Tracksters place second in conference meet

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The SEMO Conference track and field meet took place on Friday at Cape Central High School. In a field of four, Sikeston's boys placed second and the girls took fourth.

On the boys side, Poplar Bluff finished with 104 team points followed by the Bulldogs with 79, Cape Central with 51 and Jackson with 46.

"We kind of thought we would run a close second to Poplar Bluff," said Sikeston track coach Jerry Dement. "We ended up getting second, but it was further back than I liked. I didn't think we had an A-day. We probably had a B or C plus day overall. We didn't run on the track as well as I had hoped."

Sikeston did dominate the field events though, placing two in every event.

Andrew Lambert had a very strong day, tying his personal best and winning the high jump at 6-8. He also took second in the long and triple jumps.

Michael Colon also fared well, checking in with a pair of thirds in the jumps behind two solid athletes.

Devonte Larry won the 300 hurdles with a personal-bet time of 41.45, and Justin Lowes make his best throw of the year to win the shot put at 53-10.

It was also a good day for the youngsters on the team. Freshman Tyler Woodson took first in the 110 hurdles and freshman Max Hanson won the pole vault.

Ninth graders Felonte Larry, Thomas Elery, and Brandon Williams also ran well.

"We haven't competed in two weeks because of weather," said Dement. "We were a little rusty on the track today. Our boys team has a strong attitude and they're very competitive. I look for them to snap back and really challenge for the district title this weekend."

Sikeston won the 15-team, 3A District 1 meet last year and will look to defend its crown at Perryville on Saturday. On the girls side, Rachael Vining took second place in the 300 hurdles (50.9), second in the triple jump (33-9 1/2) and third in the long jump.

"The girls had a few bright spots," said Dement. "I thought Rachael Vining had another good day. Our girls ran against some very good teams today. We want to raise our level up to the level of Cape and Jackson instead of being satisfied with where we are. I think we've got some good young girls. If they keep working and keep progressing, they've got some potential there."

Find all Sikeston placers from the SEMO Conference meet in the scoreboard on page 12.

CHAFFEE -- The Chaffee Invitational track meet took place on Friday, with Malden winning both the boys and girls competitions.

On the boys side, Malden's Richard Marks had an outstanding day, winning the 100 meter high hurdles, 300 meter intermediate hurdles, the discus throw and the high jump. Teammate Karrington Rogers was solid as well, winning the 100 meters, the long jump and the 200 meters.

On the girls side, Scott City's Loren Groves put on a show with four first place finishes in the 100 meters, shot put, 300 intermediate hurdles, and discus events.

Chaffee's Jennifer Vandeven also dominated, winning the 100, 400 and 200 races.

Find all the final team scores and the top three placers in each event in the scoreboard on page 12.