A Springfield star continues to light up the distance world, while a Dora sprinter now owns five state gold medals for her career.
All that, and more, from Day 2 of the Class 1 track and field championships in Jefferson City.
Workman adds a third Class record, NCA girls take 2nd
Don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke.
That thought was running through the head of New Covenant Academy’s Claire Workman as she prepared for the 3200.
Workman kept her composure – and breakfast – before running a record-setting 10:53.38 to win the event by 32 seconds. Workman’s time shatters the old Class 1 record of 11:30.58 set in 2010 by Midway’s Mackenzie Weis.
PHOTOS: CLASS 1 STATE TRACK DAY 2
“Going into this race, I was kind of more concerned with just finishing because I was so nervous for it. I was feeling sick, I was like, ‘I hope I just don’t vomit on the track or something,’” said Workman, who now owns all three Class 1 distance (800, 1600 & 3200) records. “I was very concerned about that and not so much about what I was going to do in the race. Once I got going, I kind of got in that pace and was ready to go.”
Aiding Workman’s time was one runner taking an aggressive early pace. Workman, a two-time defending champ in the event, trailed for the first two laps before taking the lead for good.
“The other girl led the first two laps and kind of got me focused and ready to go at a faster pace than I probably would have chosen,” Workman said. “When she came up, I was a little anxious about going with her immediately, but I built my confidence in my second lap, set my pace and was ready to go.”
To their credit, the second- and third-place finishers in the 3200 – Liberal junior Alexys Barton and NCA junior Claire McCune – also had impressive showings. Barton and McCune joined Workman in topping the previous Class 1 record, Barton clocking in at 11:25.70 and McCune at 11:30.38.
NCA’s Katie McCune finished fourth (11:54.90). The Workman, K. McCune and C. McCune trio along with sophomore Cassilyn Enyart won the opening 4×800 relay on Saturday, finishing in 9:54.15.
The NCA girls fell five points shy of a repeat Class 1 state championship as Mound City (72.5 points) edged the Warriors (68 points) for first place.
Workman now owns the Class 1 state record times for the 800, 1600 and 3200. She maintains she never makes it a point to “run for a record.”
“I wanted to go faster, but I’m always tentative about setting a solid goal, so it was kind of in the back of my mind with something I wanted to do,’ Workman said. “I was kind of vaguely aware that the Class record was in something like the 11:20s or 11:30s, I thought, ‘If I could do that, that’d be great.’ I didn’t want to learn it, but it kind of came up by accident so I was like, ‘Well, now I know.’”
Gold, at last, for Jasper’s Royster
State’s been an always-the-bridesmaid, never-the-bride type of scenario for Jasper senior Lexie Royster.
That finally changed in the 4×200 on Saturday. Royster and relay mates Keylee McCutcheon, Brianna Cawyer and anchor Audra Etcheson took first place with a time of 1:48.68.
It marked the first gold medal for anyone in the all-senior foursome. In Royster’s case, it came after a slew of all-state finishes.
“It’s a little more amazing feeling than just being able to stand on the podium,” Royster said. “I mean, I’m grateful to even be on the podium with seven other amazing girls or just compete with 15 other amazing girls together, but to finally get that gold, it feels great.”
The 4×200 marked the second-to-last event of Royster’s career. Heading into it, she had accumulated six all-state finishes, but never a first-place finish.
Royster wanted to go with a bang in her final high school running event.
“That was our goal today: just run hard and keep it all on the track,” said Royster, who would finish her day with a 6th-place finish in the long jump. “It was my last running event with those girls and it was just a huge accomplishment. Our work paid off and that’s all that really matters. We put the work in and it paid off.”
After suffering a quad injury as a sophomore, Royster pleaded with her coach to join the 4×200 relay team this season.
All together, Royster qualified for 13 state events as an Eagle and accumulated eight all-state finishes.
Four of those eight all-state finishes came this weekend. In addition to winning the 4×200 relay, Royster was 6th in the triple jump, 5th in the long jump and 6th in the 100 hurdles.
College basketball is in Royster’s future. She’s headed to play at Central Methodist University in Fayette.
Tillack becomes Patriots’ first boys gold medalist
A day after Evie Carswell brought School of the Ozarks its first girls’ track and field individual state champion, Keaton Tillack followed suit on the boys’ side.
Tillack crossed the finish line in 15.38 seconds to win gold in the 110 hurdles. It’s the latest championship for Tillack, who helped the Patriots win a pair of basketball district titles during his career.
“The last couple of hurdles I smashed pretty hard,” Tillack said. “I knocked them over, but overall it was a good race.”
A few downed hurdles aside, it was one of three all-state finishes on the weekend for Tillack. He was 5th in the 300 hurdles and a member of the Patriots 8th place 4×400 relay.
“It’s pretty rewarding to be able to win (110 hurdles) as a senior,” Tillack said. “I want to definitely give all the glory to God because without Him, I wouldn’t be anything. All the glory’s to Him.”
Another notable performance for the Patriots on Saturday came from sophomore Andrew Lingner, who won the javelin exhibition with a throw of 148’04”.
Dora’s Vanatter wins 2 of 3 sprint events
Three gold medals last year put three targets on the back of Dora junior Ashlynn Vanatter heading into this season.
With all eyes on her in the Class 1 sprints, Vanatter showed she can still deliver, winning the 200 (26.23) and 400 (58.72). She also placed third in the 100 with a 12.92, an identical time from last year when she won the event.
“There’s definitely a lot of pressure this year, so much more than I thought there would be,” Vanatter said. “I just have to make myself relax. I have to let all that pressure go and realize I’m out here to have fun and that’s what I did. I’m just doing the best I can.”
With no track facilities at Dora High School, Vanatter said she trains on the school’s baseball field, then frequently drives over to West Plains High School for more work on the Zizzers’ track.
The hard work shows.
Vanatter posted improved times in the 200 (-.52) and 400 (-1.59) from her 2015 state showing. Saturday’s 400 time of 58.72 was the best of her career.
“You’re always a little disappointed if you don’t get all of them like the year before, but I ran a great race in the 100 and I’m not even a bit disappointed,” Vanatter said. “Coming out here in the 400 and PR’ing today, that’s just the greatest feeling ever.”
Thompson wins discus, Osceola boys finish 4th
The discus event was a local, two-man battle pitting Greenfield junior Jerrett Esposito against Osceola senior Merek Thompson.
Sitting in fifth heading into the finals, Thompson uncorked a throw of 150’07” on his first attempt, surpassing the leader (Esposito) and ultimately taking first place. Esposito (144’05”) finished second.
“The first flight, I kind of pressed too hard,” said Thompson, who placed second in Friday’s shot put. “Then in the finals, I just relaxed, let it come off and that won it.”
It was a much-improved state showing for Thompson, who took fourth at state in shot put last year but fouled on all three of his discus attempts despite entering that event with the No. 3 overall seed.
Thompson was one of eight all-state finishers on the weekend for the Indians, who took 4th place in the team standings with 46 points.
All-state finishers for Osceola were: the 4×100 (3rd), 4×200 (3rd) and 4×400 (4th) relays; Ryan Sommer (5th, 200); Zach Carney (7th pole vault, 4th 300 hurdles), and Eli Mitchell (7th, 100 dash).
Osceola’s success comes from the sprinting events, but Thompson still finds ways for motivation.
“We always have those runners and they’re always pushing me,” Thompson said. “Everyone just picks each other up. We have good team practices and get stuff done.”
Class 1 all-state notables
Locally, we had 121 all-state performances at Class 1 & 2 state track this weekend, including 90 on Saturday. Here’s a list of all-state performers in Class 1.
CLASS 1 ALL-STATE GIRLS
Claire Workman (New Covenant) – 1st in 3200
New Covenant – 1st in 4×800
Ashlynn Vanatter (Dora) – 1st in 400
Ashlynn Vanatter (Dora) – 1st in 200
Jasper – 1st in 4×200
Alexys Barton (Liberal) – 2nd in 3200
Claire McCune (New Covenant) – 3rd in 3200
Ashlynn Vanatter (Dora) – 3rd in 100 Dash
Rachel Lacey (Wheaton) – 3rd in Long Jump
Katie McCune (New Covenant) – 4th in 3200
Rachel Snyder (S of O) – 4th in 300 Hurdles
Audra Etheson (Jasper) – 4th in Pole Vault
Lexie Royster (Jasper) – 5th in Long Jump
Lexie Royster (Jasper) – 6th in 100 Hurdles
Audra Etcheson (Jasper) – 6th in 100 Dash
S of O – 7th in 4×400
Kayla Knifond (Crocker) – 8th in Long Jump
Breanna Aldridge (Appleton City) – 8th in Javelin
CLASS 1 ALL-STATE BOYS
Keaton Tillack (S of O) – 1st in 110 Hurdles
Marek Thompson (Osceola) – 1st in Discus
Andrew Lingner (S of O) – 1st in Javelin
Dustin Shoemaker (Humansville) – 2nd in 1600
Jerrett Esposito (Greenfield) – 2nd in Discus
Christian Reifschneider (S of O) – 3rd in Pole Vault
Osceola – 3rd in 4×200
Osceola – 3rd in 4×100
Zach Carney (Osceola) – 4th in 300 Hurdles
Teddy Lingner (S of O) – 4th in Triple Jump
Freddie Wieder (Humansville) – 4th in 400
Osceola – 4th in 4×400
Ryan Sommer (Osceola) – 5th in 200
Keaton Tillack (S of O) – 5th in 300 Hurdles
Teddy Lingner (S of O) – 5th in 110 Hurdles
Mathias Pederson (Hermitage) – 5th in 400
Jacob Self (S of O) – 6th in Pole Vault
Dillon Meyer (Hermitage) – 6th in 800
Freddie Wieder (Humansville) – 6th in 200
Evan Mitts (Appleton City) – 7th in 800
Zach Carney (Osceola) – 7th in Pole Vault
Hunter Fogler (Humansville) – 7th in Javelin
Eli Mitchell (Osceola) – 7th in 100 Dash
Nick Bales (Appleton City) – 8th in Javelin
Evan Smith (Chadwick) – 8th in 1600
S of O – 8th in 4×400
