By Josh Hall
CAMDENTON – The Kickapoo girls track and field team has multiple athletes that can collect big-time points.
But it’s been the supporting athletes that have helped the Lady Chiefs succeed this season.
“Everybody has a job to do in any team sport,” Kickapoo coach Jeremy Goddard said on Friday after Kickapoo claimed the Ozark Conference title for the second-consecutive year. “You may only be seeded sixth, but if you can slide in and get a fifth, you slide up and get an extra point. Those add up.”
Kickapoo placed first with 154 points, while Lebanon was second at 118 and Camdenton was third at 107.
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The Lady Chiefs lost a handful of athletes from last year’s squad, including Allison Bailey, now a freshman at Tulsa University who scored 40 points for Kickapoo at the conference meet last season.
It’s hardly been a rebuilding year for the Lady Chiefs.
“We had some girls come in as different athletes in different events, but had the potential to do the same thing,” Goddard said.
Kickapoo’s throwing crew of Jordan Sanders and Kennedy Aurentz have been two of the biggest point scorers for the Lady Chiefs this season.
Sanders took first in the discus and javelin and was third in the shot put. Aurentz won the shot put.
“Our throwing crew has enormous potential,” Goddard said. “Anytime you can go first and third or first and second in multiple events, we knew there were a lot of points out there we could get. But you’ve got to go out and get them, as well.”
Kickapoo freshman Jaden Wiley did her part, finishing first in the 300-meter hurdles while taking second in the 100-meter hurdles. She also had second-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
“I felt really good,” Wiley said. “There was a lot of competition and I felt like it pushed me harder. It makes it a lot more fun whenever you’re able to come out here and do really well as a team.”
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Tayte Kozlowski, a freshman, won the 400, was second in the long jump, third in the triple jump and fourth in the 200. Fellow teammate Allison Long won the long jump and was fourth in the 100 to help pace the Lady Chiefs.
“I’m really proud how we did today,” Long said. “I think we had a lot of high hopes for our team overall.”
Goddard noted the Lady Chiefs were not expected to take the gold and silver in the long jump.
The veteran coach was equally impressed with the performances of Anna Weiner and Emma Swenson, who took third and fourth, respectfully, in the two mile – another unexpected result.
“We talk about bonus points and where we can get bonus points,” Goddard said. “We had several places where we might not have got all the points we wanted, but we had several places where we loaded up and got bonus points.”
While the Lady Chiefs took first as a team, there were several other individual performances that highlighted the afternoon.
Camdenton’s Grace Wormek won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and was a part of the Lady Lakers’ winning 4×200-meter relay team.
West Plains freshman Mia Harris made a strong showing in her first conference meet, winning the gold in the 1,600- and 3,200 meter runs.
Lebanon’s Kelsey Winfrey rounded out the top performances on the girls’ side with first-place finishes in the 800 meters and triple jump.
