Zimmer aids ND relay with one good leg

~ The Bulldogs' 3,200 relay team was among Saturday's sectional qualifiers.

Notre Dame junior Mark Zimmer was a state qualifier last year in the 400 meters.

This year, he's just happy to have survived the district meet.

"After the surgery, I didn't know if I'd get out of districts," Zimmer said Saturday after qualifying for the Class 3 sectional with a fourth-place finish in the 400.

The surgery on Zimmer's left knee followed an injury in the Class 2 boys soccer district final, which Notre Dame won on its way to the state championship.

"I still don't think he's totally healthy," Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said. "One leg is bigger than the other because of the lack of work on it.

"He doesn't say a lot, but he's a fabulous kid, and he has a great work ethic."

Zimmer also joined with John Unterreiner, Ricky Harrington and Blake Kirkpatrick to capture the meet-ending 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3 minutes, 33.16 seconds. Kirkpatrick, the birthday boy Saturday, took the baton for the final leg in third place.

"That's a pretty good birthday present," said Zimmer, who ran the first leg. "Blake ran a great last leg."

That was the only first-place finish of the day for the Bulldogs, who were shut out of sectional qualifying for the girls with no top-four finishes.

Notre Dame finished fifth in the boys with 53 points, and was 10th in the girls with 22.

Perryville was eighth in the boys with a first-place finish in the 400 meters from Kris Cottner and a first in the 400 relay.

The Perryville girls placed fourth, as Brittney Castleberry won three events and qualified for the sectional in four. Cassie Lawrence added two top-four showings.

Davis called the field a mini state meet, particularly in the boys distance races. Potosi grabbed the first five places in the boys 3,200, the top four in the 1,600 and the top two in the 800 and used that dominance to capture the team championship. Farmington, which came down from Class 4 this year, finished second with Sikeston two points back in third.

Festus won the girls title.

"This is just such a tremendous group of athletes," Davis said. "It's traditionally one of the strongest Class 3 districts in Missouri, and this year I think it was the strongest."

Added Zimmer: "I think it was tougher than last year."

He finished the 400 in 51.84, a little more than a second behind Cottner's 50.79, and just ahead of teammate Kirkpatrick's 52.31, which came in the heat for those not seeded in the top eight.

Notre Dame's 1,600 team made up for a just-miss fifth-place finish by the 3,200 relay unit to open the meet.

"We came in seeded fourth with a very young group, two sophomores and two juniors," Davis said. "We talked about stepping up and having a good race here."

Kirkpatrick helped the Bulldogs run down Sikeston, which finished second in 3:34.71 after taking a 25-yard lead into the anchor leg.

Perryville's girls team relied on veterans for its fourth-place finish, as seniors Castleberry and Lawrence extended their seasons in typical fashion.

Castleberry won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.32, added the 300 crown in 47.95 and won the long jump with a school record of 16 feet, 7 inches. After completing the 300 hurdles, she returned to the jumping pits and grabbed a spot in the sectional with a fourth-place finish of 32-9 3/4 in the triple jump.

"This is her first year jumping," Perryville coach Tim Steffens said, "She's a tough competitor. She works extra hard because she does three skills -- hurdles, long jump and triple jump -- and not just running. She has to take time for each one in practice."

Lawrence also has come a long way after three fifth-place finishes in the district last year.

She finished second in the triple jump with a jump of 33-7 3/4 and fourth in the pole vault by clearing 9-0.

The top four finishers from the district will go the sectional at Farmington on Saturday, with the top four finishers from that meet going to state.