Fourth place

Lewis wins long jump; Bulldogs place fourth

sd_sports@yahoo.com

JEFFERSON CITY -- Saturday's Class 3 State Championship in Jefferson City marked the end of another great season for the Sikeston track team.

After taking first place overall last season in the boy's division, the Bulldogs followed up this year with a more than respectable fourth place overall finish.

"Our kids battled, hung in there and came out and did what they had to do," coach Terry Flannigan said. "We wanted fourth or better so we could bring home a team trophy."

Sikeston came away with 45 points at the end of the meet, trailing third-place Staley by only three points.

Placing first and second in the class were University City and McCluer South-Berkeley with 54 and 63 points respectively.

One of Sikeston's strongest performances was in the long jump as Trey Lewis took first with a distance of 22-10 1/4 with fellow Bulldog Darryl Howard coming in fourth with 21-9 1/4.

The duo also placed high in the triple jump as Lewis came in second with 46-8 3/4 and Howard fifth with 45-1 on Friday afternoon.

Trailing only McCluer South-Berkeley by .43 of second, Sikeston took second in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:28.39. The relay team included Quentin Washington, Alex Clark, Ray Clark and Ismail Johnson.

Beating expectations coming in to the meet was Tanner Bryant, who finished eighth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.21 seconds.

"I was seeded 14th and ended up getting 8th," Bryant said. "I can't complain about that."

In his second event of the meet Johnson came away with fifth-place in the 400-meter dash running a 49.09, matching his pre-meet seeding.

"I placed what I was seeded," he said. "I did my best and I was pretty satisfied with that.

"Last year I got eighth and this year I got fifth. Of course I wanted first, but I'm satisfied."

Earning Sikeston its final five points of the meet was the 1,600-meter relay team of Bryant, Alex Clark, Johnson and Washington. They took fourth with a time of 3:24.57 minutes.

With this being the third season in a row the Bulldogs have finished fourth or better in the state, Flannigan hopes his team's continued success is leading to a strong tradition and higher expectation from the Sikeston track program.

He added that, although they lose four key seniors from this year's team, including Alex Clark, Johnson and Bryant, he's optimistic they can make another strong run next year.

"If we can pick up a couple people like we did this year and a few eighth graders coming up and mix them in there then I think we can make another run at four or better next year."

While the Sikeston girl's squad may not have had the showing that the boys did, they also came away with solid performances.

Finishing 24th overall with nine-points the Lady Bulldogs were led by the performances of Betsy Borgsmiller and Jalen Peet.

Borgsmiller took fourth place in the high jump with a height of 5-2 while Peet earned fifth in the long jump with a distance of 17-5 1/2 on Friday.

Local Results from Friday and Saturday

Class 3 Boys

Long jump -- 1. Trey Lewis, Sikeston, 22-10 1/4; 4. Darryl Howard, Sikeston, 21-9 1/4

Triple jump -- 2. Trey Lewis, Sikeston, 46-8 3/4; 5. Darryl Howard, Sikeston, 45-1

Shot put -- 14. Josh Carlyle, Sikeston, 45-2 1/4

110m hurdles -- DQ Alex Clark, Sikeston.

100 -- 13. Ray Clark, Sikeston, 11.38

800m relay -- 2. Sikeston (Quentin Washington, Alex Clark, Ray Clark, Ismail Johnson), 1:28.39

400 -- 5. Ismail Johnson, Sikeston, 49.09

300m hurdles -- 8. Tanner Bryant, Sikeston, 40.21

1600m relay -- 4. Sikeston (Tanner Bryant, Quentin Washington, Alex Clark, Ismail Johnson), 3:24.57.

Team -- 1. University City 63; 2. McCluer South-Berkeley 54; 3. Staley 48; 4. Sikeston 45.

Class 3 Girls

High jump -- 4. Betsy Borgsmiller, Sikeston, 5-2

Long jump -- 5. Jalen Peet, Sikeston, 17-5 1/2

Triple jump -- 11. Jalen Peet, Sikeston, 34-9 1/4

100m hurdles -- 14. Brittany Johnson, NMCC, 16.52

100 -- 12. Tyanne Townsend, Sikeston, 13.04

800m relay -- 9. Sikeston (Vonteria Applewhite, Frankasia Howard, Jalen Peet, Tyanne Townsend), 1:46.18

200 -- 13. Vonteria Applewhite, Sikeston 27.02

Teams -- 1. McCluer South-Berkeley 62; 2. Pembroke Hill 58; 3. Herculaneum 43; 4. Maryille 39; 24. Sikeston 9.