By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Rainy weather on Thursday did little to slow Sarcoxie’s girls track team.
The Bears hosted the Southwest Conference championship and racked up 10 wins on the girls side while outscoring Pierce City by 11 to win their second conference title in a row.
“It’s back to back for the girls and 85 percent of the team is freshmen,” Sarcoxie coach Michael Busselman said. “They are an exceptional group and that includes even the juniors and seniors we do have. It’s just a great feeling.”
Sarcoxie swept all four relay events and both hurdles on the track and added four wins in the jumps and throws.
The 4×100 team of Jocelyn Benito, Madison Chrisman, Ariel Wilson and Jordyn Misner won with a time of 53.18 seconds, the 4×200 relay of Benito, Chrisman, Autumn Johnson and Misner won in 1:58.34, the 4×400 relay of Laney Dorris, Lily Garrison, Andela Hirtz and Remington Garrison won with a time of 4:34.82 and the 4×800 relay of Dorris, Lily Garrison, Remington Garrison and Hirtz won in 11:06.89 – about 45 seconds ahead of everyone else.
“We have exceptional relays and we’re hoping that they’re going to be able to bring medals home,” Busselman said. “The 4×8 just ran another personal best and the same group of girls in the 4×4 just ran a personal best. It’s just fun stuff.”
Chrisman added two more wins in the 100 and 300 hurdles. She won the 100 hurdles in 16.94 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 50 seconds flat.
Alexis Letts tied Pleasant Hope’s Graci Wolf for first in the high jump at 1.42 meters.
Ariel Wilson won the long jump with a distance of 5.03 meters, and Misner won the triple jump with a distance of 9.96 meters.
And Nikki Roth added a first-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 28.27 meters.
“We loaded it up,” Busselman said. “Because we can put three in an event and we have enough kids that we’re able to do that. They were willing to do that extra thing just to make it work.”
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Sarcoxie’s girls added five other medalists who finished in the top three.
Wilson finished second in the 400, Dorris placed second in the 800 and 1600, Lily Garrison placed second in the 3200 and Misner placed third in the 300 hurdles.
“We try to go strong at the beginning of the season, try to get a few extra meets in but then we start tapering off and fresh legs so far has paid off,” Busselman said. “We’re going to have the day off Friday and then come back in four days and we get ready for districts.”
Pierce City and Stockton each won three events and finished second and third, respectively, in the girls team standings.
Pierce City’s Liliana Lasker won the 200 in 27.92 seconds and Emma Hunt won the 1600 in 5:43.42 and the 3200 in 12:39.06.
For Stockton, Kylie Hunter won the 100-meter dash in 13.34 seconds. She also won the 400 in 1:03.19 and the 800 in 2:40.09.
Pleasant Hope’s Gwendolyn Montle won the pole vault at 2.47 meters, Marionville’s Olivia Hopkins won the shot put with a distance of 9.76 meters and Ash Grove’s Jamalynn Atkinson won the discus with a throw of 32.25 meters.
Stockton boys cruise to win
Thursday’s Southwest Conference boys championship was a competition between Stockton and everyone else.
The Tigers won six events and medaled in 13 while outscoring Sarcoxie by 63 to earn the boys conference championship with a particularly strong showing in the distance events.
Jay Baxter nabbed first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.78 seconds, Braden Postlewait won the 800 in 2:01.47, Caden Duncan won the 1600 in 5:06.09 and Postlewait won the 3200 in 11:18.97.
Those wins accounted for 40 of the team’s 204 points, but Stockton wasn’t done.
Page Lawson (4th) and Landon Sexton (6th) added eight more in the 400. Colby Adams (2nd) and Caden Duncan (4th) added 13 more in the 800. Michael Hudson (3rd) scored six more in the 1600. And the Tigers were the top three finishers in the 3200 with Duncan in second and Hudson in third for 14 more points.
All together, those four events gave the Tigers a total of 81 points.
Stockton’s other two first-place finishes came in the shot put and discus. Jayse Sharif won the shot with a distance of 13.54 meters (Gabriel Ayers was fourth) and Sharif won the discus throw with a distance of 35.70 meters, ahead of teammates Hesston Garver (2nd) and Hunter Connell (7th).
Baxter also medaled in the 100 meter dash (2nd), 200 meter dash (3rd) and high jump (2nd). Lawson Page was second in the triple jump and the Tigers were second in the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 relays.
Sarcoxie matched Stockton with six first-place finishes. Noah Garrison won the 200 (23.15), Jaron Malotte won the 110 hurdles (15.78), Blake Heckmaster, Antonio Benito, Garrett Smith and Garrison won the 4×100 (44.92), Malotte won the pole vault (3.51 meters) and Smith won the javelin throw (41.17 meters).
For Marionville, Braydon Bellah won the 100 (11.51) and Wil Carlton won the high jump (1.86 meters), long jump (6.25 meters) and triple jump (12.25 meters).
Diamond’s Zachary Roughton won the 300 hurdles in 42.03 seconds.
Ash Grove won the 4×4 relay in 3:42.34 with Harison Thompson, Dylan Gray, Skyler Todd and Ryan Troxell running, and the 4×8 relay in 8:53.33 with Thompson, Landon Lobdell, Peyton Self and Troxell running.
Girls standings
Sarcoxie 174
Pierce City 163
Stockton 87
Ash Grove 76.50
Pleasant Hope 52
Marionville 51
Miller 35
Lockwood 34
Diamond 30.50
Boys standings
Stockton 204
Sarcoxie 141
Marionville 118
Ash Grove 84
Diamond 52
Lockwood 38
Pierce City 36
Miller 28
Pleasant Hope 3
