By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Jefferson City, Mo. — West Plains junior Ben Stasney took home gold in the Class 4 800-meter run and Reeds Spring senior Xavier McDaniel did the same in the Class 3 boys shot put. A look at their days plus the days of five boys silver medalists from MSHSAA large-Class track Friday in Jefferson City can be found below.
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 BOYS PHOTOS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 4 BOYS PHOTOS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 5 BOYS PHOTOS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 3 BOYS RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 4 BOYS RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR CLASS 5 BOYS RESULTS
Stasney ‘Finally’ Golden For West Plains
With those iconic candy-cane striped shorts flowing in the Jefferson City sunlight, Ben Stasney made his move. And it was an early one.
The West Plains junior began his push with still over 200 meters to go in the Class 4 800-meter championship, pulling away from and holding off Kearney senior Clayton Adams to win gold and add to the already decorated track and field history at West Plains.
“It feels good to be adding to such a tradition,” Stasney said. “A lot of these guys in the past I’ve been looking up to, and now I think I might be one of the guys that future people might look up to, hopefully.”
West Plains track has had quite the journey over the past month after their track was destroyed in this spring’s historic flooding. Stasney’s championship Friday is proof of the program’s resiliency.
“It feels great,” Stasney said. “I’ve been working a long time for this one and it finally paid off.”
But with that early kick, Stasney wasn’t sure if a gold was assured down the stretch.
“I was just scared the whole time,” he said. “I didn’t look back but I kept darting my eyes down to the left to see if anyone’s coming because I just didn’t know, so I just kept going.”
Stasney said the decision to push early on was a mid-race decision.
“I knew there were going to be some competitors back there with some pretty big kicks, so I thought I’d get out there pretty early and push it before they could really have a chance to gun me down,” Stasney said.
McDaniel Red, White And Gold For Reeds Spring
With an American flag hat and matching red, white and blue aviators, the kid they call ‘Big X’ sauntered out of the athletes tent and onto the pinnacle of the all-state podium as a state champion.
Reeds Spring senior Xavier ‘Big X’ McDaniel putted a 53-00.50 in Friday’s Class 3 boys shot put final, winning the state title by a little more than a foot over Holden senior Isaac Hill.
“It felt pretty good,” McDaniel said after accepting his gold medal. “I’ve been waiting for a long time to at least get a medal, and winning gold is real nice.”
McDaniel hit his winning distance on his second throw of the day, and with the exception of a third-throw foul, each of McDaniel’s five other throws would have been good enough for an outright state title.
“A lot of mental prep (went into this),” McDaniel said. “That’s the main part of it. Physically I know I can do it, but it gets up in your head.”
Walton Long Jumps To Silver In His Parkview Finale
When his final track season began at Parkview earlier this spring, long jump success at state was a secondary goal for Marcus Walton. One of the best high jumpers in the state, Walton’s eyes were focused on a state gold in that event in addition to challenging for the all-Class record.
But three months later, that goal changed. Walton surprisingly fell short of qualifying for state in the high jump, qualifying instead for the second straight year in the long jump.
Friday, while battling through a lingering hamstring injury, the senior took advantage of that chance. Walton jumped a 22-11 on his final jump of his high school life, leapfrogging Grandview’s Cirr Davis for silver on the Class 4 medal stand.
“It honestly feels great,” Walton said. “Especially after [my injury] and not being able to high jump today, it just brings my spirits up.”
Walton’s 22-11 was the second time all season he’s passed the 22-foot mark in the event with the first coming in his first jump of the day at 22-00.25.
“I just came out on my last jump and thought, I’m a senior, it’s my last jump. It’s time to put it all out on the line, and once I hit the board and flew for a little bit, as soon as I hit the sand I knew it was a good jump.”
A good way to end a great career at Parkview.
“Oh my God, I can’t even believe it,” Walton said. “I’m so happy.”
Nixa’s Procell Makes Statement With Class 5 800 Silver
After spending most of the Class 5 800-meter final boxed into a pack of runners, Blake Procell saw an opening. Like a thoroughbred being guided off the rail and into an opening after sitting back off the pace, Procell burst down the homestretch to claim a second-place finish and a silver medal by what amounts to a nose.
“Considering I was boxed way back in there, I knew I had enough energy left from that, and I was just barely able to catch him,” Procell said of third-place finisher Daniel Toomey, of Rockhurst.
“I saw him slowing down a bit and just went for it. I knew I had enough energy to pass. He was dying. Then right at about 50 meters left I knew I had enough to beat him for second.”
A sophomore in a field of upperclassmen (the top five finishers were seniors and no other freshman or sophomore finished all-state), Procell’s 1:56.39 was just off the pace of Lafayette senior Austin Hindman (1:55.00).
“It’s genuinely amazing,” Procell said. “This is more than I thought I was going to get. I was trying to aim for something better than sixth last year, and second place is just a huge milestone for me.”
Dominant Kielhofner 1st In Class 3 1,600
It was barely a fair fight. Just don’t tell that to Stephen Kielhofner.
Springfield Catholic’s long-distance star cruised to gold in the Class 3 1,600-meter boys final (4:19.67), finishing nearly five seconds ahead of El Dorado Springs senior Tyler Goatley (4:24.63) after riding a 60-second opening 400 that he said was a mistake.
“Definitely took it out to fast. The 60-second (1:00.60) first lap definitely broke me down. Especially in the third and fourth lap. It’s just one of those weird feelings where you’re not really feeling it too bad but you’re definitely going slow and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Kielhofner Mean Slow Time (KMST) is apparently a 1:08.77 on the race’s third 400-meter split, a time bested by only Goatley (1:08.67).
“Wish I hadn’t taken that first lap so fast, but I’ve got three more races,” Kielhofner said. “Looking forward to those.”
His opponents probably aren’t.
Riddle State Runner-Up After Nearly Going Wire-To-Wire In 1,600
Ryan Riddle nearly pulled off a wire-to-wire first-place finish in the Class 4 1,600-meter run Friday before being caught by Kearney senior Clayton Adams in the final 400.
“My strategy is always to take it out really hard because that’s what I like to do,” Riddle said. “It didn’t work out this time.
“I was trying. It was just really hard after leading the first three laps and then coming back for that final push. It was just like, well he got me this time.”
Didn’t work out for gold, but Riddle’s front-running strategy still worked well enough to claim a silver (4:14.67).
“It’s nice,” Riddle, who finished fifth in the event in 2016, said. “It’s definitely better than last year. I’m happy with that.”
8-Seed Short Climbs To Silver In Javelin
Despite coming into Friday as an 8-seed, Webb City junior Briar Short threw his way into second in Class 4 in the javelin, falling just 13 inches short of a state championship with a 160-08 throw.
But for some, a silver just doesn’t cut it.
“Second is not good enough. 160 is not good enough,” Short said.
“I came in thinking eighth. Just wanted to get on the podium, but still, second is not good enough.”
