By Chris Parker
The Kickapoo girls and Waynesville boys walked away from the Ozark Conference track meet with the team titles on Wednesday.
Elite talent and depth lead Kickapoo to conference title
The Kickapoo girls used a well-balanced roster led by a pair of stars to score 117 points, which was 13 better than runner-up Camdenton.
It was a good day all around for Kickapoo.
“We had a ton of PR’s. I don’t think I could possibly list them all,” Kickapoo head coach Jeremy Goddard said.
Taylor Mayo and Parker Papa were the leaders for Kickapoo scoring a combined 40 points individually while running two of four legs on relays that scored 18 points.
“That is what a lot of track is, especially when you get to big levels. It is how many hammers can you bring to the table?” Goddard said. “Parker ran two 200’s, a 400 and a 100. She covered a lot of meters for a sprinter on a warm day. With Taylor, the jumps are hard on your body and she goes out there and cranks those better than everybody else by feet.”
Mayo was dominant in the horizontal jumps. She jumped 18’9.5 in the long jump to win by 19 inches. Her winning jump of 39’01 was good enough to win by almost four feet. On the track, Mayo ran legs on the champion 400-meter relay squad and the runner-up 800-meter relay.
She helped the 800-meter relay team overcome a leg falling down to hold on for second place.
“Taylor had to stop, go back and pick up the baton from the girl laying on the ground and we still got second out of that whole deal,” Goddard said.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TRACK EVENTS
West Plains won the race in a time of 1:44.91 ahead of Kickapoo at 1:48.21.
Papa also was a part of both sprint relays. Her two individual gold medals came from the 400 (59.64) and the 200 (25.98).
With Papa trading out a leg on the 1600-meter relay team for the 200, Kickapoo had to rely on its depth to fill in for the final race of the night.
It proved to be no problem at all.
“We didn’t have Parker Papa who was the quarter mile champion on the 4×4, so we had to grab a couple girls and we ended up running close to our best time without her,” Goddard said. “That is way the conference is. It is just see how many you can sneak in and pick up and we did that.”
The Lady Chiefs won the final track event in a time of 4:15.98.
Rolla and Lebanon were second to Kickapoo in gold medals with three each. Isabella Frost swept the 1600 (5:18.64) and 3200 (11:40.69) while Jessica Mace won the shot put with a throw of 37’10.75. Lebanon got its gold medals from Abigail Tague (800 – 2:24.84), Addyson Rebmann (high jump – 5’1) and Brooklyn O’Cain (127’8).
Glendale’s Aryah Moore swept the hurdles winning the 100’s in a time of 15.21 and the 300’s in a time of 46.55. Bolivar also claimed two championships with Dailynn VanDeren winning the discus with a throw of 108’9. The Bolivar 3200-meter relay team won with a time of 10:01.44.
Parkview’s Erykah Lee (100 – 12.38) and Camdenton’s Ellie Ezard (pole vault – 9’7) rounded out the gold medal winners.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES
1. Kickapoo – 117
2. Camdenton – 104
3. Rolla – 101.5
4. Bolivar – 91.5
5. West Plains – 87
6. Glendale – 78
7. Lebanon – 59
8. Waynesville – 45
9. Parkview – 31
10. Central – 16
11. Hillcrest – 10
Waynesville boys win six events on way to team title
The Waynesville boys continued a strong team season with six event wins on the way to the team title on Wednesday. Jayzen Blake continued his hurdle dominance winning the 100’s in a time of 14.66 and the 300’s in a time of 41.21. Tyrell Phinn ran 1:57.03 to win the 800-meter run.
Waynesville’s depth was on display with victories in the 800- (1:29.11), 1600- (3:20.87) and the 3200-meter (8:06.66) relays. The Tigers finished runner-up to Camdenton in the 400-meter relay. The Lakers won the event in a time of 42.75.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE FIELD EVENTS
The Lakers won that 400-meter relay with Angel Dickerson anchoring. Dickerson also won the 100 and 200. He had a showdown with West Plains star football player and sprinter Heston Miller in the 100. Dickerson took the title in a time of 10.62, which was just ahead of Miller’s 10.72 finish time. He took the 200-meter dash title in a time of 22.12.
Kyle Eidson (javelin – 170’10.75) and Ty Wiethop (long jump – 22’1.75) also won events for Camdenton to bring the Lakers’ championship total to five, matching Waynesville.
Kickapoo had the third-most gold medals led by Tyler Harris sweeping the 1600 (4:20.25) and 3200 (9:30.54). Price Hodson ran 50.23 to win the 400.
Hillcrest’s Tracen Tate won both the shot put (53’6.25) and discus (164’9.5).
Central’s Elijah Spears (high jump – 6’0.75), Lebanon’s Caden Morris (triple jump – 46’6.25) and Bolivar’s Evan Hendrickson (pole vault – 13’0) also won events on Wednesday.
BOYS TEAM SCORES
1. Waynesville – 129
2. Kickapoo – 119
3. Rolla – 96
4. Camdenton – 90.5
5. West Plains – 88
6. Lebanon – 57
7. Bolivar – 46
8. Parkview – 44
9. Hillcrest – 43.5
10. Central – 15
11. Glendale – 13
