Several area teams, individuals dominate at Class 2 sectional

While several athletes failed to qualify for advancement in the Class 2 sectional track meet at Mt. Vernon High School on Saturday, many area individuals did.

Team-wise, the defending state champion Skyline boys had five top finishes, three silvers, one bronze and three fourth-place qualifying performances for a total of 113 points.

Skyline head coach Brandon Shelby said, “We’re really blessed to have a really talented group of kids. They’ve been running well and this is our last hoo-rah, so hopefully we’ll finish it up the right way.”  

CLICK HERE FOR SECTIONAL RESULTS — CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Richard Berry, Shawn Bryan, Dylan Mountain and Tyler Swearingin topped the 4×100 relay with a time of 44.22.

Swearingin, a freshman, also took first in the 100 meter dash at 11.19 and fourth in the pole vaulting at 11-00.

Senior Madison Davis placed first in both the 200 and 400 meter dash events with times of 49.64 and 22.36, respectively.

Mountain topped the 300 meter hurdles with 40.19 and came in second in the 110 at 15.29.

Second-place was awarded to Skyline’s 4×400 relay team of Bryan, Davis, Josh Dansby and Freddy Reiss (3:35.12).

Bryan also placed second in the triple jump at 41-01.25 and fourth in the long jump at 20.01.50.

Sophomore Caleb Crawford also contributed to Skyline’s team win with his performances in the shot put and discus events (454-05.25 and 133-00, respectively).

“A lot of things are going to have to fall into place for us,” Shelby said. “We performed well today. We had a little mix-up in the 4×200 and we got disqualified. But other than that the guys performed really well thus far. We’re excited about the opportunity.”

As for the Class 2 girls, Ash Grove topped 19 teams with a total of 103 points behind three first-place relay team victories.

Morgan Allred, Mallory Keith, Ashley Rolewicz and Kayla Keene placed first in the 4×200 with a time of 1:51.76.

Allred, Keith, Keene and Alexa Owens were clocked at 52.85 in the 4×100.

And Allred, Keith, Rolewicz and Melanie Hall finished the 4×400 with a time of 4:17.83.

The 4×800 relay team of Melanie Hall, Erin Hall, Stefani Duncan and Kylynn Thompson took third.

Keene also earned a gold in the 100 meter dash, clocked at 13.15 seconds, and she qualified (fourth) in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.72.

Keith, a junior, also placed second in the 400 meter dash (1:02.64).

Hall also individually placed third and second in the 1600 and 3200, respectively.

Sydnee Cashio also contributed to the team’s win with second-place in shot put (37-01.25).
 

He may be a high jump star, but he also has a knack for sprinting.

Sarcoxie’s Lath Kisling picked up an unexpected silver medal in one of his favorite events, the 200 meter dash.

To make his upset even better, he also beat College Heights Christian’s Jonathan Johnson, a season-long competitor who was seeded third.

“I’ve never ran a 200 even close to as fast as I did today,” Kisling said with a smile.  “Today, that 200 was my biggest accomplishment. I’ve been trying to beat him all year and I finally got it.”

But Kisling wasn’t finished performing just yet. Immediately after the race, he needed to knock out the high jump.

Despite some energy lost, Kisling placed first at a height of 6-foot-6.

“I felt pretty good today,” he said. “I felt like I could’ve gone to 6-foot-10 or 7-feet today, but it is what it is. I’ve still got state to do it.”

The senior also took top honors in both the long and triple jump events at 21-06 and 45-00.50, respectively.

Kisling said, “Really, this year my biggest goal is to get four golds and just love it. This next week will be my last high school meet ever in my life. I guess I’ll wait until college to do anything else.”

Kisling will continue his track successes at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, where he thinks he will do all three jumping events.
 

There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, especially when it’s with friends.

The Class 2 trio, made up of Crane’s Joe Stock, Sparta’s Tristan Eaton and Morrisville’s Keaton Wheeler, all push each other to do their best in the lengthy races.

Stock said, “It’s always good to have competition. Whether it’s at your conference meet, or it’s at the state level, the competition is amazing, especially when you have people like Tristan and Keaton to compete with. It’s not that competition where you’re racing and then afterwards you hate each other. It’s all good because you’re friends. We’re buds.”

The trio raced together in the 1600 and 3200, which both resulted in first-place finishes from Stock.

Eaton came in second in the 1600 and third in the 3200, while Keaton placed fourth and second in those events, respectively.

“At first I didn’t like Tristan very much,” Stock said jokingly with Tristan by his side. “He beat me at everything. But then last year we just started trading on and off and it got to the point where we were like, ‘This is fun.’”

Feeling “10-times more confident” than he did last year, Stock is nervous, but ready to continue competing.

Stock said, “I’m nervous, but at the same time it’s more of a, ‘Yeah, I get to go to state. I get to run. I get to compete against the top dogs.’ So it makes you nervous, but at the same time it also gives you a sense of achievement because you get to run with the best.”

He added, “I’ve had a lot of practice over the last year, over the summer and winter training. Also, just being able to go to state last year and do so well, it just gives you that mental peak that you have above others.”

Stock topped the 3200 in 2015 and was runner-up in the 1600.
 

After taking her junior year off from the sport of track and field to focus strictly on basketball, Crane’s Lexie Vaught is returning in her final year as a Pirate.

Aside from changing her focus last season, she was also hoping to heal from a leg problem.

“I only have two arteries in my legs,” Vaught said. “A normal person has three. So they cramp up a lot faster than normal people. I thought maybe taking a break off of track would help heal them.”

Individually, Vaught qualified in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:30.23 and ran on three Crane relay teams that also qualified for state.

Crane was runner-up in the 4×100, third in the 4×400 and fourth in the 4×200.

 “That relay wasn’t our prettiest,” Vaught said, referring to the 4×200. “It was by far our worst, but I hope we’ll get it together before state.”

With the disadvantage of Crane High School not having a track, efficient hand offs could be a challenge for the Lady Pirates at the state meet.

With confidence, Vaught said, “We’ll get it together.”