Boys tracksters place second in SEMO North Conference meet

"On a hot, muggy day, to still run personal bests means we're rounding into form." -- Jerry Dement

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Sikeston boys track and field team came in second place at the SEMO North Conference Track Meet at Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex on the Southeast Missouri State University campus on Friday.

The Bulldogs were winning the meet by one point heading into the final race of the day, the 4 x 400 meter relay.

Poplar Bluff won the race to overtake the Bulldogs for first place, finishing with 84 points. Sikeston had 80 points followed by Cape Central in third place with 73 points. Jackson brought up the rear with 36 points.

On the girls side, Jackson took first place with 93 points, followed by Cape Central (82 points), Poplar Bluff (66) and Sikeston (31).

Sikeston head coach Jerry Dement was disappointed with the second place finish but he said there were some inspiring individual performances.

"It was a one or two point lead from the fourth event all the way through," said Dement. "But we ran about as good as we could run in most events. We were aiming for first and we got second. Nobody's very satisfied with that. I give kudos to Bluff. They've got a fine team, they're the only local team that's handled us. We had some good performances and we're gearing for the district meet next Saturday."

On the day, Sikeston's boys only had three first place finishers, but the Bulldogs pointed in most events.

Sophomore Felante Larry ran a personal best 10.8 in the 100 meter dash to take first place.

"Felante's 100 was a good time for him," said Dement. "For a sophomore that's an excellent time."

Andy Croxford took first in the shot put with a personal best throw of 49-feet, 9-inches.

"Croxford is getting better in the shot put," said Dement.

Sikeston's only other first place finish came from Devante Larry in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 40.1.

"Devante continues to be the best 300 hurdler in the area and we're hoping to push his time down next week," said Dement.

Normally a team strength for the Bulldogs, none of Sikeston's relay teams took first.

Poplar Bluff won all four relay events on the day.

But the Bulldogs were able to lower some times, including the 4 x 200 meter relay consisting of Tori Rose, Thomas Elery, F. Larry and D. Larry, with a season best time of 1:29.6.

The Bulldogs also ran a season best in the 4 x 100 meter relay at 43.3 to take second place. Elery, Michael Colon, F. Larry and freshman Travis Hudson ran the legs.

Sikeston's 4 x 400 team consisting of Rose, Colon, Elery and D. Larry took third with a time of 3:28.

And the 4 x 800 team of Dale Ham, freshman Clay Lincoln, Quinton Lamb and John Wiley took third with a time of 8:40.

"On a hot, muggy day, to still run personal bests means we're rounding into form," said Dement. "I thought three of our relays ran well. They're setting themselves up for a good showing at the state meet if they continue to run well."

Placing second in the 110 meter high hurdles was sophomore Tyler Woodson with a time of 14.9. Freshman Stephon Turner took fifth at 16.2.

Hudson took fourth in the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.1, tying his personal best and the Sikeston freshman record.

In the 1600 meter run, Lincoln took third at 4:40. Ham took fourth at 4:50.

In the 400 meter dash, Rose took third at 51.9 followed by Lamb in fourth at 52.4.

Lincoln took second in the 800 meter run at 2:03.

In the 200 meter dash, Elery took third at 22.9 followed by Hudson in fourth at 23.0.

In the 3200 meter run, Ham took third at 10:30.

Joe Johnson took fourth in the shot put with a toss of 44'10". He also took second in the discus with a toss of 133'0".

In the pole vault, Ryan Gibson took second at 12'6" followed by Kirk Butler in fifth at 11'6".

In the high jump, Lawrence Davis took fifth at 5'8".

Colon took second in both the long and the triple jump with leaps of 20'10" and 43'9" respectively.

F. Larry took third in the long jump at 20'9". Sophomore Apollo Patterson took fifth in the triple jump at 39'8".

With a good week of practice and good attitudes, I think we'll be ready to go for districts," said Dement.

On the girls side, had several second place finishes.

Junior Rachael Vining was the top point-getter once again for the Bulldogs. She took second in the long jump at 15'6", second in the triple jump at 33'4", third in the 100 meter hurdles at 17.6, and she ran a leg on the third place 4 x 100 meter relay team.

"Rachael is improving in the triple jump," said Dement.

In addition to Vining, the relay team consisted of Latavia Flye, Berneatress Hunt and Jelisa Robinson. They ran a season-best in the event at 51.5.

Sikeston also got a stellar performance out of the 4 x 400 meter relay team consisting of four freshmen, Tracy Jackson, Ashley Johnson, Deneka Black and Robinson.

They took second with a season best time of 4:25.

"Our girls 4 x 400 relay ran their best race of the year," said Dement. "For freshmen that's a really good time. We're looking for good things out of them."

Jean Marie Delwiche placed fourth in both the shot put and discus. She threw 30'6" in the shot put and 97'6" in the discus.

Paige Kaiser took fourth in the pole vault at 8'6" and she took fifth in the triple jump at 29'0".

Clarissa English took fifth in the high jump at 4'6" while Hunt took fifth in the long jump at 14'9".

Flye took third in the 100 meter dash at 13.0.

In the 400 meter dash, Johnson took third with a time of 1:04.

Jackson took fourth in the 300 hurdles at 51.6.

Placing fourth in the 200 meter dash at 27.2 was Black.

"Our girls are improving," said Dement. "We took fourth out of four teams but it was against the three best teams in the area. I think when we race teams our size we'll give a better showing in the district."