodin, Koehler, Laxton), 3:38.08; 6, Kelly, 3:41.87; 7, Chaffee, 3:43.85.

3,200 relay — 3, Scott City (Klinge, Laxton, Koehler, Goodin), 8:35.41; 4, Kelly (Kern, Omar Campos, Bridges, Wade), 8:36.72; 5, Chaffee, 9:43.43.

High jump — 1, Craig Arnzen (SC), 6-6; 3, Trenton Horman (Chaf), 6-4; 7, Dannenmueller (Chaf), 5-8.

Pole vault — 7, Aaron Welter (K), 8-6; 8, Nicholas Welter (K), 8-0.

Long jump — 7, Arnzen (SC), 18-7; 8, Alexander Eichhorn (SC), 18-1.

Shot put — 2, Daniel Lawson (Chaf), 43-9; 3, Walker Rice (Chaf), 42-0; 7, David Massey (SC), 40-1.

Discus — 2, Rice (Chaf), 124-4; 8, Brian Brock (K), 106-0.

———

GIRLS

Team standings — Principia 126, Crystal City 110, Kelly 77, Malden 74, Scott City 59, Grandview 51, Chaffee 41, Maplewood-Richmond Heights 33, Hayti 28, Caruthersville 27, East Prairie 23, Festus St. Pius 19, Charleston 8, Brentwood 5, Arcadia Valley 1.

Individuals

(Top four qualify for sectional)

100 — 2, Londyn Backfisch (K), 12.58.

200 — 1, Backfisch (K), 25.76; 2, Stephanie Essner (SC), 26.02.

400 — 1, Essner (SC), 58.65; 3, Backfisch (K), 59.99.

800 — 3, Tara Johnson (K), 2:34.08; 7, Sarah Sigman (Chaf), 2:50.66; 8, Taylor Kirchdoerfer (Chaf), 2:51.21.

1,600 — 1, Johnson (K), 5:36.29; 3, Libby Miles (SC), 5:48.89.

3,200 — 1, Johnson (K), 12:48.49; 2, Miles (SC), 13:05.72; 5, Sarah Reischmann (Chaf), 14:01.48.

100 hurdles — 2, Essner (SC), 17.49.

300 hurdles — 6, Svenja Posdziech (K), 57.04; 8, Kim Hester (Chaf), 58.99.

400 relay — 8, Scott City, 58.74.

800 relay — 7, Scott City, 2:00.04; 8, Kelly, 2:06.05.

1,600 relay — 2, Scott City (Elizabeth Razer, Rebecca Holder, Melanie Lacey, Essner), 4:19.27; 7, Chaffee, 5:06.51.

3,200 relay — 2, Scott City (Miles, Lacey, Michelle Cobb, Razer), 10:41.92; 4, Chaffee (Liz Schlosser, Randi Wiley, Amber Hawkins, Kirchdoerfer), 11:50.07.

High jump — 2, Backfisch (K), 5-0; 5, Chelsea Paul (K), 4-6; 7, Randi Wiley (Chaf), 4-4.

Pole vault — 4, Courtney Tetley (K), 6-0; 5, Paul (K), 5-0.

Long jump — 3, Sigman (Chaf), 14-9.

Triple jump — 2, Sigman (Chaf), 29-10.

Shot put — 6, Whitney Schlosser (Chaf), 31-3; 7, Amber Kirk (Chaf), 30-10.

Discus — 5, Kirk (Chaf), 94-3; 7, W. Schlosser (Chaf), 88-20.