JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. • The end of one of the most storied Missouri prep track and field careers came to an unexpected end Saturday.
Penney’s Lindsay Vollmer was on pace to earn her record-tying 12th gold medal when she came up just short in her final high school event. Vollmer had already captured first place in the long jump and both hurdle races, but she went out of the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches and took third.
“I’m always disappointed I didn’t go out there and do what I wanted to,” Vollmer said. “But I still got a medal for the team points, for that team championship.”
Vollmer’s 36 points, coupled with Elsie Greenwood’s fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles, gave Penney enough team points to capture the Class 2 title for the second consecutive season.
Vollmer, who will run at the University of Kansas next year, started her senior state meet with a long jump title Friday with a leap of 18-1. She cruised to victories in the hurdles, winning the 100 in 14.36 and the 300 in 44.68. Vollmer set the Class 2 record in the 300 at 43.68 in 2010, but she didn’t take down any records on her way out.
“In the back of my mind, it’s always you want those records, but I knew I needed to go out there and win it, and that was my goal,” Vollmer said. “I still had the high jump, so I didn’t want to exactly exert all my energy because I knew I still had to get those big jumps.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It seems like next week I’m still going to be going to high school and practicing track, but it’s not. It’s going to have to sink in enough to get ready for college.”
A DEVILISH THIRD
Maplewood-Richmond Heights was grabbing points in bunches Saturday, and the Blue Devils cruised to their third consecutive Class 2 title with 104 points – 54 points ahead of second-place Principia.
Maplewood won all three sprint relays, but it was Blue Devils ability to gut out multiple points in events. Marcus Taylor and Eric Liska went 1-2 in the 400-meter dash, Taylor and Bobby Norful were first and fourth, respectively, in the 200, and Nick Coulter and Cortez Cooper went first and third, respectively, in the long jump. Coulter was also fourth in the triple jump, and Maplewood’s Marcus Daily added a third-place finish in the shot put.
And those field events were a welcome addition to the way the Blue Devils have grown accustomed to scoring.
“We used to just win off the relays, but now I’ve got throwers, I’m double dipping with the jumps, so we’re becoming more of a program,” Maplewood coach Brandon Gregory said. “I’m getting the kids in the school to come out, and it’s up to me as a coach to put them in the position to make all of us be successful.”
Norful fought his way to a second-place finish in the 100, but in the 400-meter relay, he turned his ankle when he stepped on the back of Antonio King’s foot during the exchange. Maplewood still set a new Class 2 record in the event at 42.64, but Norful was slightly hobbled.
Norful came back in the 200 and found a way to take fourth.
“A kid like Bobby, I remember a couple years ago he would’ve been tapped out and done, so for him to compete and figure out a way to get it done, his fourth place, I’m proud of that,” Gregory said.
ONE BECOMES FOUR
Wheaton junior Bubba Galvan got a taste of state meet success when he won the Class 1 long jump as a sophomore with a 21-4 ½. He came back as a junior and not only won the long jump (21-10 ½), but he added victories in the triple jump (43-9), 110-meter hurdles (15.29) and 300-hurdles (40.58).
Most of the day, Galvan’s events stacked on top of each other. As soon as he finished the long jump, he was off to compete in the 110s.
“Usually I do the hurdles first and then the long jump, but I think the long helped me out today,” Galvan said. “I got a lot better time than I have during the regular season.”
Then the triple jump merged with the 300 hurdles.
“It felt good. I didn’t need a break because I was warmed up,” Galvan said.
Galvan said he will target the record in the 300 hurdles next year now that he already has won four events at one state meet.
“I just like it because you can pace yourself and it’s not a dead sprint like the 110s,” he said.
BACK AGAIN
St. Joseph Christian’s Alexa Taff has struggled with shin splints most of the season, but she didn’t let them get in the way of winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes for her third consecutive Class 1 state meet. Taff was all smiles after her 12.40 earned her first in the 100 again.
“It was probably my biggest accomplishment of the day,” Taff said. “I haven’t had the times that I used to, and today’s times was probably one of the best times I’ve ever run, so that was encouraging.”
Taff won the 200 in 26.10, and she was second in the 400 (58.95) to Slater’s Ana Jackson after winning the event as a sophomore.
“With 50 meters left I was tightening up,” Taff said of her 400 race. “I could definitely feel it, and all of a sudden I couldn’t stay with her anymore.”
Because of the challenge that the 400 presents, Taff has targeted a lofty time of 56 seconds for next year as well as another individual title in the event.
“Winning the 400 next year is my biggest thing,” Taff said.
WORTH IT
Eli Mullock, a Worth County junior, got the early confirmation of his new Class 1 100-meter dash record from his older brother Alex, who could be heard above the din from the stands. Alex was the 2008 800-meter champion for Worth County.
Eli exploded out of the blocks to gain a quick lead and led the entire race to win in 11.01. He beat the 1996 record of 11.03 set by Robert Parker of the Missouri School for the Deaf.
“When I took off, I realized I got a good start out, and I think that really helped push me a lot,” Eli said.
Eli also won the 200 in 22.62.