By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD, MO – Friday afternoon’s Jim Vaughan Invitational Track & Field meet drew 46 schools to Springfield Parkview’s John F. Kennedy stadium.
It also saw a pair of state benchmarks posted by area athletes, including a new national No. 1 mark in the shot put.
Mays and Cantwell set top marks in discus, shot
With the top-seeded flight leading things off in the discus ring, Nixa junior Hayden Mays wasted little time getting the Eagles on the board with a personal best throw and new state-leading mark of 57.16 meters.
“I’ve been kind of struggling in practice recently, so hitting a mark like that feels really nice,” Mays said. “Warm-ups felt good, and then my first throw was pretty solid, so I just knew I was going to keep building on that. When I hit the last one, it felt really good, but the way this sector’s kind of drawn, I couldn’t really tell how far it was, but I knew it was going to be far, so I was really happy about that.”
Mays’ winning throw was enough to hold off Mountain Home’s Eli Jones (56.17). Nixa classmate Jackson Cantwell, the top seed heading into the event, finished fourth.
While pressure is a natural aspect of the event, Mays said the throwing community’s overall camaraderie makes it a bit easier for competitors to relax and perform at their best.
“I know almost half of these guys just from seeing them for years and just being around them,” Mays said. “Whether that’s indoor meets, outdoor meets, football … I’ve just gotten to know a lot of them, so it’s kind of nice to just be in an atmosphere where everyone supports each other.”
After posting only a single clean mark in discus, Cantwell was able to shift gears a few hours later and compile a trio of dominant throws in shot put.
FIELD EVENT PHOTOS – CLICK HERE
“I might be the national warm-up champion right now,” Cantwell said of the discus event. “I throw great in warm-ups, and then it goes pretty bad in competition these last two meets, but I think eventually that’ll connect and it’ll go really far.”
Really far would be an apt description for Cantwell’s shot put marks, each one besting its predecessor.
“A lot of times I like to try to build on my series,” Cantwell said. “Usually, my first throw is never my best throw – I think most people would say that. It’s kind of hard to have your best throw round one. I was just trying to keep building, and I had a pretty good throw round three – I just barely fouled it, so I knew I had a good chance if I end up getting that to work out.”
His top mark – a massive 22.41 toss – not only eclipsed the state’s top performance, but also was also the nation’s top throw for 2025 so far, as well.
“It was good to see a meet kind of go the way I wanted it to go,” Cantwell said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit at the start of the season, so it was good to have a good series, overall. I think my shot’s kind of starting to come back a little bit. I think my training still needs to kind of catch up. Whenever it does, I think I’ll make a really big breakthrough but, I think for now, that’s a pretty good start to the year outdoors.”
Williams captures sprint double
For Ozark junior Kannon Williams, Friday was a perfect opportunity to stake his claim as the area’s fastest runner.
With a pair of first-place finishes in both the 100 and 200, Williams didn’t disappoint, either.
Williams posted a 10.92 in the final heat to outdistance Willard senior Landen Johnson (11.17); however, Nixa junior Randy Flint’s 10.97 mark from the previous heat nearly stole the event.
While he was pleased with the victory, Williams walked off the track feeling like there was still an extra gear to fire.
“Honestly, I was pretty confident going into the race,” Williams said. “I knew my last race, on Monday, that I had a lot more in me. Of course, today, I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to. I don’t know if my body wasn’t right. Conditions weren’t good, but I tried my best.”
TRACK EVENT PHOTOS – CLICK HERE
A funny thing about track is, you usually don’t have to wait very long for a shot at redemption.
For Williams, opportunity presented itself later the same afternoon in the 200.
Already holding the state’s No. 1 mark at 21.26, Williams ripped off a 21.72 to best Hickman senior Langston Thomas (21.94).
The pair of sprint victories left Williams feeling elated and pleased with the afternoon’s performances.
“This definitely raises my ego,” Williams said. “I’m always humble, but this definitely raises my ego, and I just overall feel more confident about this season. I’m excited to see what comes.”
Class 1 standout Nold cruises to 800 victory
Cade Nold struck another blow for small-school enthusiasts Friday afternoon.
Used to competing against other Class 1 athletes, the Dora senior ran away from a deep and talented field featuring many of the area’s top 800-meter runners.
“The competition at this meet is definitely, definitely a whole lot different than most of the meets we go to,” Nold said. “So getting to race these guys is awesome – it’s a great opportunity.”
As the event’s top seed, Nold also benefited from an outside alley start, which can help the higher-seeded runners avoid getting boxed in at the first turn.
“My first phase of the race is always getting into position,” Nold said. “The first 200 is just getting out and finding my spot in the pack. Being on the outside helps me see where to kind of fit in and where to get into the pack.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE MEET
“At 300, I start to move just a little bit, and then 200 is where I really start to turn it on. That’s just always been kind of the race plan that I’ve had.”
Nold’s winning time of 1:57.19 bested Helias Catholic senior Ian Benne’s 1:58.91.
As the Class 1 defending state champion in both the 400 and 800, Nold credits his sprinting background for the ability to close out races down the final stretch.
“It does feel good,” Nold said of his performance. “Especially with the competition and everything. Being a 400/800 guy does help with the confidence coming through the home stretch that I do have the leg speed that some of these other guys don’t have.”
With a 1:53.96 mark already to his name, Nold has his sights set on the Class 1 state meet record this May.
“I get to run the 800 Friday, so I’m going to try to go for the Class 1 state record, which is 1:55,” Nold said. “I want to run, hopefully, a 1:52 or 1:53 at state. After that, my goal is to hopefully qualify for the Hoka Festival of Miles.”
Willard hurdlers complete 110 sweep
Willard had big plans heading into Friday’s 110-meter hurdle event.
With three runners – sophomore Hayden Hall, junior Jonathan Huskisson and senior William Ndiba – seeded in the final heat, it was no secret something special could happen.
The Tiger trio didn’t disappoint.
Hall (14.80), Huskisson (14.87) and Ndiba (15.36) swept the top three spots and established Willard as a legitimate hurdle threat in Class 5.
“I feel like us, personally, we’re the best three in the state,” Hall said. “I mean, by far, if you ask me – we’re the best hurdle school in the state.”
While Hall and Huskisson ran fairly clean races through the hurdle sets, Ndiba quickly found himself in a dogfight after striking the very first hurdle.
“I definitely think I got out ahead of most of the group, but I hit that first hurdle, and it really slowed me down,” Ndiba said. “So I was seeing the whole race after that, but near the middle of the race, I got it back together, got a little tighter and was able to carry in that third place for the team.”
Hickman sophomore Curien Larkins finished fourth with a time of 15.68.
The three runners credit the daily competition at practice for their success and are thankful for the camaraderie and mutual support that has blossomed as a result.
“It’s honestly a lot of fun,” Huskisson said. “We’re always pushing each other and picking each other up. There’s a little bit of smack talk in the midst of it but, at the end of the day, we know we’re all just making each other better, and you know the outcome is going to be great after for the races.”
Notable area performances
Nixa’s relay dominance was on full display Friday, as the Eagles captured first place finishes in the 4×100 (Logan Huff, Keivon Flint, Randy Flint and Robert Adams – 42.26), 4×400 (Morgan Thompson, Aaron Ashley, Keivon Flint and Roy Perez – 3:25.96) and 4×800 (Nicholas Flannery, Asher Coorts, Reyes Martinez and Aaron Ashley – 8:05.75) events.
West Plains (William Stauffer, Lincoln Miller, Trentin Jeffords and Zackery Tinsley) won the 4×200 event with a time of 1:29.15.
Fair Grove senior Canyon Crowley won the 400 with a time of 49.64. Crowley was a 2023 state champion in the event.
Waynesville junior Brandon Jackson captured high jump gold with a mark of 1.88m, narrowly edging out six other athletes at the same height.
Bolivar senior Maddux NeSmith won the Pole Vault with a 4.45m effort.
Camdenton senior Deontay Haire finished first in the triple jump with a 13.84m mark.
