Kelly thrower Koonce among the local Class 2 athletes to preserve state hopes

Katie Koonce likes the ride she's on, and she doesn't want it to end.

The senior discus thrower from Kelly is headed back to the Class 2 sectional track and field meet, this time as a district champion after winning the event at the Class 2 District 1 meet Saturday at Central High School. She's hoping the trip is just the second leg of a journey that culminates at the state meet in Jefferson City, Mo.

"It just made my day," Koonce said after winning the girls discus event with a toss of 99 feet, 9 inches. "It's just so surreal. I always dreamed of progressing on. With this being my senior year, it makes it even more awesome."

Koonce placed second in the district meet last season, and followed that up with an 11th-place finish at the state meet. She described her effort Saturday as "about average."

"I think nerves played a role in that," she admitted.

Koonce was one of several area athletes advancing from Saturday's meet, which was hosted by Saxony Lutheran but played out at the Central track complex. The top four finishers in each event advanced to the sectional meet, which will be held Saturday at Principia High School in St. Louis.

Koonce's teammate, sophomore Samantha Ratledge, qualified for the sectional meet in the long jump and triple jump, placing second in both events. She also anchored both the 400 and 800 relays, which both finished second. Dalton Hoffman finished second in the high jump, clearing 5-10, and in the triple jump with an effort of 42-9.

They were a part of the Kelly contingent that led both the Hawks' boys and girls teams to fourth-place team finishes. Herculaneum placed first in both the boys and girls standings.

"We're really happy with it," Kelly track coach Kenneth Riedinger said. "We're pretty solid in the events that we enter. We don't have the depth to build big team scores yet."

Dustin Worley, of Chaffee, placed first in the boys shot put with a heave of 47 feet, 1 inch. He was happy with the win, but believes he can do better.

"I have room for improvement, that's for sure," he said, noting he threw more than two feet further (49-1 1/4) at last week's SEMO South conference meet. "I just have to practice really hard on fundamentals. Get my fundamentals down, and my release point."

He said the cool conditions [temperatures in the low 50s] and the slight incline in the landing area played a part in keeping distances down slightly.

"I wore extra everything," he laughed. "That, and with the incline, I didn't get the full potential of the throw than if it was flat."

Ashlynn Collier, a freshman at Saxony, made her district debut with a 31-5.25 effort in the shot put, good for second place.

"I definitely felt I could throw better, but I'm satisfied with that," she said. "Now I have a chance to go to sectionals and hopefully do better."

Collier, an elementary school state champion in the event last year, said she wasn't awed by the other competitors. Rather, she welcomed the opportunity to be pushed by better competition.

"There are a lot of people here I can watch and look up to," she said.

Collier also qualified for the sectional meet in the discus throw, finishing fourth with an effort of 87-2.

Saxony's Brandon Fritsche qualified for the sectional meet in the 400, placing second with a time of 51.98 seconds. And Aaron Kohler placed fourth in the 3,200 in 10:55, pulling away from St. Vincent's Levi Krauss down the stretch for the sectional nod.

"That was a close race for fourth place," Saxony coach Larry Cleair said. "They were neck and neck coming down the stretch. Aaron had a little more speed at the end."

The highs and lows that are a high school track meet were evident in the girls 800 relay, where the St. Vincent foursome of freshmen Kassidy Kassel and Delia Lowman, junior Amanda Breig and senior Daniele Hogard easily won their finals heat with a time of 1:53.31, then watched in agony as five teams from the second heat bettered their mark, dropping the Indians to a sixth-place finish, two places and a shade more than a half-second short of a trip to the sectional.

Nevertheless, the four were pleased with their run.

"They did great," said Hogard about her teammates. "They were just awesome."

Class 2 District 1

Results

GIRLS

Team scores -- 1. Herculaneum 149, 2. Jefferson (Festus) 118.25, 3. Valle Catholic 83.75, 4. Kelly 55, 5. (tie) Saxony Lutheran 38, Hayti 38, 7. (tie) Chaffee 36, Carnahan 36, 9. Caruthersville 35, 10. St. Vincent 28.50, 11. Charleston 28, 12. Grandview (Hillsboro) 19.75, 13. Crystal City 17, 14. Scott City 13,75, 15. East Prairie 6.

Area top 4 finishers (sectional qualifiers)

High jump -- 3. Morgan LeDure (Kelly) 4-8.

Pole vault -- 4. Kenzie Graham (St. Vincent) 8-6.

Long jump -- 2. Ellie Sigman (Chaffee) 15-11.

Triple jump -- 2. Samantha Ratledge (Kelly) 32-4.75.

Discus -- 1. Katie Koonce (Kelly) 99-09; 2. Stevie Schurm (Chaffee) 96-10; 4. Ashlynn Collier (Saxony) 87-2.

Shot put -- 2. Collier (Saxony) 31-5.25; 4. Schurm (Chaffee) 30-3.

4x800 relay -- 4. Scott City (Lyndsie Robert, Hannah Shemonia, Lindsey Rendleman, Morgan Pettit) 11:08.22.

100 -- 2. Dakaria Johnson (Kelly) 13.43; 3. Tess Daniel (Saxony) 13.49.

4x200 relay -- 2. Kelly (Johnson, Taylor Lasater, McKynlee Neumeyer, Samantha Ratledge) 1:52.27; 4. Scott City (Hailey Clayton, Lyndsie Robert, Heather Keesee, Miranda Brashear) 1:52.77.

4x100 relay -- 2. Kelly (Johnson, Lasater, Neumeyer, Ratledge) 52.59.

400 -- 3. Delia Lowman (St. Vincent) 1:02.08; 4. Sigman (Chaffee) 1:04.82.

200 -- 3. Daniel (Saxony) 27.47.

BOYS

Team scores -- 1. Herculaneum 134, 2. Valle Catholic 116, 3. Charleston 94, 4. Kelly 52; 5. Malden 48, 6. Chaffee 39, 7. Caruthersville 38, 8. Hayti 34, 9. Scott City 28, 10. Carnahan 27, 11. Jefferson (Festus) 20, 12. St. Vincent 18, 13. Saxony Lutheran 17, 14. East Prairie 15, 15. Grandview (Hillsboro) 11, 16. Crystal City 8.

Area top 4 finishers (sectional qualifiers)

High jump -- 2. Dalton Huffman (Kelly) 5-10.

Triple jump -- 2. Huffman (Kelly) 42-9.

Discus -- 3. Dustin Worley (Chaffee) 119-9; 4. Robbie Wingerter (St. Vincent) 119-1.

Shot put -- 1. Worley (Chaffee) 47-1.

4x800 relay -- 3. Kelly (Robbie Hopper, Jerrod Lynn, 3. Alan Lowe, Trey Walker) 9:01.84; 4. Chaffee (Travis Hall, Peter Simpson, Jason Rambo, Chris Williams) 9:19.41.

1600 -- 4. Alan Lowe (Kelly) 4:45.69.

400 -- Brandon Fritsche (Saxony) 51.98.

800 -- Trey Walker (Kelly) 2:02.10; 4. Eric Essner (Scott City) 2:04.59.

3200 -- 4. Aaron Koehler (Saxony) 10:55.12.

4x400 -- 4. Scott City (Eric Essner, Caleb Sykes, Zach Haynes, Noah Hahn) 3:40.32.