There was plenty of suspense in the air when the final event of the Class 1 District 5 track meet concluded on Saturday night at Mountain Grove High School.
Three boys squads — Lockwood, Thomas Jefferson and McAuley Catholic — were all in the hunt for a team championship near the end of the meet.
And when the dust settled, and thanks to a strong finish in the 4×400-meter relay, McAuley Catholic was the squad celebrating when the final team scores were announced.
For the Warriors, a feeling of anxiousness quickly turned into a feeling of pure joy.
McAuley finished with 94 points to capture the team championship, while runner-up Thomas Jefferson had 93 points and Lockwood finished third with 90.
“In MoMileSplit’s virtual meet, we were fourth or fifth, so it wasn’t supposed to happen on paper,” McAuley coach Andy Youngworth said. “And there were six events we didn’t compete in. But you never know. I’m really pleased. We really competed well. I’m just really happy for these kids. I know the kids are excited.
“It was just one point…that’s what it came down to,” Youngworth added. “Thomas Jefferson has a good team and they beat us at the conference meet. TJ’s coach Clayton Carnahan came over even before it was announced that we won and congratulated us. I thought that showed a lot of class. I appreciated that.”
The district championship is the first in school history for the McAuley boys track program.
Now in his second year at the helm of the McAuley program, Youngworth noted it was a rewarding experience to watch his team not only celebrate a district championship, but also make history.
“I’ve done this for a long time,” the veteran coach said. “There have been other things I’ve been involved with that have brought a lot of enjoyment, but this is way up there because it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Youngworth said McAuley’s previous best finish at a district meet was a third place showing in 2014.
“One of our goals this season was to win the conference,” Youngworth said. “That’s hard to do because College Heights is really good and really deep. The second goal was to win a district championship. It’s always been one of our goals. This group has bought in from Day 1. I’m really happy for the kids and I’m hoping this is something the program can build on.”
Youngworth said he was able to check the live results online a few times throughout the meet to see how the team standings were looking.
“We were kind of hanging around all meet,” Youngworth said. “Every time I checked the live results we’d be in third or second and not that far off from first.
“After the two-mile, we were nine points out of first place behind Thomas Jefferson and we were tied with Lockwood. Thomas Jefferson didn’t have an entry in the 4×400. So we were fortunate we had those four kids running the mile relay.”
The Warriors’ seed time in the 4×400 was 3:50, but McAuley’s foursome of Alex Bohachick, Dylan Taffner, Jack Jones and Michael Parrigon recorded a winning time of 3:41.
Their win, which delivered 10 points, put the Warriors in first place in the team standings.
At the district meet, the top four finishers in each event qualified for Saturday’s Class 1 Sectional 3 meet.
McAuley’s boys recorded 11 top-four performances in 10 events, with multiple qualifiers in one event.
The Warriors won three events, finished second in three others, had a pair of third-place showings and took fourth in three events.
“We scored points in 13 of the 19 events,” Youngworth noted. “Every kid who competed for the boys team scored a point and will be in an event on Saturday. I’m not sure that’s ever happened before on one of my teams…every kid who competed at districts will compete at sectionals.”
The showing in the 4×400 capped a stellar day in the relays for the Warriors.
McAuley’s 4×800 relay team of Bohachick, Connor Taffner, Drew Zeb and Trae Veer took first in 9:18
The team’s 4×100 of Ethan Stabb, Jones, Dylan Taffner and Bohachick finished second in 49.93 and the 4×200 of Stabb, Staton, Dylan Taffner and Tripp Miller placed fourth in 1:49.
Joe Staton won the pole vault with a clearance of 11-4.5.
Parrigon finished second in the 1600 in 4:47 and third in the 800 in 2:06, while Bohachick finished third in the 400 in 54.39 and Veer placed fourth in the 3200 in 11:14.
The Warriors had two of the top four in the javelin, as Roscoe Miller was the runner-up (113-8) and Max Anreder was fourth (108-10).
Two Warriors finished fifth in their events, Jones in the high jump and Veer in the triple jump. Anreder finished seventh in the discus, Drew took seventh in the 1600 and Connor Taffner was eighth in the 800.
And although they missed qualifying for the sectional, all of those points were crucial for the team.
“It’s not just the first places that win you meets, it’s the sixth, seventh and eighth places that help you do it,” Youngworth noted.
RAMSEY LEADS MCAULEY GIRLS
McAuley Catholic junior Kendall Ramsey advanced to the sectional in three events.
Ramsey won two events, the 1600 in 5:47 and the 3200 in 13:08. Ramsey was the runner-up in the 800 with a time of 2:42.
“Kendall ran well and competed well,” Youngworth said. “She ran a PR in the 800. She was solid in the 3200 and the 1600. I’m excited for her. I think she’s confident and I think she’s in a good spot as far as the sectional.”
Also competing the McAuley girls were freshmen Brooke Righter (hurdles), Samantha Perrin (400), Vanessa Diaz-Hernandez (100, 200) and Keira Mays (discus, shot).
The McAuley girls finished eighth in the standings with 33 points.
“My goal is to create two programs that are competitive, but you have to have some numbers to do that,” Youngworth said. “Our girls scored more points this year, which was good to see. Hopefully this year’s success will get more kids to come out in the future. If not, we’ll continue to do the best we can.”
SECTIONAL MEET IS SATURDAY
At Saturday’s sectional meet hosted by the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, state berths will be secured by those who finish in the top four of each event.
The MSHSAA Track & Field Championships for Class 1 will be held on May 19-20 in Jefferson City.
