Zalma athletes shoot for school records in Chaffee Invite

There are small schools, and then there's Zalma.

The Woodland boys' team and Kelly girls' team took first place in the Chaffee Red Devils Invitational on Wednesday in Chaffee, while Zalma brought just enough athletes to run a relay team.

Winning track meets as a team is a numbers game. So while that is always virtually out of reach for the Bulldogs, they still find a way to make an impact in the meet with the small numbers they have.

Quantity is not an option for the Bulldogs, so quality became the name of the game. These meets are also opportunities for the current crop of athletes to etch their names in Zalma history, as some have already done.

Sophomore Nekoda Burnett, who holds the school record in the girls' javelin also set a new school record in the girls' 100-meter dash.

"It's really neat to see a kid be able to break a school record," Zalma coach Dwyght Ford said. "We got a little poster up that's got all of the school records, and everybody's trying to shoot for a school record. That's their drive, that's their motivation."

Junior Carson Gaddy, who holds the school record in the boys' javelin, set a new personal record at 32.61 meters, while also competing in the long jump, the 4x400-meter relay, and setting a new PR in the 100-meter dash.

"It's not really normal," Ford said, "but with a small school when you got so many athletes, the more events we can put them in the better. And he's willing to do whatever."

Senior Eli Ford finished second in the boys' 800-meter with a time of 2:18 and also set a personal record in the mile with a time of 5:10 while finishing in second place. His goal is to catch his older brother, Peyton Ford for the school record.

"I'm close," he said, "but I'm not there yet."

While Eli continues to pursue Peyton's records, he has surpassed him by committing to play both baseball and run track at Fontbonne, a D3 college program in St. Louis.

"I think he's the first one from Zalma to ever do two sports in college," Ford said.

Eli is already preparing for that by playing baseball at Advance, which has consolidated with Zalma this spring. Advance is close to Zalma and Bell City, which does the same thing for girls' basketball and softball, making it easier for him to balance the two sports.

"He grew up playing baseball with these kids from Advance," Ford said. "They have really been very welcoming and having him come over, they treat him just like one of them."

Since Eli is a senior, this will be the last year Ford coaches his sons, ending a long era in Zalma track.

"It's meant a lot to be able to be at Zalma for as long as I've been there and to be able to coach both of my kids coming through," Ford said. "To be able to be there and watch them compete and grow as athletes and see the strides that they make, it's really been a blessing to be able to do that."

Ford doesn't have any future place after his youngest son's graduation, other than follow him to his next endeavor.

"I want to go watch him as much as I can," Ford said. "Whether it's cross country or baseball in the fall or spring, I want to be able to go watch him as much as I can."

For now, there is hope and anticipation that much of Zalma's small forces finish their season in the Class 1 state championships, including a return for senior Montana Smith, who has the school record in the girls' discus.

"She went to state last year and there's a good chance she'll go again this year," Ford said.

__The following athletes finished in first place__

__Woodland__

Jarid Frymire - high jump - 5-10.75

Boys 4x800 - 9:02.82

Girls 4x400 - 4:48.94

Colby Miller - 300m hurdles - 46.17

Calvin Layton - 3200m - 10:34.18

Reed Layton - 1600m - 4:49.06

Hayden Vangennip - 800m - 2:13.48

Harlie Hinkle - shotput - 30-01.50

Hannah Vawter - 300m hurdles - 55.88

Sarah Wilkinson - 800m - 2:44.22

__Kelly__

Morgan Merrick - 1600m - 6:16

Carlee Ray - 100m hurdles - 17.81

Girls 4x800 - 11:41

Savannah Barnhouse - javelin - 105-06.50

Ethan Graham - 110m hurdles - 16.05

Skyler Still - javelin - 157-03.5

__Chaffee__

Blake Yarbro - shotput - 44-03.5

__Scott County Central__

Alysa Adams - high jump - 4-07

Namarius Warren - 400m - 53.62

__Delta__

Emma Walter - Discus - 81-06

__Malden__

Khyrie Mathies - 100m - 13.42

Girls 4x100 - 54.12

Girls 4x200 - 1:57.12

Boys 4x200 - 1:34.98

Courteria Criglar - triple jump - 30-05.75

Tristin Moncrief - triple jump - 38-09.75

__Hayti__

Elijah Burnett - 100m - 11.16

Jordan Payne - 200m - 23.10

Boys 4x100 - 44.22

Boys 4x400

__Bell City__

Eliana Bowling - 400m - 1:10.70

Eliana Bowling - long jump - 12-02

Eliana Bowling - 200m - 29.28

Bo Lacy - discus - 140-02

__East Prairie__

Connor Marcum - long jump - 16-08.75

__The following athletes were the highest finishers in their school__

__Charleston__

Gabriell White - triple jump - 25-02 - 3rd

Brown Logan - 3200m - 11:57 - 3rd

__Zalma__

Elijah Ford - 800m - 2:18.54

Elijah Ford - 1600m - 5:10.23

__Oran__

Ryan Burke - 1600m - 5:18.45 - 3rd

__Richland (Essex)__

Lucas Cline - 300m hurdles - 48.0 - 3rd