Three points.
That’s all that separated Thomas Jefferson from College Heights Christian for the top spot in the team standings at the 2022 Ozark 7 Conference Track Meet on Wednesday at the J. P. Humphreys Track & Field Complex.
With their overall team depth on full display, Thomas Jefferson’s girls edged College Heights 223-220 for first place.
When a long day concluded, Thomas Jefferson’s girls were hoisting the conference championship plaque into the air.
“It’s been a long time coming for our girls program,” Thomas Jefferson coach Junior Joseph said. “I think 2018 was the last time they won the conference. It was a great day to be a Cav.”
The Cavaliers scored big points in nearly every event. In all, Thomas Jefferson had 25 top-four finishes.
“We have girls scoring points in distance, throws, short sprints and jumps,” Joseph said. “It took a little brain work to put the pieces together to pull it off. It’s a strategic game at times, especially as a smaller school. You have to shuffle people around and get them in the right events. It was a whole team effort today.”
College Heights Christian’s repeat bid fell just short.
“We won the events we were expected to win, but we just didn’t have enough girls,” College Heights coach Daniel Lewis said. “It was close…three points. There were multiple events where we just didn’t have another girl in that event. I don’t know if we could have done much differently with the limited number of kids we had. And TJ did a great job of figuring out where to put kids and what events to put them in. They did well in the field events. You have to give credit where credit is due. They did a fantastic job today. Their fifths, sixths and sevenths killed us.”
Wheaton (69), McAuley Catholic (45) and Verona (2) rounded out the girls standings.
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGHLIGHTS
Thomas Jefferson won five events and finished second in nine events. The hosts were third in five events and fourth in six events.
The Cavaliers won the 4×100 relay in 56.9 seconds, with Nico Carlson, Gabbi Hiebert, Avery Hocker and Alivia Beard competing.
Thomas Jefferson’s Macie Shifferd, Samantha Seto, Mia Grubbs and Sarah Mueller won the 4×800 relay in 11:57. Thomas Jefferson was the runner-up in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays.
The Cavaliers fared extremely well in the field events.
Carlson and Hiebert finished first and second in the high jump, while Hocker and Hiebert took first and second in the triple jump. Hocker and Carlson were second and third in the long jump.
Alexis Stamps and Lannah Grigg were the top two finishers in the discus.
Phoenix Wade placed fourth in the shot put and Grigg was fifth in the javelin.
On the track, Mueller crossed the line second in the 800-meter run in 2:49. Mueller also finished third in both the 1600 and the 3200.
Beard was the runner-up in the 100 (13.86) and also placed fourth in the 200 (29.24).
Hiebert placed second in the 300 hurdles and Stamps finished third in the 100 hurdles.
Carlson placed third in the 400-meter run, with teammate Shifferd fifth in the same event. Shifferd took fourth in the 800 and Natalie Carroll was fifth.
Shifferd and Seto placed fourth and fifth in the 1600, while Grubbs and Seto took fourth and fifth in the 3200. Grubbs and Seto also placed fourth and fifth in the 300 hurdles.
“Alivia Beard is our only senior,” Joseph said. “The first year she came out we had 26 people on the team and ended up with 12 by the end of that season. She’s the one senior that stuck it out. For Alivia and Elias Rincker, our other senior, to come out and have phenomenal days, it just means a lot. It was just a great day.”
COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
The defending Class 1 state champion College Heights girls won nine events.
College Heights standout Addie Lawrence won four individual events for the Cougars.
A junior, Lawrence won the 100-meter dash in 13.4 seconds and took first in the 200 in 27.9 seconds. Lawrence crossed the line first in the 400 with a time of 1:01 and also placed first in the long jump (4.8 meters).
College Heights’ Lauren Ukena won both hurdle races. Ukena recorded a winning time of 19.9 seconds in the 100 hurdles and clocked a 54.2 in the 300 hurdles.
CHC’s Emily Winters won the 800 with a time of 2:44.
College Heights won the 4×200 and 4×400 relays and finished second in both the 4×100 and 4×800 relays.
Jayli Johnson was the runner-up in three events, the 200, the 400 and the javelin. Ukena and Johnson finished third and fourth in the 100, while Ukena also placed third in the 200.
Also for the Cougars, Marla Anderegg finished second in the 1600 and third in the 800, while Isabella Maninges took second in the 100 hurdles.
Maddy Colin finished third in three events—the 300 hurdles, the high jump and the discus. Colin was fourth in the javelin.
Isabelle Clevenger and Lindsay Griesemer placed third and fourth in the triple jump, Katie Moss was fourth in the 400 and Madelynn Jordan was sixth in both the 1600 and 3200.
Coach Lewis noted CHC was without Libby Fanning, who usually scores big points in the shot put and discus. Fanning suffered an injury during a recent softball game.
MCAULEY CATHOLIC HIGHLIGHTS
Kendall Ramsey won two events for the Warriors.
A sophomore, Ramsey took first in the 1600 with a time of 6:18 and also won the 3200 in 14:20.
McAuley’s Avery Eminger placed third in both the javelin and the shot put and also took fourth in the discus. Kaitlyn Bates took fifth in the shot put.
“We need to improve our numbers on the girls’ side,” Warriors coach Andy Youngworth said. “But last year we only had one girl and just a handful of boys. And I’m really excited about our middle school programs.”
The Cavaliers, Cougars and Warriors won all but two events, as Wheaton’s Monica Hinojosa won the shot put and the javelin.
The Ozark 7 Conference Track Meet was held at Thomas Jefferson Independent School on Wednesday. All photos by Jason Peake.
