By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
While West Plains track and field coach Greg Dixon thought his boys squad had a good chance to repeat as district champions on Saturday, he figured the girls team would come up just short.
But when the Class 4 District 6 meet at Carl Junction was finished, the Zizzers were celebrating a pair of team championships after combining to win 16 different events.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Dixon said. “The boys we really thought had a good chance to do it with a lot of people returning from last year, we essentially only lost one guy who competed at state so we thought we had a good chance to repeat as district champions. The girls team, I’m super proud of them. On paper mathematically, two or three different ways I figured it I could get us third for the most part and for them to win this was pretty special. We’ve had some adversity on our girls team. Had some relays at the beginning of the year we thought we were going to get through that didn’t and still to win that as a team just says a lot for the kids who scratched a point here and there, maybe didn’t qualify to move on but helped us conclude the year with a district title. I’m very proud of the girls.”
Mylea Adams and Emily Ritter each won two individual events for the West Plains girls, while Carson King and Jaxon Hunter each won two individual events for the boys.
Adams was the champion in the long jump and triple jump and also qualified for sectionals with a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash. Ritter won gold in the 1600 and 3200. The Zizzers girls also earned first place in the 4×800 relay, and Jocelyn Denny claimed the top spot in the discus.
Adams set a new school record with her finish in the 200, breaking a mark that had stood since 2003.
“We knew going into this district there were some really good times in the women’s 200 and I told her you might have to break it to get out and she ended up third and broke the school record,” Dixon said. “That just says a lot for our district and how competitive it was.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MEET
Other girls qualifiers were Emma Dixon (3rd) in the 800, Karlee Romans (2nd) in the 1600 and (2nd) in the 3200, Hadley Ball (3rd) in the 100 hurdles, Ashlyn Tinsley (3rd) in the high jump, Renetta Peterson (4th) in the shot put, and the 4×200 relay which placed 3rd.
“In the shot put we had a girl who kind of came out of nowhere and earned her candy stripes for the first time today and threw well and qualified,” Dixon said. “Marshfield’s got a great girls program and tradition and they had some things happen to them where they didn’t get people through and it kind of helped us a little bit. Sometimes that happens in track and field, where two weeks ago in conference we had some things happen and they were able to get us and Branson in our new Ozark Mountain Conference got the girls championship. I was just really proud of the people that stepped up and got a season best and maybe got 8th and scored some valuable points for our team.”
For the West Plains boys, King took 1st in both the 1600 and 3200 and Hunter won the discus and shot put. Cameron Miller was the champion in the 100-meter dash, Zackery Tinsley won the 200, Jared Kraft won the high jump, and the Zizzers also won three relays––the 4×1, 4×2 and 4×8.
Hunter’s throw in the shot broke his own school record set two weeks ago at the conference meet; the previous record had stood since 2015.
“Hopefully he’s peaking at the right time,” Dixon said.
The team’s other boys qualifiers were Kyler Gunter (2nd) in the 1600 and (3rd) in the 3200, Jacob Moore (3rd) in the 110 hurdles, and Nate Meeks (3rd) in the discus.
“In the areas we were supposed to, everybody did their job and took care of business,” Dixon said. “Senior Nate Meeks jumped from the seven seed to get third in the discus and qualify, that was big for us. Jared Kraft winning the high jump and having a PR was big. Jacob Moore in the 110 hurdles running a season’s best and getting third was big and I think he was the seven seed coming in. We had some kids step up and qualify who weren’t supposed to qualify and that helped us a lot. The boys were pretty solid. They did what they were supposed to do and then we had some others step up.”
West Plains last swept the district team titles in 2022. Before that it hadn’t happened since 2005.
“It’s just an enjoyment,” Dixon said. “Any time you can have your boys program and your girls program win on the same day, that’s a lot of fun.”
Marshfield, Carl Junction, Nevada take home several golds
Marshfield’s boys and girls combined to win five events, more than any of the other schools in the field on Saturday. For the girls, Skylee Lamkey won the 800, Tilly Greenfield won the high jump and Gracelyn Bull won the shot put. Brayden Hicks won both the long and triple jump for the boys.
Carl Junction’s girls won four events. Brooke Jasperson was 1st in the pole vault and Madilyn Olds was the champion in the javelin throw, while the 4×1 and 4×4 relays also earned gold.
Nevada’s girls were led by Hailey Hearting’s 1st-place finishes in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. On the boys side, John Collins won the 300 hurdles and the 4×4 relay finished the day with another win.
McDonald County’s Samantha Dowd won the 100 and 200 and the team’s 4×2 relay also won.
Bolivar’s Evan Nickels won the 110 hurdles and Maddux NeSmith won the pole vault. Camdenton’s Gunnar Rhoads won the 800. Hillcrest’s Aiden Myers was 1st in the javelin. Gage Hale won the 400 for Logan-Rogersville.
