LADY TIGERS SHINE IN DISTRICT MEET

JACKSON -- Cape Central's girls track team had perhaps its best meet of the year, while the boys team had its worst Saturday at the Class 4A, District 1 track meet.

Central won its fifth straight district team title on the girls side, but the boys took second, 23 points behind Poplar Bluff, ending the Tigers' five-year reign as district champions.

Still, Central advanced qualifiers to sectionals in nine boys individual events and four relays.

As for the Lady Tigers, Central placed in the top four in 10 individual events and two relays.

Jackson took second among the girls with 98 points, 28 shy of Central's team total of 126.

The Lady Indians placed in the top four in 11 events, including three relays.

For Cape Central, five personal records were broken. Dionna Webb -- a two-event champion on Saturday -- set a personal best in the 200 with a time of 25.7 seconds. She also won the long jump at 17 feet, 4 3/4 inches, about 1 1/2 feet farther than the next-closest competitor.

Courtney Haman and Marisa Uzoaru each broke their personal records in the high jump. Haman took first with a leap of 5-foot-7 and Uzoaru was second at 5-6.

Brittnay Ballard improved her personal best by 11 seconds with a 12:08.5 in the 3,200.

In all, Central took first place in seven events, including four of the six field events. Heather Jenkins, as expected, took first in the shot put (39-11 1/4) and the discus (133-04).

"We did very well at the Kirkwood Invitational," said Central girls coach Lawrence Brookins, "but this was the highlight of the season so far."

Jackson coach Bob Sink, likewise, was pleased with his girls' team performance.

"We competed as well as we could today," Sink said. "We ran some of the best times of the year today and that's what you want to do."

Cape Central boys coach Jerry Dement was obviously disappointed in the second-place finish, especially because it had already defeated Poplar Bluff several times during the regular season.

"We had some events we didn't do as well as we should have," Dement said. "But Bluff did really well. We had a decent day, but they had a great meet. You have to get it done on this day and we didn't. But we've had a fine season and we've got a bunch left going to the sectional meet."

One of the lows for Central on Saturday was its 4x200 relay, which was expected to take first. But the baton was dropped -- the first time it had happened all season -- during an exchange and the Tigers lost eight probable points.

Dement also said that the Tigers lost some points because he put each athlete at his best event, not necessarily what would have given the team the most points.

The only individual first-place finisher for Cape Central was Chris Allen in the high jump (21-10).

Jackson qualified two individuals for sectionals. Kevin Bricknell (6-6) and Harith Jones (6-6) took third and fourth, respectively, in the high jump.

"I was proud of the way we competed today," Sink said. "Even the ones who didn't make it. Blake Popp ran a PR today and got sixth in the mile (4:36.2). I'm as proud of him as anyone else."

For a complete list of all of the sectional qualifiers, see Scoreboard on Page 2B.