“Basically, it was because we had a lot of great kids who did their best and got a lot of second, third, and fourth place finishes which adds up in terms of team points. I think we only won first place in about four events,” Coach Andy Keefer said of his team’s conference performance.
And so it was much the same this past weekend at the district track meet at Park Hill District Stadium where the Panthers weren’t able to grab the top spot in any event, but grabbed enough top four place finishes to qualify a handful of athletes in events to advance to the sectional meet next weekend at Staley. The top finisher, Audrey Rothers in the 100 meter hurdles, finished second. Rothers, who also placed third in the high jump, finished one place above Jen Carlson’s fourth place finish. The 4x800 relay team of Lizzy Jurries, Samantha Roy, Logan Tucker-Nelson, and Jessica McCoy finished third along with Blake Reser’s third place finish in the triple jump. Freshman Samantha Roy who has already set the school record in the 800 meter dash and the 4x100 relay team of Hannah Brown, Allyse Edwards, Jillian McDaniels, and Reser finished in fourth place to wrap up the last of the Panthers’ sectional qualifiers.
While coming into the district meet Park Hill South was projected to finished seventh or eighth, their fourth place finish was a pleasant surprise for Keefer, but also coincides with what they expect their goal to be when they start the season each year.
“A little better than expected, but that’s what you hope for this time of year,” Keefer said.
There were also a few event finishes barely falling on the wrong side of sectional qualifying as Logan Tucker-Nelson in the 400 meter dash, Tori Kerr in the discus, Kelsey Sadler in the pole vault, Reser in the long jump, and Gonner in the triple jump all finishes just short with fifth place finishes. Going into sectionals, Keefer expects many of his athletes to be on the brink of qualifying for the next round, state, once again.
“We’re hoping it will be a great weekend, most of them will be seeded fifth, sixth, or seventh, and we’ll just have to see what happens,” Keefer said.
On the boys’ side of the track, James Bowlin has been burning up the tread this season and did so again last weekend with his first place finish in the 800 meter dash. While he was a sectional and state qualifier last year, Bowlin’s coach feels he’s ready to break loose and vindicate a poor showing in last year’s state preliminary race.
“He’s ready to bust one here pretty soon,” Coach Clay Lenhert said. “He’s got a chance in the 800. He’s been there before and has been running at the 1:57-1:58 mark, but is ready to bring it down to 1:55 or so.”
While as a team, the boys placed fifth with 59 points, they see a wide disparity between some very talented and experienced seniors who have qualified in the past and some very promising sophomores.
“Track is so different for so many kids. You know when you return some sectional qualifiers, they’re some pretty good guys. They’re going to progress differently than others,” Lenhert said. “We’ve got a lot of sophomores that have progressed like crazy, but don’t quite have the mental side those previous sectional qualifiers have and they’re not quite ready yet.”
Another previous sectional participant, Christian Hildebrandt, qualified again with his second place finish in the triple jump along with the 4x400 team he’s a participant in with Bowlin, Lucas Gardner, and Dedric Johnson while the 4x200 team of Andrew Davis, Gardner, Josh Gordon, and Hildebrandt placed third. Sam Eickhoff also qualified in the shot put by placing third. The 4x800 relay team and Dillon Ryel in the pole vault just missed the sectional threshold with their fifth place finishes.
No comments:
Post a Comment