There was a high level of competition on Saturday at the Fourth Annual Bearcat Classic at Southwest Baptist University.
At least that was the consensus among competitors at the track and field meet featuring a small and large-school division that fielded more than 40 schools and 530 athletes from Southwest Missouri.
“It’s a great meet,” Lamar’s Trey Mooney said. “Going against larger schools, you’re definitely using more adrenaline.”
Crane sophomore Madison Hicks had similar thoughts about the meet after turning in one of the strongest performances of the day.
“I think it’s all the competition,” Hicks said. “It really pushes you to do better. I’m really thankful for that.”
But it wasn’t just athletes from smaller schools that saw the meet as beneficial.
“There was great competition today,” Kickapoo senior Maverick McGee said. “There’s always good completion here.”
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HICKS HAS A DAY
It took Madison Hicks a few seconds to catch her breath after crossing the finish line to win the 400-meter dash.
But she still had plenty of reasons to smile.
“I’m really, really tired,” Hicks said after setting a personal record in the quarter mile.
That was just one of her victories on the day. Hicks was the champion for both divisions in the long jump and 400 meters and finished first in the small-school division in the triple jump.
The three-sport athlete set a meet record in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet. The previous record of 17’10.50 was held by Ariel Okorie, a 2016 Waynesville graduate and current heptathlete at Kansas State.
In the 400, Hicks finished with a time of 58.76 seconds and had mark of 39-09.50 in the triple jump. The star sophomore capped off her day with a third place finish in the small class 200-meter dash in a time of 27.45.
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MOONEY BRINGS HOME THREE GOLD AND A SILVER
Trey Mooney was another big winner on a windy day.
The junior was the top finisher in both divisions in the 300- and 110-meter hurdles. Mooney also took first in the small-school high jump and was second in the small-school long jump.
“Getting three gold and one silver is definitely satisfying,” Mooney said. “To get first in small school and large school divisions, I’m proud of that.”
His run in the 110-meter hurdles was especially dominant. He broke the tape in a time of 15.50, which was more than a full second ahead of the runner-up. The performance in the event was also the No. 1 time in the event on the day regardless of class. Mooney was also the only runner under 41 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.54.
He won the small school division in high jump by six inches with a leap of 6-foot-4. His leap of 19’01 in the long jump was good enough for second place in the small class.
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KICKAPOO THROWING DUO CONTINUES TO STACK GOLD MEDALS
Kickapoo’s Jordan Sanders and Kennedy Aurentz don’t have to look far to find a challenge. The Lady Chiefs’ duo has that opportunity every day in practice.
The friendly competition that has developed over the past two years has worked for Sanders and Aurentz. Their results prove it.
“It helps a lot having the competition at practice, making mini meets and having (Sanders) pushing you,” Aurentz said.
Sanders blew away the competition while breaking her own meet record in the javelin with a toss of 142 feet, 4 inches. The NCAA Division I basketball product bound for UC Irvine took second in the shot put behind Aurentz, who also set a meet record with a toss of 43 feet, 6 inches.
“A lot of teams don’t have something like us,” Sanders said.
Aurentz broke another meet record in the discus with a throw of 116 feet, 1 inch, while Sanders took second at 111 feet, 3 inches.
“It’s a big meet, so I feel like it’s good to win and have a bunch of competition and to beat everyone,” Aurentz said. “Winning big meets where I see girls that are very competitive – it really boosts my confidence that I can go out and maybe win bigger meets.”
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CENTRAL’S ROEDER SETTING THE BAR HIGH
Elaina Roeder hopes to set the bar a little higher this season after taking sixth in the Class 5 state meet last season.
The Springfield Central junior pole vaulter is off to a good start.
Roeder set a school and meet record after clearing 12 feet, the best mark in the area so far this season.
“It feels amazing,” Roeder said. “I’ve been working (to clear) 12 feet since last year. I’ve been going to the gym more and working on my strength. It’s nice that it finally paid off.
“It’s a huge confidence booster. Once you do it once, you know you can do it now, so you’re more confident at that height and you start moving on to bigger heights.”
McGee wins out of Lane 8
Maverick McGee felt lucky to be racing in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles after his performance in the preliminary race. He took the eighth and final qualifying spot which set him up in the undesirable lane 8 for the final.
The Kickapoo senior stepped up when it mattered most.
McGee overcame the odds, while surprising himself at the same time, after finishing first in the finals of the large-school division with a time of 15.51 and second overall in the meet.
“I’m not going to lie, I had zero confidence going into it,” said McGee, who suffered a broken foot during the football season. “I had a really rough prelim race. I didn’t even think I was going to make finals. But somehow I luckily got in there. I was in lane eight. All odds were against me.”
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Steeplechase takes center stage
Ashlee Kuykendall had never competed in the 2,000-meter steeplechase before.
She didn’t have a plan or a strategy.
The Warsaw senior made it look otherwise after winning the girls race in 8:22.04.
“I’m used to running the 2 mile,” Kuykendall said. “When I do my long runs, I usually go six to seven miles. I don’t do hurdles – I don’t like them. I just kind of winged it. I didn’t really have a strategy. My coach told me to just go have fun. That’s what I did.”
Parkview senior Preston Burgess, who competed in the event last year, was in a similar situation.
“There’s nothing you can do to prepare,” said Burgess, who won the boys race in 6:47.04. “It’s pretty unique, so I always want to run it. It’s just completely different. Track is normally all speed, but it adds a challenge of jumping with the distance. It’s a little bit harder than normal.”
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TEAM RESULTS
Nixa swept the large-school division, with the boys claiming 102 points and the Lady Eagles finishing with 84.
The Lamar boys were the top finishers in the small schools with 114 points, while Eldon claimed the girls title with 94 points.
RECORDS ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
Several other meet records were set Saturday, despite windy conditions.
Glendale senior Luke Miller led the field in the 3,200 with a record time of 9:40.14.
Rogersville junior Cole Vandersnick set a new mark in the javelin with a toss of 159 feet, 7 inches.
The Ozark girls 4×200-meter relay team of Shylo Bogue, Morgan Doyle, Katelyn Mayes and Ashley Chlders took first with a time of 1:46.72.
Camdenton junior Grace Wormek took first in the 100- and 200-meters. She was also part of Camdenton’s 4×400-meter relay team, along with Natalie Bassham, Clare Holmes and Kylie Meier, that set a meet record at 4:09.75. Wormek was also a member of the Lady Lakers’ 4×200-meter relay team that took second.
