KELLY TO SEND 18 ATHLETES TO STATE

BENTON -- Kelly High's track and field program enjoyed a stellar day Saturday as the school hosted the Class 2A, District 1 Meet.

The Kelly girls and boys both captured district titles, with the girls qualifying 11 competitors for the state meet and the boys qualifying seven for state.

The top two finishers in each event Saturday qualified the 2A State Meet to be held next weekend in Jefferson City.

Kelly's boys needed a win in the day's final event, the 4x400-meter relay, to nip Steelville for the team title. Kelly had 115 points to 114 for Steelville.

Scott City placed third in the 10-team meet with 83 points while Chaffee was seventh with 44.

On the girls side, Kelly had 135 points in the 10-team field. Grandview was second with 105. Scott City placed fifth with 56 and Chaffee was seventh with 31.

"It was a fantastic day for both teams," said Kelly coach Bill Davis. "You couldn't have written a better script on the boys side. And the girls did a great job."

Kelly's girls won three relays and were second in the other.

Winning relays for the Lady Hawks were the 4x800 (Amy Arteme, Laura Ruff, April Cousins, Jenny Riley), the 4x200 (Holly Slavings, Pam Essner, Ruff, Natalie Robert) and the 4x100 (Essner, Tiffany Glastetter, Ruff, Robert). Second was the 4x400 (Riley, Megan Nelson, Melissa Melton, Slavings).

"I went in thinking we could sweep the relays and we almost did it," Davis said.

Also first for the Lady Hawks were Jenny Forck (110 hurdles), Riley (1,600) and Robert (200) while second were Robert (100), Essner (200) and Arteme (3,200).

For Kelly's boys, winning events were the 4x400 relay team of Joe Livingston, Daniel Mothershead, C.O. Scheffer, Nathen King, along with Chad Melton (110 hurdles), Livingston (400) and King (800).

Second for the Hawks were the 4x800 relay of Joby Berry, Lucas Choate, Scheffer and King, along with Choate (1,600 and 3,200), Mothershead (400) and Melton (300 hurdles).

Scott City also had a strong day with several state qualifiers.

Scott City's boys won both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays, with Howie Stubenrauch, Brandon Amick, Travis Burger and Matt Underwood comprising both groups.

Underwood also swept the 100 and 200 while Dale Burger was second in the pole vault.

"Matt really had a great day, anchoring both our relays and then winning the 100 and 200," said Scott City coach Terry Flannigan.

For Scott City's girls, Amy O'Brien qualified for state in three events, winning the high jump while taking second in the long jump and triple jump. Becca Gowin was second in the 800.

Chaffee will also be represented at state by both boys and girls.

For Chaffee's boys, Andy Proffer won the high jump while Andy Obermann was second in the shot put. On the girls side, Angela Holland was second in both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.

Results of the meet appear in `Scoreboard' on 2B.

SOFTBALL

Sikeston Tournament

SIKESTON -- Notre Dame defeated Scott City 11-6 Saturday to finish third in the season-ending Sikeston Tournament.

Jill Huber was the winning pitcher for the Lady Bulldogs, who finished the year with an 10-8 record. Huber struck out 12 and allowed seven hits.

Randy Senciboy had three of Notre Dame's 11 hits while Bonnie Essner added two.

Earlier in the day, Notre Dame lost to East Carter 3-1 in the semifinals.

"We were a little inconsistent but overall it was a good season for us," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "Some of our players had really good seasons."

Oran 11, Bloomfield 6

BLOOMFIELD -- In a game from Friday, Oran prevailed to end its season with an 8-8 record.

Mistie Senciboy pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits and striking out 13.

Oran had two hits, led by Crystal Cochran with four, including three doubles. Senciboy doubled, tripled and homered while Sara Bouge and Sara Heisserer also had three hits apiece. Kelly Wheeler and Audrey Mosebach both added two hits.