Several new records were set at Tuesday’s COC-Small track meet at Bolivar Middle School.
The hosting Bolivar Lady Liberators topped all girls’ teams with a total of 268 points for a very dominant victory.
For the boys’ results, Reeds Spring nabbed first-place with 194 points with the help of its standout sprinters.
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The Bolivar girls are adding another trophy to its massive collection.
Winning all but one conference title within the last decade, the Lady Liberators are continuing the tradition with a very dominant 268-point win over six other teams. Coming in second was Marshfield with 105 points.
Head coach Daniel Bayless said, “That might be the most we’ve ever scored. 286 points in a track meet is a pretty good amount. It was nice.”
Of the 21 girls’ events, Bolivar topped 12 of them.
Bayless said, “If you watch these kids, you can tell that they like being together. It’s a big group of kids, but if you watch them closely you can tell. We call it our ‘track family.’ We just love this team. I love coaching this team along with coach Vicki Newcomb. We’re really happy with the environment that these kids have made.”
On top of Bolivar’s many talented sprinters and relay teams, Juliette Phillips also put on an impressive show as she took first in the high jump at 4-11.
The sophomore, according to Bayless, has hardly high jumped at all since entering high school.
“She’s actually a hurdler,” he said. “She high jumped a little bit when she was in middle school. She high jumped for us once last year. We try to go as deep as we can in every event, and we put her in it. I don’t even know if she’s had any practice this year. She’s just very talented.”
Phillips also placed second in the 100 and 300 Meter Hurdles events.
After a lot of hard work this season, the Bolivar team will soon take a little break to rejuvenate before the upcoming district tournament.
“They’ll get the first day off they’ve ever had on Friday. So that’s kind of a little minimal vacation they get to take,” said Bayless.
He added, “We really look forward to districts next week. We’ve always thought of this meet at a spring board. We want to do really well in this meet. We start to put our kids in their speed phase so they’re just starting to get where we want to. We want them to peak at state, so their time should start coming down and they saw a little bit of that success tonight. Hopefully that will continue.”
GIRLS TEAM RESULTS
Bolivar – 268
Marshfield – 105
Rogersville – 88
Buffalo – 78.3333
Reeds Spring – 55
Hollister – 43.6666
Springfield Catholic – 39
After a heartbreaking defeat in last year’s conference meet, the Reeds Spring boys redeemed themselves on Tuesday.
With 11 first-place finishes on the afternoon, the Wolves scored a total of 194 points to top its conference opponents.
Last season, it was the Liberator boys who edged Reeds Spring by merely a half-point, 170.5-170.
Head coach Sofie Kondro said, “It was a great day. We’re really proud of them. We’ve been trying all season to have this as our focus, as our goal – this conference championship.”
She added, “We have a lot of kids who came out and did their best, and brought with them exactly what we wanted to see. We have a good squad and we’re proud of them. We’re deep. We can switch up any of our relays and have some great outcomes.”
Kondro praised Ransom Allphin’s performance. He placed first in the 110 Meter Hurdle event with a time of 16.18, and the 300 at 42.16.
The Wolves also placed first in three relay events: 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400.
“Our sprinters are standouts right now,” said Kondro. “We’ve got, I think, some of the fastest legs in the state. You’ve got Korey Robinette Hunter Flett and you’ve got Colter Whitten. You’ve got Keenan Haynes. I mean, we’ve got a deep squad of boys who are ready to come out and move.”
New to Missouri’s track and field meets is the javelin event, which Reeds Spring’s Garrett Miller is excelling at.
Miller threw a 158-02, more than 15 feet further than Buffalo’s Austin Starkey’s second-place throw of 143-03.
Kondro said, “We want to come out and put up our best kids, and give our kids the opportunity to look the way we want them to look, and to run the way they’re supposed to run, throw the way they’re supposed to throw and jump the way they’re supposed to jump.”
Like its conference opponents, the Wolves are focused on the upcoming district tournament.
Kondro said, “You’ll probably see some different lineups on the relays. Not necessarily drastic. But for the most part it’s going to be trying to get our kids who are going to do well post-season in the right position to do that.”
BOYS TEAM RESULTS
Reeds Spring – 194
Springfield Catholic – 127
Rogersville – 107
Bolivar – 104
Marshfield – 81
Hollister – 41
Buffalo – 26
Hollister’s Alexa Bekemeier also had some impressive performances to contribute to Hollister’s sixth-place win.
In addition to her knack for the discus throw, which she topped on Tuesday with a 108-3, the sophomore is also working on her javelin throw – a new event at Missouri track and field meets.
Bekemeier threw a 95-06 to take first-place over eleven other opponents.
“It wasn’t the best. I went to SBU and threw 110, which is really good. My arm’s been kind of hurting me, but it was still a good performance for me.”
Bekemeier placed second at the SBU meet last month.
“They had a really good runway and I had good traction,” said Bekemeier. “I just felt really good. I was really happy with my performance there.”
After Tuesday’s victories, Berkheimer said she’s well-prepared for the district tournament ahead.
Not only did Rogersville’s Gunnar Allison top both the shot put (54-10.00) and discus throw (171-02) events, but he also set new conference records in them.
“It feels pretty good. I kind of historically do badly at these conference meets. Today I kind of relaxed and did well. I’m pretty happy with what I had.”
The senior hopes to do the same in the upcoming Class 4 district tournament.
“Districts is roughly two weeks away,” said Allison. “I’m just going to stick with normal training regimen. I’m going to lift. I’m going to practice as I normally would, and just taper when that time comes. I’m not going to treat it any differently.”
He added, “Class 4 is definitely the most competitive class for district this year. As we go north, we’re going to see a lot more competition.”
The Harvard University commit also reflected on his time at Rogersville High School, and more specifically, his time on its track and field team.
Allison said, “It’s gone by so fast. I can’t believe, sitting here four years later, that I’m already done with my senior year conference meet. It’s been a blessing to compete here at Logan-Rogersville and be a part of the sport of track and field.”