RUNNERS FEEL THE HEAT IN JACKSON INVITATIONAL

JACKSON, Mo. -- With the furnace dial set on "VERY HOT" at Jackson City Park, the annual Jackson Invitational went off without a hitch Saturday, although a little earlier than originally planned.

Of the 21 schools scheduled to participate, about four canceled due to the heat.

Jackson moved the starting time up from 10 a.m. to 9 to help runners cope with the heat.

"Our athletic director (Kevin) Bohnert made the right decision to move the meet up an hour," said Jackson coach Andrea Talley. "We had a lot of schools calling concerned about the heat index."

Talley said the heat index was 96 degrees by the end of the event at around 11 a.m.

Locally, Cape Central and Kelly were the big winners with each school claiming first in two division races. The race was scored according to grade with a total of eight divisions.

The top 15 runners in each division medaled, while the top three girls on each team comprised the girls team scores and the top four finishers comprised the boys team scores. The freshmen ran a 1.9-mile course while everyone else competed on a 2.3-mile layout.

"We had good, hard races despite the heat," said Cape Central coach Mark Hahn. "We didn't have any physical problems with the heat. That was a big concern of all the coaches today. They started early, which was a good decision on Jackson's part. It was toasty when we finished."

Cape Central finished with two first and two seconds in the team competition.

Central's seniors Gabe Austin (13:09), Justin Hawkins (13:16) and Mark Stone (13:19) finished seventh through ninth to lead the first-place finish. Ross Tilghman (13:43, 14th) rounded out the team score.

"That's a strong group," said Hahn. "It gives us a little depth."

Central's freshmen girls also placed first with a 1-2 finish by Cassie Kipper (14:33) and Meagan Freeze (14:35).

"We had good, hard races despite the heat," said Hahn. "We didn't have any physical problems with the heat. That was a big concern of all the coaches today. They started early, which was a good decision on Jackson's part. It was toasty when we finished."

Kelly took first place in the freshman boys division and first in the junior boys.

Andrew Mothershead (12:04) led the Hawk freshmen with a third-place finish and Adam Daughhetee (13:24) placed second to pace the Kelly juniors.

"This is the first time ever for us to come away with two first place team finishes," said Kelly coach Bill Davis. "We were real happy. Being a small school it was a real nice way to open the season."

Results in Scoreboard on Page 2B.