SUN SHINES ON CENTRAL AT CAPE RELAYS

No team scores were kept, but Cape Girardeau Central and Jackson both had plenty of reasons to feel good following Saturday's annual Cape Relays at Southeast Missouri State University's Abe Stuber Track & Field Complex.

More than a dozen high school track squads competed on a warm, summer-like day that no doubt marked the best weather area teams have enjoyed this season.

"It was a great day to compete," said Cape Central boys coach Jerry Dement. "The weather makes the competition a lot better. It was a really good meet."

The meet was true relay competition, with only five individual events contested. Even events like the pole vault, shot put, discus, long jump, high jump and triple jump consisted of a relay format, with total distances and heights by team members counting.

Cape Central's boys came away with five titles while Cape Central and Jackson tied for the most titles on the girls side with six.

"Overall, we feel really good about what we did with the boys and girls," Dement said. "We had some very good performances. We won our share of events and placed high in others."

Said Jackson coach Bob Sink, "It was a great day to compete and that helps. We had a great effort out of our boys and girls. We had a lot of firsts and a lot of seconds."

On the boys side, Cape Central was first in the pole vault, long jump, high jump, distance medley relay and 3,200 with Tye DeCramer. The Tigers' Jim Fox had the day's best pole vault at 14-6 while teammate Jay Meystedt had the top high jump at 6-8.

Jackson's boys were first in the 3,200 relay and 1,600 with Elliot Shearon.

The Jackson boys also had six runnerup finishes while Cape Central's boys added two second-place performances.

For the girls, Cape Central was first in the long jump, high jump, triple jump, sprint medley relay, distance medley relay and 3,200 with LeAnn Lee. The Lady Tigers' Elizabeth Kunz had the day's best high jump and triple jump, at 5-5 and 33-3, respectively.

Jackson's girls were first in the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays. Also for the Lady Indians, Tiffany Leech won the 1,600 and Brittney Hanschen captured the 300 low hurdles.

The Jackson girls were also second in four events while Cape Central's girls added a runnerup finish.

Perryville's girls had a solid day, winning the shot put while placing second in the discus and 3,200 relay.