By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Jefferson City, Mo. — With a nearly six-hour rain delay and a tornado warning sandwiched in between, Saturday was a memorable and decorated day for area Class 3 schools at MSHSAA state track in Jefferson City. A look into top team and individual finishers is below.
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 BOYS RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 GIRLS RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 EARLY GALLERY (PRE-DELAY)
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 LATE GALLERY (POST-DELAY)
Reeds Spring Boys Earn Team Silver
Reeds Spring track and field has made a name for itself in southwest Missouri over the past few years. Now, that name has grown to the state level.
The Wolves boys finished two points shy of state champion John Burroughs this weekend, clinching a team state runner-up with 60 points.
“Going back to freshman year, wanting to put Reeds Spring on the map and wanting to leave our legacy on the school and doing it has been amazing,” Korey Robinette said. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”
The red and grey took first or second in the 200-meter dash (Robinette: 1st), 4×100 relay (Ransom Allphin, Colter Whitten, Keenan Haynes, Robinette: 1st), 100-meter dash (Robinette: 2nd), 110-meter hurdles (Allphin: 1st), and shot put (Xavier McDaniel: 1st) this weekend, in addition to two third-place finishes.
“These guys are incredible,” head coach Sofie Kondro said. “Everything they’ve done today (Saturday) is deserved and astonishing. Their 4×100 team going back-to-back was huge. I think we knew there was potential to finish pretty well but we were more focused on making sure they took care of each individual event and then see where we got from there.”
Now that Reeds Spring is on that proverbial map, Kondro hopes this tradition isn’t just a momentary one.
“It’s really cool. It’s a great recruitment tool for future kids,” she said. “I think sometimes when you look at track in the scope of sports, southwest Missouri doesn’t necessarily seem like a track area, but we are. We have lots of great teams down there and just having representation that brings that back says a lot about the sport and how it’s growing and is a compliment to our school system.”
Robinette took second in his first individual race of Saturday, the 100-meter dash, finishing (10.78) just behind Principia’s Corey Carter (10.69)
“I thought I had a good start, then about the last 30 meters, I could feel first day on my legs,” he said. “That’s when he started to pass me, but he deserved it all. I wanted to run a 10.6 this year, and I definitely accomplished that. Just being able to come out here and compete, and be one of the fastest in Class 3, that’s an incredible feeling.”
In the 200-meter dash, Robinette got a measure of revenge on Carter for both the present and past.
“The whole time I was focused on Corey Carter,” he said. “He beat me last year by .04 and I was just ready to get my revenge. I knew if I got a good corner coming out and I could stay strong on the backstretch I’d be able to get him, and I did.”
Allphin wrapped up 10 early Saturday points for the Wolves with a first-place 110-meter relay finish (14.42).
“It’s a good start,” he said after the event. “Just get those points up on the board. We want to get that title.”
Clark, Mauldin Both Claim Golds In The 400
The fastest boy and girl 400-meter sprinters in Class 3 both belong to Fair Grove.
Freshman Maddie Clark (58.69) took home girls gold and junior Isaac Mauldin (49.29) boys gold Saturday in the event, and Clark left with a bruise and scratches to prove it.
The promising freshman sprinter fell across the finish line during a hard lean. Turns out, that was the plan all along. Sort of.
“My coach told me that all I had to do to win was fall across the finish line, so I did it,” Clark said.
That first-place finish and ever-so-graceful fall to the top of the podium put all the pressure on Mauldin to put on a show of his own.
“I was thinking about diving across to get a school record,” he said. He didn’t. Taking home a pair of golds to Fair Grove will have to do.
“It’s pretty great. Now I get to post a picture on Instagram of me and her (as champions),” Mauldin said.
After taking his title, Mauldin stepped to the top of the podium and looks twice to the sky before gathering himself and accepting his gold.
“I was look up at my step mom,” Mauldin said. “She passed away when I was a freshman. She really had a big impact on my life. So I looked up and thanked her. And thanked God.”
Clark’s first-place came in a final made up completely of underclassmen with the exception of a junior.
“Honestly I really didn’t think this could happen,” Clark said of winning a state championship as a freshman. “I came in knowing I was a freshman and they’re way more educated than me in how to run it, but I just gave it my all and came out with a win.”
When asked what’s next, Clark’s mind was as far away as possible from the distant future.
“I want a milkshake,” she said.
Good. Good.
East Newton Adds To Memorable Season With Sorrell’s 800 Championship
Kinsey Sorrell continued to pile onto one of the most memorable years in East Newton girls track history Saturday.
The junior long-distance specialist claimed gold in the 800-meter run (2:20.02), finishing just over three tenths of a second ahead of Southern Boone’s Cassey Poole (2:20.35).
“Being up on the podium is amazing,” Sorrell said. “That’s just something I got to experience that not many people get to experience, and I was glad I got to.”
Earlier this month, Sorrell played a key role in the Patriots claiming their first girls district title in over two decades. The will she showed that weekend was there again down the stretch at state.
“While running I was tired and I was dead, but I knew this could be something big, so I went as hard as I could,” she said.
Beem, Mooney Go 1-2 In Girls Javelin For Lamar
Gold and silver javelin medals belong to a pair of Lamar throwers.
Cassidy Beem won Saturday’s state championship with a throw of 120-10 on her third throw of the evening. Katelyn Mooney followed just behind with a 118-08.
“That was awesome,” Beem said. “It was fun to just walk through it with her. Each throw we were cheering each other on and it really helped me relax. I’m so proud of her because she’s pushed me to get better, and I’ve pushed her, so it’s been fun.”
The two were pegged by coaches to have a shot at top two at state before the season even began, but that was a prediction that Beem and Mooney didn’t believe until it actually happened.
“I was like, ‘Oh maybe, whatever,’ and it actually happened,” Mooney said. “It’s awesome. I’m so happy. We did it.”
Kielhofner, Burns Follow Through On 1-2 Finish In 3,200
Stephen Kielhofner and Shane Burns had a plan. Go 1-2 in the 3,200 one last time.
With Burns graduating and Kielhofner at the top of his game, that was all but guaranteed. The Catholic junior and Strafford senior finished in 9:28.61 and 9:36.72. Gold and silver.
“The weird thing was I forgot to say 1-2 to him before the race,” Kielhofner said. “I guess he just kind of read my mind.”
The two will clearly miss the competition next year and, it seems, the banter.
“I’ve known Shane for a while,” Kielhofner said. “And he’s an awesome guy.”
“Steven is even awesomer, by the way,” Burns said.
Who’s to say. But as expected, Kielhofner leaves state track with a pair of golds.
Lucas Handily Wins Boys Discus Title
Not even a nearly six-hour rain delay could derail Cooper Lucas from a Class 3 discus championship.
The Lamar junior threw a 160-04 Saturday, three feet better than anyone else in the field.
“This is my first state title and it felt really good,” Lucas said. “The rain threw everybody off and I was just lucky to get my two prelim throws in.”
Buffalo junior Shane Sisco (157-00) took third and Mountain Grove senior Andy Amos (149-01) finished sixth.
Mailes Sets Two PRs En Route To Long Jump Championship
Taylor Mailes came a little out of nowhere Saturday.
Seneca’s sophomore long jumper bester her career-long jump of 17-02 twice, eventually landing on a gold-medal clinching distance of 17-09.25 on her final jump of the weekend.
“I think it was just the adrenaline that you have at state,” Mailes said of what pushed her to a state title. “It’s a way different atmosphere. I was just trying to place. This was a big surprise.
“Next year the goal is 18 feet.”
Stockton Boys Turn In Silver 4×800 Performance
Six words poured out of Kendall Roberts as his relentless legs carried his tired body across the finish line in the Class 3 boys 4×800 relay.
“We got it. We got two.”
For Roberts and the Stockton relay team of Joseph Dearman, Cooper Locke and Payten Saulters, this relay silver means almost as much as a championship, considering the competition.
Saddled in the same event Friday was John Burroughs (8:00.25), a program being carried by freshman anchor and 800-meter run world record holder in the 14-year-old age group Brandon Miller. Miller ran the final leg in a blistering 1:51.3, passing Roberts, who was able to hold off Principia for second a year after Stockton placed fifth in the same event.
“It feels awesome,” Joseph Dearman, who ran Stockton’s third leg, said. “We were shooting for second. We still had competition the whole time but at the same time going into the race we knew we’d never run all of our PRs at the same time all in the same day, so we knew if we did that we’d be able to get top three for sure.”
Four PRs and a second-place finish later (8:05.78) and Dearman was proved right.
“This is one of the best teams we’ve had in years,” senior Cooper Locke said. “We do it with our heart, because that’s what drives us.”
