Joplin boys, Ozark girls secure COC track titles

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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Willard, Mo. — The Joplin boys and Ozark girls raced to overall team championships during Thursday’s Central Ozark Conference meet in Willard.

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Deep, talented Joplin squad wins in dominant fashion

Turns out the new kid is kind of a bully.

In its first season as a COC member, Joplin pushed around some traditional powerhouses Thursday afternoon and steamrolled its way to the overall team championship.

The Eagles 177 points bested two-time defending champion Carthage by 52 points, while Webb City, runner-up for the past three seasons, finished third.

Deep and talented, Joplin scored points in all 19 events and posted victories in four.

Zach Westmoreland captured the long jump (21-04.5), Isaiah Davis finished first in javelin (187-01), Micah Bruggeman won the 800 meter run (1:58.11) and Rashawn Davis, Blake Tash, Eli Eminger and Da’Ron Morgan raced to a 4×200 meter relay victory (1:31.25).

While Joplin only won four events, it did manage to stockpile points across the board.

The Eagles’ depth was showcased in the field events, in particular, with Joplin posting double-digit scores in long jump (16), triple jump (17), shot put (18) and javelin (18).

Joplin head coach Brandon Taute praised his team’s performance.

“We kind of had some ups and downs in the sprints,” Taute said. “In the field events, we knew we were strong so that wasn’t really a surprise.”

Joplin also posted a strong showing in the distance events, spearheaded by Micah Bruggeman’s efforts in the 1600, 800 and 3200 meter events.

Taute felt Bruggeman’s distance triple could play a key factor in the overall scoring, particularly in a close competition.

“We didn’t know if Micah could turn around and do all three distance races,” Taute said. “He’s never done that before — he’s only a sophomore. Kids just competed really well all day.”

Ozark captures second-straight title

A deep roster helped Ozark win its 2018 title; however, this year’s squad added another element.

Dominance.

The Lady Tigers posted victories in 9 of 19 events, topping last year’s two wins and serving notice to the rest of the field early on during the meet.

Ozark’s 162 points bested runner-up Nixa’s 138.50 effort. Webb City finished third with 106.50 points.

While this season’s squad may not be as deep as it has been in years past, the quality is certainly still there.

Alexis Barber, Brocklyn Barber, Elizabeth Kitchen, Adriana Wakeman, Anna Hitt, Ashley Childers and Sydney Johnson powered the Lady Tigers to a sweep of relay wins in the 4×800, 4×200, 4×100 and 4×400 meter events.

Despite having dominant performances across the board, Ozark head coach David Brewer knew other schools might be able to stockpile enough points to challenge for an overall title, just as his team had last season.

“We’re good at the top,” Brewer said. “We know we have good kids that are gonna win several events — first and second — we just don’t have the depth of fill-in points down below. We had a lot of kids nickel-and-dime some points there and give us some trouble but, ultimately, we had enough points to get first.”

Ozark’s talented stable of relay runners notched a host of individual victories, as well.

Alexis and Brocklyn Barber finished first and second in the 1600 (5:17.85 and 5:17.88), Hitt won the 400 (1:00.31), Brocklyn Barber took the 800 (2:22.10), Johnson and Childers finished first and second in the 200 (25:56 and 26.11) and Alexis Barber cruised to a 3200 victory (11:30.58).

With a majority of his athletes working full programs during the meet, Brewer stressed the importance of places over times.

“We didn’t really talk about getting PRs during the day,” Brewer said. “We just talked about places, accumulating points and trying to get the team victory. This is one of the only meets we talk about that all year.”

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