Two freshmen combine to win five events at districts

~ Kelly's Backfish and Scott City's Essner dominate meet.

Kelly freshman Londyn Backfish set personal records in four events en route to four district titles at the Class 2 District 1 track meet Saturday at Jackson.

Backfish picked up sectional berths in the 100, 200, 400 and high jump with her four wins. The top four in each event advance to the sectional round. The sectional will be at Principia on May 12.

"I was wanting to get to the sectional, but I was amazed I got first in all of them," Backfish said. "I had my teammates all behind me."

Right behind Backfish in the 100, 200 and 400 was Scott City freshman Stephanie Essner. In the 100, Backfish won in 12.66 seconds, followed closely by Essner in 12.67. In the 400, Backfish ran a 58.00 and Essner came in with a 58.02.

Scott City's Stephanie Essner cleared the last hurdle to win the girls 100-meter hurdles event at the Class 2 District 1 track meet Saturday at Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

"Me and her are always going neck and neck," Backfish said.

Backfish won the high jump with a jump of 5 feet. Listed at 5-foot-5, Backfish was one of the shortest competitors in the high jump.

"The high jump I was not expecting that one because I was the shortest girl out there," Backfish said. "If my teammates wouldn't have been telling me to pull my torso back I probably wouldn't have won any of the events. I learned something today."

Last year at the Class 2 state meet, just two runners ran the 400 in less than 59 seconds. Backfish and Essner each were more than 4 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

"I'm hitting my 400," Essner said. "I got my second 58-second this year. My first was at Poplar Bluff and I was excited. Today I had a 58-flat. I'm really excited about that."

Essner also made it out of the district in four events, topping the field in the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.91 seconds. Essner was the lone runner to break 17 seconds. The defending state champion in the 100 hurdles, Crystal City sophomore Precious Selmon, finished fourth behind Essner. Last year Selmon was the lone competitor at state to run under 16 seconds.

"My hurdles time was my best," Essner said. "I was three-stepping really good. I had a good day in the hurdles."

Kelly distance runner Tara Johnson made it out in both the 1,600 and 3,200, finishing third and fourth in the events, respectively. Courtney Tetley finished third in the pole vault for Kelly.

Chaffee freshman Sarah Sigman finished third in the long jump, Rachel Hendrix was second in the 800, Amber Kirk was third in the shot put and Whitney Schlosser was third in the discus. The Red Devils also finished fourth in the 3,200 relay.

Libby Miles won the 3,200 for Scott City in 13:01. Scott City's girls finished third in the 3,200 relay.

Cody Kern finished fourth in the 1,600 and 3,200 for Kelly. Nathan Burford was third in the pole vault, Spencer Ayers was second in the shot put and Kelly finished fourth in the 3,200 relay.

Kent Courtney was fourth in the 200 for Chaffee, Gage Harrell was third in the 300 hurdles, Trenton Horman was fourth in the high jump and Rice Walker was second in the discus. This was the first year for Chaffee in Class 2 after moving up from Class 1.

"Our kids did a great job," Chaffee coach Terry Glenzy said. "To move up to this competition level our kids competed well, and we're young."

Scott City's returning all-state hurdler Derek Goodin finished second in the 300 hurdles, Craig Arnzen was third in the high jump and Scott City placed third in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

Area top-four finishers

Boys

Team results -- 1. Malden 174, 2. Crystal City 110, 3. Principia 85, 4. Chaffee 61, 5. Maplewood 55, 6. Scott City 47, 7. Kelly 36, 8. Hayti 30, 9. Caruthersville 23, 10. Charleston 19, 10. East Prairie 19, 12. Brentwood 16, 13. St Pius 10, 14. Grandview 8.

200 -- 4. Kent Courtney (CH) 24.19

1,600 -- 4, Cody Kern (K) 4:56

3,200 -- 4. Kern (K) 11:21

300 hurdles -- 2. Derek Goodin (SC) 41.37, 3. Gage Harrell (CH) 42.45

1,600 relay -- 3. Scott City 3:38 (Trey Schlosser, Rynn Eskew, Matt Koehler, Derek Goodin)

3,200 relay -- 3. Scott City 8:35 (Goodin, Derek Laxton, Chris Klinge, Koehler), 4. Kelly 8:37 (Kern, Omar Campos, Blake Wade, Josh Rogers)

High jump -- 3. Craig Arnzen (SC) 6-2, 4. Trenton Horman (CH) 6-0

Pole vault -- 4. Nathan Buford (K) 9-6

Shot put -- 2. Spencer Ayers (K) 48-5 3/4

Discus -- 2. Walker Rice (CH) 134-0

Girls

Team results -- 1. Crystal City 122, 2. Principia 96, 3. Malden 83, 4. Kelly 64, 5. Chaffee 555, 5. Maplewood 55, 7. Scott City 53, 8. Grandview 47, 9. Hayti 36, 10. Caruthersville 21, 11. St. Pius 13, 12. Northwest Academy 8, 12. Charleston 8, 12. Brentwood 8, 15. East Prairie 2

100 -- 1. Londyn Backfish (K) 12.66, 2. Stephanie Essner (SC) 12.67

200 -- 1. Backfish (K) 26.22, 2. Essner (SC) 27.00

400 -- 1. Backfish (K) 58.00, 2. Essner (SC) 58.02

800 -- 2. Rachel Hendrix (CH) 2:33

1,600 -- 3. Tara Johnson (K) 5:42

3,200 -- 1. Libby Miles (SC) 13:01, 4. Johnson (K) 13:31

100 hurdles -- 1. Essner (SC) 15.91

3,200 relay -- 3. Scott City 11:39 (Miles, Katie Diebold, Brittany Licare, Beth Razer), 4. Chaffee 12:12 (Taylor Kirchdoerfer, Tara Propst, Hendrix, Sarah Benton)

High jump -- 1. Backfish (K) 5-0

Pole vault -- 3. Courtney Tetley (K) 5-0

Long jump -- 3. Sarah Sigman (CH) 14-1

Shot put -- 3. Amber Kirk (CH) 33-3

Discus -- 3. Whitney Schlosser (CH) 95-1