ST. PETERS, Mo. – Viburnum captured the Class 1 District 1 title Saturday at Lutheran St. Charles despite not having an overly large team.
The 12-man Blue Jays squad tallied 118 points to secure the district title.
“I think our team as a whole did pretty well actually. No one really expected us, but us as a team we kind of knew we’d do well,” Viburnum senior Charles Trent Davis said. “It’s a big deal. As a freshman, one of my main goals as an athlete was to get a banner on our wall by any means, and to be all-state, all-district, all-sectional, that’s just perks with it. The main thing is representing our school and bringing home that banner.”
Davis bolstered the team’s points with victories in the high jump and the 300-meter hurdles. He entered the high jump seeded 6 feet, 2 inches, but he couldn’t manage to clear the bar cleanly at 6-0. Locked in a dual with Scott County’s Cameron Blissett, Davis managed to win the jump off by clearing 5-11.
“For some reason I wasn’t kicking my feet and couldn’t get six foot,” Davis said. “I usually get that though. But I still won and I’m not complaining. (It’s just advancing) and getting points for our team.”
After taking third place in the 100-meter dash (12.00) and running a leg on the runner-up 400 relay (48.47), Davis finished his day with the 300-meter hurdles victory (42.81).
Chamois was district runner-up with 95 points, Clopton was third (90) and New Haven fourth (84).
Seth Schenck had a busy day helping New Haven amass its points. He won the 1,600 (4:31.43), which was a near-identical time as his seed mark from last week’s conference meet. He followed that with a victory in the 800 (2:00.58). He also ran legs on the winning 3,200 relay (8:28.53) and 1,600 relay (3:43.76).
“I’m glad I was able to be part of all those relays too,” Schenck said. “Our relays are pretty good. It makes it more fun, and it’s harder to do. Everyone likes a challenge.
“My coach actually told me today to go as hard as you can and try to get the best times you can because it’s just going to help you next week for sectionals. I mean you can always recover during the week. I didn’t really hold anything back at all.”
Now Schenck knows he has a bigger challenge ahead of him at the Class 1 Sectional 1 meet at Principia. Schenck will square off against La Plata junior Seth Brown, who won District 2 in 4:43.27, but owns a season-best time of 4:28.34.
Schenck said the two have not raced this spring, and he’s only vaguely familiar with Brown from cross country and last year’s state meet. Without knowing Brown’s strategy, Schenck said he’ll be prepared for anything.
“Last year was the first time I really saw him in track, and I didn’t really have the experience because last year was my first year in track,” Schenck said. “It helps having the knowledge of how somebody is going to go out. It helps you plan for the race. You have to know they’re going to have some kind of kick and prepare for that and just go out and leave it all on the track.”
Brown won last year’s 1,600 state final matchup with a 4:28.86 to Schenck’s 4:30.49. Brown won the state 3,200 last year and is also the defending Class 1 cross country champion. Schenck finished ninth at the state cross country meet.
The New Haven girls found points all over the track, winning the girls’ district title with 150 points. McKinley Classical Leadership was second with 77, and Chamois third with 76.
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The Shamrocks won four events, including the 1-2 finish in the 400-meter dash by Taylor Covington (1:02.62) and Molly Munsinger (1:04.11).
Silex freshman Elly Boothe had a busy day, especially as the meet was just getting underway.
In back-to-back events, Boothe won the 100-meter hurdles (17.71) and the 100-meter dash (13.44).
“It’s getting easier as I go. I just pace myself and catch my breath when I get done,” Boothe said. “I try to give all I’ve got all the way through.
“I didn’t know I’d do this well at the beginning of the year, so I’m proud of myself. This is my first time (running track) ever. My mom’s kind of a coach, and she pushed me to do it more since she’s not just another coach, and she thought I had enough endurance to do it.”
During the early session, Boothe cleared 4-7 in a jump off to take fourth in the high jump, and she finished out her day after a well-deserved break with a third-place finish in the 400 (1:04.31). She said the high jump seemed like a natural fit for her talents as a basketball player, but she opted for the longer 400 as opposed to the quick 200-meter dash because she liked the ability to finally pace herself.
“I tried the 200 at the beginning of the year and didn’t like it at all,” Boothe said. “It’s too much I felt like, and the 400 you can pace yourself more and get more of a breath.”