Wachter, Rushin shine for Indians in Jackson Invitational track meet

Landon Wachter still dons white, red and black as she dominates the local high school track and field scene.

Next year the 800-meter runner will be in different colors -- Missouri's gold and black.

The senior is taking her talents to the Big 12 and she's certainly exciting about it.

"Extremely exciting," Wachter said. "I've kind of always wanted to go there. The day I signed was extremely exciting for me and my family."

Before Wachter heads off to the Division 1 level she still has duties as a Jackson Indian.

Jackson's Jill Rushin competes in the shot put Saturday during the Jackson Invitational. Rushin won the shot put and discus and earned the Most Outstanding Field award for the meet. A photo gallery of the event can be viewed at semoball.com.LAURA SIMONlsimon@ semissourian.com

At the Jackson Invitational on Saturday, she did those duties.

Watcher ran 2 minutes, 9.13 seconds in the 800 meters to capture first. She also helped the Indians to second-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays, and a third-place finish in the 800 relay.

Overall, the Sikeston boys captured first with 121 points, Jackson placed second with 96.5 and Central finished fourth with 83 points.

The Most Outstanding Runner was a tie between Tyson Stoverink from Jackson and Jaelen McWilliams from Murphysboro, Ill.

Stoverink took first in the 800 and 1,600 races and helped the 1,600 relay to a third-place finish.

On the girls' side, Kirkwood took first with 144 points and Jackson finished second with 116.

The Most Outstanding Runner was split between Central's Asia Thomas and Wachter. Thomas finished first in the 400 with a meet-record 57.43. She also placed second in the 200. The Most Outstanding Field award was given to the Indians' Jill Rushin, who placed first in the discus with a 150 feet, a new school record. She also threw 48-7 in the shot put to earn first place.

Jackson won the "combined" meet, which features scores from both the boys' and girls' sides.

A main reason was Wachter.

The season is going well for Wachter, especially considering the dreadful ending to a promising junior year.

Wachter fractured a bone in her left foot while hurdling and that kept her out of the conference and district meets.

She said the injury was difficult for both her and her father Steve, the Indians' coach. But that it only made her stronger this season.

"It was very disappointing," Wachter said. "It was probably one of the hardest things my dad and I had to overcome. It was probably harder on him than me. After I got over my injury I was bound and determined to get back and better than what I was. We just practiced every day. I did what he said. We went hard every day."

The work has paid off.

Wachter traveled to numerous camps at the University of Missouri as a teenager and was excited when the coach contacted her in July.

"We've been having phone conversations and then I went up for an official visit and a few other visits, and then I just knew I wanted to go there," Wachter said.

It fulfilled a lifelong dream for the senior.

"Oh yeah, I guess growing up in Missouri your dream is to go to Mizzou," Wachter said.

While the star middle distance runner continues to rack up victories, the winnings didn't come overnight.

Her father claims it's more hard work than anything.

"She's a lot harder worker than she is talented," Steve Wachter said. "I can say that because I'm her father. Her work ethic has always been outstanding. She's extremely dedicated. She's the toughest running girl I've ever coached in my life, and it happens to be my daughter. She has some talent, but she's not at a high level of talent. There are a lot of girls around here and at school with more talent, but they've just never made as high commitment as she has."

Landon agrees with her father.

"I don't consider myself very talented, but I do work hard," Landon said. "There were days where we'd do two-a-days and we'd do six days a week, and we try not to complain because we have this group now that works and we work hard every day."

One thing Wachter has done differently her senior year was train in the winter after running cross country in the fall. The combination has been a key factor.

"I did cross country which helped," Wachter said. "And we continued to train through the winter, which I've never done. My times have dropped dramatically from last year at this point in time. I can tell I'm a lot stronger runner than last year; we've made a lot of progress."

The "we" is in reference to her father.

"He's huge," Wachter said. "I remember him extremely upset when I came home and I wasn't allowed to run. After my injury last year we kind of formed an even tighter bond, and he told me we'd get back to where I was and that I'd get even stronger. I've really respected his patience and being patient with me and knowing I'm going to get back up there.

"Both he and my mom have taken me out here days at a time, hours, when they didn't want to be out here and I didn't want to be out here, but it's paying off."

Steve said the training has always been more about trying to be successful and finding something enjoyable, rather than competing at the next level.

"We've always trained and did things not necessarily to go somewhere but to have a chance to be as successful as you can be," Steve said. "I left that up to her to decide whether or not she wanted to run in college or not. It's a great feeling to see her run at another level. Of course the Division I level at Mizzou is a lot higher level so we still have a lot of improving to do."

Although the hard work has earned her a spot on Mizzou's team, Wachter still has goals for this season and realizes she must work even harder.

"I want to go to state in the 400, 800, and possibly the four-by-four," Wachter said. "It's exciting. My injury was very humbling, but it brought me back up to know I am good enough and that made me just work harder. To know that if I'm at a Division I level I have to work like a Division I athlete.

"I was thinking about it the other day. I used to do two-a-days when I was little and how much I hated it, but how much it's paying off."

GIRLS

Team results -- 1. Kirkwood 144; 2. Jackson 116; 3. Sikeston 66.5; 4. Valle 60; 5. Murphysboro 54; 6. Dexter 40; 7. Central 37; 8. Hillsboro 33; 9. Chaffee 30; 10. Scott City 27; 11. Fox 24.5; 12. Saxony 18; 13. Poplar Bluff 17.5; 14. Perryville 14; 15. Eagle Ridge 13.5; 16. Notre Dame 5; 17. Kelly 2

3,200 relay -- 2. Jackson (MaryAnn Bradshaw, Lindsey Seabaugh, Taylor Dickerson, Landon Wachter) 10:10.69; 4. Saxony (Cassie Simpher, Claire Skelton, Kirstin Dippold, Abby Hartman) 10:37; 5. Chaffee (Taylor Kirchdoerfer, Sarah Sigman, Sierra Miller, Luisa Boschan) 10:40.19; 6. Scott City 10:41.95; 8. Notre Dame 11:22.15

110 hurdles -- 4. Cassie Hindman (C) 18.38; 6. Nicole Hemmann (SL) 19.11

100 -- 4. Emma Shell (ER) 13.38; 7. Miranda Brashear (SC) 13.94

800 relay -- 3. Jackson (Paige Brown, Kaitlyn Cuppart, L. Wachter, Lauren Anderson) 1:50.81

1600 -- 1. Boschan (C) 5:26; 2. Dickerson (J) 5:28.82; 3. Melanie Lacey (SC) 5:50.66; 5. Laura Chavez (CC) 5:53.36; 8. Dakota Werner (J) 6:13.48

400 relay -- 4. Jackson (Anderson, Holly Adelmund, Cuppart, Brown) 52.83

400 -- 1. Asia Thomas (CC) 57.43; 2. Stephanie Essner (SC) 60.14; 3. Simpher (SL) 62.64; 4. Brown (J) 63.60; 5. Kendra Bollinger (J) 65.34

300 hurdles -- 4. Bradshaw (J) 52.25

800 -- 1. L. Wachter (J) 2:19.13; 4. Boschan (C) 2:24.97

200 -- 2. Thomas (CC) 25.53; 4. Shell (ER) 26.47; 5. Essner (SC) 26.75; 7. Anderson (J) 28.37

3200 -- 2. Seabaugh (J) 12:23.77; 5. Chavez (CC) 12:58.77; 6. Lacey (SC) 13:01; 7. Dippold (SL) 13:16.79; 8. Zhao Ni Dirnberger (J) 13:33.65

1,600 relay -- 2. Jackson (Bradshaw, Brown, Dickreson, L. Wachter) 4:10.68; 7. Saxony (Simpher, Rachel Gruenwald, Lucy Gage, Hartman) 4:31.01; 8. Scott City 4:32.78

Pole vault -- 1. Jordan Whitener (J) 9-0; 5. Chleo LeGrand (CC) 8-0; 6. Sadie Schaefer (ND) 8-0; 8. Olivia Renner (ND) 7-6

Long jump -- 4. S. Sigman (C) 15-5; 8. Ellie Sigman (C) 14-8

Triple jump -- 5. Shell (ER) 31-10 1/2; 7. Bradhshaw (J) 31-5

Shot put -- 1. Jill Rushin (J) 48-7; 3. Carlee Reeves (CC) 36-9; 4. Paden Wachter (J) 35-3; 8. Marissa Kopeland (CC) 32-2

Discus -- 1. Rushin (J) 150-0; 2. P. Wachter (J) 126-2; 7. Katie Koonce (K) 97-7

BOYS

Team results -- 1. Sikeston 121; 2. Jackson 96.5; 3. Fox 93; 4. Central 83; 5. Valle 68.5; 6. Notre Dame 62.5; 7. Murphysboro 58; 8. Scott City 30; 9. Poplar Bluff 26; 10. Hillsboro 23; 11. Eagle Ridge 22; 12. Kelly 8; 13. Perryville 6.5; 14. Saxony 4

3,200 relay -- 1. Notre Dame 8:23.34; 3. Jackson (Austin Koenig, Riley Talput, Zack Taylor, Adam Brown) 8:34.63; 5. Saxony Lutheran (Rhett Obermann, Brandon Fritsche, Joe Buerck, Mark Buerck) 8:38.91; 8. Central (Jawaun Howard, Collin Summers, Eric Schott, Alex Crawford) 9:03.47

110 hurdles -- 2. Thomas McElmurry (CC) 16.08; 6. Taylor Essner (ND) 16.91; 7. Kyle Schaper (J) 17.11

100 -- 3. Bill Schell (ER) 11.60; 7. Chris Martin (CC) 11.75; 8. Trey Drury (K) 11.76

800 relay -- 4. Scott City 1:37.06; 6. Jackson (Wolf Knickerbocker, Matt Cooper, Trent Rutherford, Trent Sizemore) 1:37.73

1,600 -- 1. Tyson Stoverink (J) 4:33.59; 2. Roy Leighton (CC) 4:33.83; 3. Wynn McClellan (ND) 4:36.70; 4. Brandon Shemonia (SC) 4:38.03; 7. Adam Brown (J) 4:50.34; 8. Ryan Johnson (ND) 4:54.63

400 relay -- 5. Scott City 46.69; 6. Notre Dame 46.84; T-7. Jackson (Cooper, Knickerbocker, Rutherford, Sizemore) 47.13

400 -- 1. Shell (ER) 49.78; 3. Brannen Wright (J) 51.0; 7. J. Howard (CC) 54.06; 8. Dillon Blaylock (J) 54.83

300 hurdles -- 3. McElmurry (CC) 42.02; 3. Essner (ND) 42.38; 6. Desmond Howard (CC) 45.14; 7. Wade Keesee (SC) 46.0; 8. Schapper (J) 46.73

800 -- 1. Stoverink (J) 2:05.49; 3. Zack Taylor (J) 2:06.33; 5. Cody Moore (ND) 2:09.26; 6. Ethan Holcomb (ND) 2:10.23

200 -- 2. Wright (J) 22.80; 3. Shell (ER) 22.90

3,200 -- 1. McClellan (ND) 9:54.06; 2. Shemonia (SC) 10:04.75; 3. Leighton (CC) 10:12.17; 6. Talput (J) 10:33.93; 7. David Willems (ND) 10:45.70

1,600 relay -- 3. Jackson (Blaylock, Stoverink, Taylor, Wright) 3:34.90; 6. Central (J. Howard, Martin, McElmurry, D. Howard) 3:40.07; 8. Scott City 3:44.36

Pole vault -- 1. Raymond Woldvedt (CC) 14-0; 2. Matt Deischer (CC) 13-6; 5. Joe Froemsdorf (ND) 13-0; 7. Chris Reed (J) 12-6

High jumps -- 1. Grant Eudy (ND) 6-4; 6. James Lane (CC) 5-10

Long jump -- 1. Blake Smith (J) 21-4 3/4; 4. Wright (J) 19-11 1/4

Triple jump -- 2. Martin (CC) 42-5 1/2; 7. Smith (J) 39-3; 8. Dustin Hutson (ND) 39-1 1/4

Shot put -- 2. Alex Collier (J) 45-4; 4. Zach Horrell (CC) 44-8; 5. Alex Eichhorn (SC) 43-2 1/4; 7. Ben Rushin (J) 41-9; 8. Austin Tapley (SC) 41-0

Discus -- 1. Horrell (CC) 148-11; 7. Rushin (J) 123-10