Perryville's Dobbelare will lead hurdles field into final

Southeast Missourian

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- None of the local athletes representing Southeast Missouri ended the day Friday as state champions, but Perryville's Kyle Dobbelare is well on his way.

Dobbelare cleared the preliminaries of the 110 hurdles in 14.5 seconds, the fastest time among the eight finalists, on the first day of the Class 3 and 4 state track and field championships at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. Dobbelare was nearly a full second faster than his teammate Jesse Whistler, who finished fifth in the qualifying. Dobbelare, a senior, finished sixth in the preliminaries of the 300 hurdles, as well. Perryville junior Kyle Cottner took 10th in the triple jump. Dobbelare and Cottner also helped Perryville's 1,600 relay team to a second-place preliminary finish.

Notre Dame junior Bryce Willen finished third, just 6 inches behind state champion Jake Simmons, in the pole vault event. Willen earned six points team points and Notre Dame's boys team is tied for 11th overall with Webb City after five events.

Notre Dame's top-seeded 3,200 meter relay team finished eighth with a disappointing time of 8:12.13 seconds, nearly 21 seconds behind winner Ladue Horton Watkins. The squad was seeded first entering the meet.

Katie Daniel, Notre Dame's lone female representative, finished in the top ten in both of her qualifying events. Daniel finished sixth in the 100 hurdles to make the final and 10th in the 300 hurdles.

Jackson's girls team picked up three points and is in a three-way tie for 19th after five events. Rebecca Martin picked up all three points for her sixth place finish in the shot put. Trisha Kluesner finished 13th in the preliminaries of the 100 hurdles and din qualify for the final.

Jackson's 800 and 400 relay teams both placed in the top 15, finishing 15th and 12th, respectively.

Central's 1,600 relay team finished a second and a half in front of Jackson's team in the preliminaries of the event.

Central's Mark Egbuka finished 12th in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 11 1/4 inches, nearly 10 feet behind state champion Chris Rohr of Lee's Summit.

Central's best finish of the day came in the 800 relay event, where the team of Allen Walker, Anwar Glen, Calen Wills and Will Johnson captured fourth place in the preliminaries. Wills finished 12th in the preliminaries of the 400 run and Allen Walker took 16th in the 100 dash. Central's 1,600 relay team finished eighth in the preliminaries, just under three seconds behind leader Jefferson City.

Freshman Nicole Jackson took sixth in the preliminaries of the 200 dash and 10th in the preliminaries of the 100 dash. Holly Shaffer, Jackson's junior teammate, finished eighth in the preliminaries of the 800 run.