LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: LOCAL ATHLETES TO COMPETE AT STATE MEET

Southeast Missouri track and field athletes go "to the mark" for the ultimate meet of their high school seasons.

The state 3A and 4A track meet convenes today and extends through Saturday at Jefferson City. The top four performers in four sectional meets held throughout the state earned the right to compete.

Area schools that will have athletes competing are Cape Central (4A), Jackson (4A), and Perryville (3A).

Led by defending state long jump champion Dionna Webb, Cape Central has a contingent of seven girls and three boys entered. In 1999, Webb had a final jump of 18 feet 11 1/2 inches to capture the state crown. She beat the second-place finisher by 10 1/2 inches.

"I want to jump 19 feet. Up there (Jefferson City) they have the best board, the best runway, the best everything that I've ever jumped on," said Webb. "If I have good speed, get off the board good, I could get to 19."

In addition to the long jump, Webb qualified for the 100-meter dash (sixth in '99) and will run anchor for the 4x200 relay team. Joining her on the 4x200 will be Alex Wieser, Courtney Edge and Vicky Wilson.

Jackson has only one male athlete entered, Mario Whitney, but he is something special. Whitney defeated defending 100-meter state champion Charles McGhee of Ladue in the sectionals with a school record time of 10.43 seconds. He also qualified for the 200-meters with a time of 21.95, in spite of a less than perfect effort running the curve.

"I expect Mario's top competition to come from McGhee and Damian Nash of Riverview Gardens," said Jackson coach Bob Sink. "I like Mario's chances, but the competition is so stiff at this level that if an athlete is not at top form on that day, anything can happen."

Cape Central's Heather Jenkins returns to the state meet after an impressive sophomore debut in '99 in which she took fourth place in the discus with a toss of 134-6 and sixth in the shot put with a heave of 39-1.

The Lady Tigers' Kim Pancoast qualified in the 1600 and will compete in the 4x400 relay with teammates Wieser, Edge and Lexi House.

On the boys' side, competitors for Cape Central will be Demetrius Totton (400 meters and triple jump), Jeff Thiele (discus), and Matt Gooden (pole vault), all of whom established personal bests in their events at the sectional meet. Totton broke 50 seconds in the 400 for the first time (49.63) and triple jumped 45-7. Thiele had a throw of 158-7 and Gooden vaulted 14-0.

Jackson has seven girls entered. Individual qualifiers are Lindsey Meyr in the 400, Jennifer Love in the 100 and 300 hurdles and Heidi Jansen in the shot put. Jansen had the sixth-best throw of the 16 qualifiers in the four state-wide sectionals and is expected to do well.

Joining Meyr in the 4x400 relay will be Cailin Bricknell, Megan Kuntze and Love. Meyr, Love, Rachel Smith and Jeanna Bolen will be passing the baton for the Lady Indians' 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.

"This is the best group of girls to ever represent Jackson at the state meet," said Sink. "If they handle the baton well and run up to their best times, I feel they have a chance to place."

Perryville qualified several athletes for the Class 3A competition. For the Lady Pirates, the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams qualified with third-place finishes in the sectionals. Renee Schlichting, Gina Buerck, Jen Brotherton and Katrina Bockhorn compose the 4x800 team. Schlichting and Buerck will be joined by Sarah Lappe and Susan Miller in the 4x400 relay. Becky Lankford, with a third-place pole vault of 8 feet, was the only individual qualifier for the girls.

One member of both relay teams, senior Schlichting, will be running another race. As valedictorian of her graduating class, she will address the commencement audience at 7:30 Friday evening. To fulfill this commitment she will run in a preliminary race at 5:55, fly home for her speech at 7:30, and then commute back to Jefferson City in time to run again Saturday morning. Senior sprinter Shawn Statler and hurdler Nathan Ruesler will also be returning to Perryville for commencement.

Statler, who placed first in the 100 at sectional in 11.12 seconds, has a personal-best time of 10.8. He will also run in the 200. Andy Crannick will compete in the long jump (21-5 personal best), while Ruesler will run the 300 hurdles.

"(Crannick) has come a long way this year," said Perryville boys coach Lance Bell. "Early in the year he was jumping in the 18-19 foot range and now he is consistently around 21. He has the potential to reach 22 feet and if he does I give him a decent shot at a medal."