OZARK, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats definitely finished strong on Wednesday night.
Neosho’s boys were trailing Webb City in the team standings by a slim margin when the final event of the Central Ozark Conference track and field championships arrived.
However, the Wildcats won the 4×400-meter relay, Webb City finished sixth, and with that, Neosho captured the team championship at the 2023 COC Meet at Ozark High School.
Neosho finished with 129.33 points to Webb City’s 123.
Nixa (106.33), Joplin (92) and Ozark (68) rounded out the top five teams. Branson (63), Willard (58.33), Carthage (50), Republic (43) and Carl Junction (7) finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
The top five girls teams were Republic (129), Ozark (118.5), Nixa (105), Webb City (85) and Joplin (79).
Rounding out the girls team standings were Carthage (67.66), Carl Junction (60), Willard (47), Branson (26.5) and Neosho (20.33).
NEOSHO HIGHLIGHTS
Neosho won seven events and took second in two others. Overall, the Wildcats recorded 18 top-six performances.
The Wildcats had a strong showing in the sprints, relays and jumps.
Neosho’s Jared Siler (22-2.25) and Isaiah Green (21-6.75) took first and second in the long jump.
Green won the triple jump (44-5.25) and Siler was third (43-8.5). Siler also finished third in the high jump.
Tyrese Hill won the 100-meter dash in 10.87 seconds, and teammate Konnor Siler was fourth in 11.31. Hill also won the 200 in 22.37 seconds.
Izaiah Hill took first in the 400 with a time of 50.34 seconds. Teammate Isaiah Keezer was fifth. Izaiah Hill also placed fourth in the 200.
In addition to winning the 4×400 relay in 3:26, the Wildcats took first in the 4×200 relay in 1:30, were second in the 4×100 and placed fifth in the 4×800.
Also for the Wildcats, Carson Newell finished fourth in the 800, Carter Baslee finished sixth in the discus and Collyn Kivett was sixth in the javelin.
For the Neosho girls, Miranda Wennhold (triple jump) and Rylyn Moritz (200) both finished fourth.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s boys won four events and took second in five others. The Cardinals recorded 17 top-six performances.
Winning individual events for the Webb City boys were Grayson Smith (pole vault), Trey Roets (javelin) and Evan Stevens (3200).
Smith cleared 15 feet in the pole vault, while Roets recorded a toss of 174-9 and Stevens crossed the line at 9:21.
Stevens was also the runner-up in the 1600.
William Wolfe (11.04) and Jordan Thornburg (11.22) finished second and third in the 100-meter dash. Wolfe took second in the 200.
Justin Allen (pole vault), Malique McCarter (javelin) both finished third, Tucker Liberatore (javelin) was fourth and Jadon Brisco (pole vault) and Mason Hedger (800) both placed fifth.
Joseph DeGraffenreid took sixth in the high jump.
Webb City won the 4×100 relay in 43.12 seconds and finished second in both the 4×200 and 4×800 relays before finishing sixth in the 4×400.
Winning individual events for the Webb City girls were Chase Stilley (high jump), Dawsyn Decker (javelin) and Abi Street (3200).
Stilley cleared 5-1.75, while Decker recorded a toss of 133-10 and Street crossed the line at 11:14.
Street was second in the 1600, while teammate Brooke Hedger finished third in the 800 and fourth in the 1600.
Aubree Lassiter placed third in the discus, Essence Robinson took fifth in the 400 and Jaeli Rutledge and Kylee Sargent placed sixth and seventh in the shot put.
Webb City’s girls finished third in the 4×100 relay, third in the 4×400 and fourth in the 4×800 relay.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin senior Hobbs Campbell won two events and finished second in another.
Campbell won the 1600 in 4:20. The Eagles had three of the top seven in the event, as Ian Horton was sixth and Grey Edwards took seventh.
A future Kansas Jayhawk, Campbell won the 800 in 1:55. Campbell was the runner-up in the 3200 in 9:34.
Drew VanGilder took second in the javelin, Orion Norris placed third in the 200 and Cordell Washington (high jump) and Horton (3200) both finished fourth.
Finishing fifth were Davin Thomas (100), Neil Barstow (discus), Dontrell Holt (shot put) and Chance Tindall (3200). Avarus Kuhn-Wofford finished sixth in the 300 hurdles.
The Eagles took third in the 4×100 relay.
The Joplin girls also had a stellar showing.
Featuring Phia Vogel, Abigayle Lowery, Abigail Eckert and Brylee Strickland, the Joplin girls won the 4×100 relay in a school record time of 49.6 seconds.
Joplin finished third in the 4×200 relay.
Brylee Strickland won the 400-meter dash in 59.51 seconds and also took second in two other events, the 100 and the 200.
Kiki Thom was the runner-up in the 300 hurdles and Vogel took second in the 200.
Maria Loum placed third in the pole vault, Micah Holden was third in the 100 hurdles, Aubrey Strickland finished fifth in the 100 hurdles and Ava Werberger-Doll finished fifth in the 3200.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Miguel Solano was the runner-up in the 800, while Daryl Martin finished third in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Micah Lindsey placed third in the shot put and Trenton Yates finished fourth in the triple jump.
Carthage’s boys finished fourth in both the 4×800 and 4×400 relays.
For the Carthage girls, Chasity Straw won the discus with a toss of 109-12. Straw was fourth in the shot put.
Finishing second were Ada Roughton (triple jump) and Karlie Nichols (shot put), while Lexa Youngblood finished third in both the 200 and the 400.
Joey Hettinger placed fourth in the long jump and Maggie Boyd was sixth in the 800.
The CHS girls were fifth in the 4×400 relay.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction’s Sydney Ward won a pair of events in the girls meet, the 100-meter dash in 12.12 seconds and the 200 in 25.23. Both times are conference meet records.
The CJ girls won the 4×200 relay in 1:47. They were sixth in the 4×100.
Carl Junction’s Acadia Badgley and Brooke Jasperson finished fourth and fifth in the pole vault.
Zoie Weibel (400) and Madilyn Olds (javelin) both finished fourth, while Hannah Cantrell (triple jump) and Izzy Southern (shot put) placed fifth in their respective events.
Carl Junction’s Ryder Pyles finished fifth in the boys long jump and Braxton Dodds was eighth in the javelin.
Note: The names of those who competed in relays were unavailable at time of publication.
