JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Lee’s Summit North picked the right time to put together a perfect track day.
The Broncos scored in events throughout the day to capture the Class 4 girls’ title with 58 points and deny rival Lee’s Summit West of repeating. West finished as the runner-up with 47 points. “We scored in eight of the 12 events, and it wasn’t a seventh or eighth. It was two through six, and our relays really excelled,” North coach Ed Brill said. “It was a cumulative effort.”
Brill pointed out several personal best efforts that helped the Broncos tally points. “Our high jumper jumps out of her mind, triple jumper PR’s today, freshman pole vaulter – she PR’d, 4x4 ran the best time of the year, 4x8 best time of the year, 4x1 best time of the year,” Brill said. “Everything came together perfectly.”
While the depth continued to pad points, Madison Smith and Remy Abrought scored the big points in the hurdles. The duo went 1-2 in the 100-meter hurdles in a repeat performance of last year’s finish with a 14.38 and a 14.41, respectively. “I practice with Remy every day, so I know what she’s capable of,” Smith said. “I knew it was going to be close. It’s always neck-and-neck. It’s no fun just running by yourself, so having someone right with you every day in practice makes us both better.”
Smith came back in the 300 and finished second to Parkway West’s Nicole Douglas with a time of 44.03, which gave the Broncos 26 of their points from the two hurdle races.
A COMMITMENT REALIZED
When MICDS took sixth place at the state meet last year, the team made a commitment on the bus ride home that 2011 would be different.
That pledge came to fruition Saturday as the Rams captured the Class 3 girls’ title with 71 points. Festus was the runner-up with 45, and Lincoln College Prep took third with 36. “They were very determined after we left last year to make sure that this year we weren’t going to leave without a trophy,” MICDS coach Jim Lohr said. “We didn’t know if we could win or not, but we knew we could be better than we were.”
The Rams were able to do it with balance, scoring in 10 events, including senior Lauren Waterbury’s contribution of 40 points to the team’s effort with victories in the long jump, the 200, the 400 and as the anchor on the 800-meter relay.“She’s really the glue of our team,” Lohr said. “Although she won her four events, she’s the girl that everyone in practice looks to for leadership and compares themselves to. She’s give everyone hope.
After a long second day of the state meet, Waterbury did not show any signs of fatigue as she pulled away in the 400 meters to win by more than a second with a 55.43. “I could definitely feel it the last 100 that I was getting tired, but my coach always tells me to pull up my hips and power through it,” said Waterbury of her push through her final event. “It’s my second-best time ever, but I just started running it last summer.”
A NARROW REPEAT
Hazelwood Central captured the boys Class 4 title for the second year in a row. The title was still up for grabs heading into the final event, and the Hawks left nothing to chance by rolling to the 1,600-meter relay victory in 3:17.61. “Winning state one time is hard enough, but going back-to-back … these kids have all kinds of heart,” Central coach Rich Copenhaver said. “We didn’t have the best day (Friday); we didn’t qualify everybody through that we thought.
“We slid things under their doors last night that said, ‘We will not lose.’ We got all the points together from the first day, and it showed us in second, and it was the topic of conversation at breakfast. These kids don’t want to lose, and it shows.”
Senior Michael Hester won his third team title as he earned one with Hazelwood East as a sophomore before transferring. His talents on the track, along with his leadership, were vital to the Hawks repeating. “He’s got the biggest heart of anybody I know,” Copenhaver said. “He’s huge. Like the kids say, he’s a beast. He comes out and takes care of business. It’s going to be hard to replace him next year.”
A GRAND VIEW FROM ATOP THE PODIUM
Grandview secured the boys Class 3 title with 75 points to edge Berkeley’s 66. “We ended last year young and had a lot of guys on the outside looking in,” Grandview coach Andy Leech said. “We knew we wanted to peak here, and that’s exactly what happened. We PR’d in nearly every event all weekend long.”
The Bulldogs had just two event champions – senior Romey Reaws in the pole vault and junior Dapo Akinmoladun in the 300 hurdles. “It was close, and I was just trying to stay focused,” said Reaws, who cleared 14 feet, 6 inches on his first trip to the state meet. “It feels like so much pressure builds up on you.”
That performance had Leech smiling long after the events concluded.
“For me, that was the highlight of the whole meet,” Leech said. “He was seeded fourth, and to win it was awesome. He broke the school record on his final jump. It was his third attempt, and that was gutsy.”
It was the team’s overall depth that catapulted the Bulldogs to the top. Grandview garnered points in eight events, including four runner-up finishes.
SCHOOL’S FIRSTS
When Nerinx Hall’s Colleen Quigley broke through for her first individual title in Friday’s Class 4 3,200, she became the Markers’ first track champion in school history.
Quigley added a 1,600 title to her name Saturday with a time of 4:52.17. Her 3,200 time of 10:27.62 was the third-fastest in state history. Her 1,600 time the ninth fastest. “It’s just the beginning of it,” Quigley said. “We had a lot of freshmen out this year in cross country that are really stellar, and they’re doing track and summer running with us, and I can see them taking us to who knows a state championship in cross country in a couple years. I’m glad to pave the road for them.”
Junior sprinter Peyton Chaney didn’t take long to give Nerinx Hall its second state title holder when she won the 200 in 24.54. “I’m so excited, especially for our school because we don’t have that much track and field,” said Chaney, the younger sister of former SLUH sprint standout Paul Chaney. “(Paul) sent me a text before the 200. He was like, ‘Just get out on that curve and stay relaxed coming home.’ I did, and I won.”
The duo combined to give the Markers 42 points, which was enough for third place.
BEST FOR LAST
Festus junior Drew White unleashed his best 3,200-meter run at the Class 3 state meet, knocking 20 seconds off his previous fastest time to win in 9:16.83.
White was shadowed by Westminster’s David Everett for most of the race, but with 300 meters to go, White started his kick and pulled away for the win. “The 300 part is very hard to run,” said White, who pushed the pace throughout. “If it was a lot tighter and if I wasn’t running fast, I believe David would’ve outkicked me. He ran 4:12 in the mile.”
White said his time goal coming in was a 9:16, and he did it by running nearly even splits. “I had to keep working every lap to pick up the pace, or seem like I’m picking up the pace even though I’m probably not and just running the same speed,” White said.
A SCARRED CAREER
Summit’s Daniel Mazar had the road rash across his chin as a reminder of his close finish in Friday’s Class 4 1,600-meter run when Holt’s Kenny Cushing edged Mazar at the stripe and the contact between the two sent Mazar sprawling.
The fall had no effect on Mazar’s ability to crank out another fast 800, which he won in 1:52.26. But Mazar wants even more out of the race. “I definitely want to break the 1:50; I was really disappointed with today actually,” Mazar said.
The skinned chin could not match the scars Mazar had to overcome from his junior season at Edwardsville, Ill. He had personal reasons to post leave a mark on the Missouri state meet since he felt a little cheated by injury last year. "A month before state I fractured my leg, and I swam in a pool for a month and only ran the state meet,” Mazar said of his last season in Illinois. “At prelims I had a 1:53, and at finals the next day I had a 20 meter lead with 200 left. I snapped my leg and hobbled in for sixth place.”
Mazar then spent the whole summer in a boot and didn’t get to begin training for cross country until a week after school began. He still managed to place eighth at the state cross country meet last fall.
“It was a really slow recovery,” said Mazar, who will continue his career at the University of Oklahoma. “I watched a lot of my videos that I raced in, and I just kept swimming in a pool and doing aerobic stuff that wouldn’t affect my leg.”
DISCUS DUO
Hannibal junior Jacob Crenshaw won the Class 3 discus with a throw of 152-11. And while that did not surpass his season-best mark, he was just as excited about sharing the medal stand with teammate Connor Brown.
“Last year I placed eighth with a 141, so I jumped up 11 feet from last state which is really good,” said Crenshaw, who owns a personal-record of 164-1. “It made me want to strive to get first and be a state champion. I learned the focus aspect of state. “Having another teammate that can throw well, it makes me happy and want to perform at a high level.”
Brown finished seventh with a toss of 143-8, which he credited to working alongside Crenshaw all season.
“He’s just another coach,” Brown said. “If you get to warm-up with him, getting to do everything with him, it’s just too good to be true.”