ND's Zimmer zips through district meet

~ The Bulldogs' sophomore sprinter qualified for the sectional in three individual events and one relay.

The Notre Dame boys track and field team has been built around its distance runners in recent years. The Bulldogs' distance corps showed its strength in the fall when the school won its first state cross country title.

But sophomore sprinter Mark Zimmer showed the field at the Class 3 District 1 meet Saturday in Perryville that the Bulldogs can cover the shorter distances quickly as well. Zimmer qualified for the sectional meet in three individual events.

The top four finishers in each event qualify for the sectional May 20 at North County in Bonne Terre, Mo.

Zimmer won the 400 and finished second in the 100 and 200. He was the only individual qualifier for the Bulldogs, who finished fifth in the team standings.

Along with his three top-four finishes, Zimmer also ran the opening leg on the winning 1,600 relay team.

"I expected to get out in the 200 and 400, the 100 was kind of the iffy one," Zimmer said. "The 4-by-4, all four of us wanted it, and we got it."

Last year as a freshman, Zimmer failed to get through in any of the individual events. On Saturday, Zimmer set a personal record in the 100 with a 11.67, finished the 200 in 23.36 and blew away the field in the 400 with a 51.07.

"The 400 is probably the toughest event I do," Zimmer said. "I just turned it on with 100 left."

Added Notre Dame coach Bill Davis: "I think the quarter is really his best event. He's just so strong. Probably his next-best event is the 200. He could get through [to state] in both of those. We'll just have to wait and see."

Notre Dame and Perryville renewed their rivalry in the distance relays on Saturday, with a pair of close finishes. In the 3,200 relay, Perryville nipped the Bulldogs for third place with a time of 8 minutes, 27.07 seconds. Notre Dame finished fourth in 8:27.08.

In the 1,600 relay, Notre Dame set a school record with a time of 3 minutes, 29.59 seconds. Potosi was second, just ahead of Perryville which finished in 3:30.32. Zimmer, Jason Delgado, Blake Kirkpatrick and Matt Pfau ran on the 1,600 relay for Notre Dame. Pfau, who also anchored the 3,200 relay, was able to hold off Potosi and Perryville down the stretch with a spirited final 100 meters.

"You don't teach that. That's just the way Matt Pfau is," Davis said. "He just has a way of turning another switch on. He loves the competition. The Delgado boy is the same way."

Perryvville finished third on the boys side, thanks in large part to top-four finishes in all four relays.

Kris Cottner, Brandon Kennon, Adam Westmoreland and Jacob Hayden finished fourth in the 800 relay; and Cottner, Kennon, Westmoreland and Ryan Lorenz finished third in the 400 relay.

"They really ran hard and had great hand-offs," Perryville coach Lance Bell said.

Josh Hayden finished third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles. Hayden just recently returned to action for the Pirates after sitting out much of the season following knee surgery for a football injury.

"Very good job coming off the knee injury," Bell said. "He had his knee reconstructed coming off football, so he's just getting in the swing."

Perryville also had a double-qualifier in Tyler Bauwens. Bauwens finished second in the discus and fourth in the shot put. Ryan Regelsperger finished second in the pole vault with a personal best vault of 12 feet, 6 inches.

Potosi ran away with the boys title with 153 points. Sikeston finished second with 79 points, and Perryville had 69 1/2 points. Potosi had at least two sectional qualifiers in the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200. In the 1,600 Potosi had three of the top four finishers, and Potosi swept all four places in the 3,200.

"Hats off to Potosi," Bell said. "I've only been around 10 years, but I've never seen anyone qualify that many people. They have an exceptional shot to bring home a state flag. It's kind of disheartening for the kids, but I always say if you want to go on, you have to get faster."

Castleberry leads Pirates

Brittney Castleberry led Perryville's girls with three top-four finishes. Castleberry brought home district crowns in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, and finished fourth in the open 100. Kelsey Dobbelare also qualified in the 100 hurdles in fourth.

Perryville girls coach Tim Steffens said Castleberry really attacked the hurdles, and should have a good chance to get through the sectional in both hurdle events.

"If she runs well she should be able to get through in both of them," he said. "Dobbelare's really been running well and dropping her times. They both have a chance to get through."

Leslie Schilli was Perryville's other sectional qualifier on the girls side. Schilli finished third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200.

"She brought out her PR in the two-mile," Steffens said. "In the mile I think she tied her best time or was right on it. If she can drop a couple of seconds off next week she might have a shot to get through."

Cassie Lawrence had a tough-luck day with three fifth-place finishes for the Pirates. Lawrence set a personal best in the long jump.

Notre Dame had two school records on the girls side but did not qualify anyone to the sectional meet for the first time. Tori Pfau finished sixth in the 1,600 and set the school record with a time of 5 minutes, 52.10 seconds. Allison Toole set the record in the 800 in 2:30.17 and finished sixth.

Ste. Genevieve won the girls district title with 131 points, followed by Festus with 118 1/2. Perryville finished fourth with 61 points, and Notre Dame finished ninth.

Area results

Boys

Team standings -- 1. Potosi 153, 2. Sikeston 79, 3. Perryville 69.5, 4. Festus 59, 5. Notre Dame 57, 6. Ste. Genevieve 51, 7. Hillsboro 40, 8. New Madrid County Central 37, 9. North County 35, 10. Kennett 28, 11. Fredericktown 25.5, 12. Park Hills Central 24, 13. St. Pius 20, 14. Dexter 11, 15. De Soto 9

3,200 relay -- 3. Perryville 8:27.07 (Jesse Kueker, Ryan Regelsperger, Jacob Hayden, Kyle Bert), 4. Notre Dame 8:27.08 (John Unterreiner, Jason Delgado, Neil Kanneberg, Matt Pfau)

110 hurdles -- 3. Josh Hayden (P) 15.75

100 -- 2. Mark Zimmer (N) 11.67

800 relay -- 4. Perryville 1:34.44 (Kris Cottner, Brandon Kennon, Adam Westmoreland, Jacob Hayden)

400 relay -- 3. Perryville 45.10 (Cottner, Kennon, Westmoreland, Ryan Lorenz)

400 -- 1. Zimmer (N) 51.07

300 hurdles -- 4. Josh Hayden (P) 42.22

200 -- 2. Zimmer (N) 23.36

1,600 relay -- 1. Notre Dame 3:29.59 (Zimmer, Delgado, Blake Kirkpatrick, Pfau), 3. Perryville 3:30.32 (Westmoreland, Jacob Hayden, Cottner, Kueker)

Discus -- 2. Tyler Bauwens (P) 133-9 1/2

Shot put -- 4. Bauwens (P) 42-4

Pole vault -- 2. Regelsperger (P) 12-6

Girls

Team standings -- 1. Ste. Genevieve 131, 2. Festus 118.5, 3. Fredericktown 67, 4. Perryville 61, 5. Hillsboro 57, 6. Dexter 56.5, 7. North County 45, 8. Sikeston 42, 9. Notre Dame 33, 10. Park Hills Central 22, 11. New Madrid County Central 21, 12. Potosi 20, 13. De Soto 16, 14. Kennett 6

100 hurdles -- 1. Brittney Castleberry (P) 16.54, 4. Kelsey Dobbelare (P) 17.08

100 -- 4. Castleberry (P) 13.34

1,600 -- 3. Leslie Schilli (P) 5:37.32

300 hurdles -- 1. Castleberry (P) 49.52

3,200 -- 4. Schilli (P) 12:24.12