2006 Missouri Track Season Preview

To kick things off here is an article Ben wrote for the March issue of Missouri Runner Magazine previewing the upcoming Missouri State Track season:

The 2006 Missouri State High School Track season is quickly approaching and by the end of May, the Show-Me State’s best athletes will once again be on display in Jefferson City. Many of this year’s top returning tracksters already have state titles under their belts and this spring might be more about records than wins.

GIRLS

Sprints
If its records you want look no further than McCluer South-Berkeley’s Alishea Usery. Look quick though because you might miss her. The sophomore Usery returns as defending Class 3 champion in the 100, 11.79 seconds, 200 (24.39) and 400 (54.22). Those marks ranked fourth, second and second among the nation’s ninth-graders a year ago. Usery will now try to match 2004 Olympian Muna Lee, who won Missouri State 100 and 200 titles four years in a row. To do so she will once again have to stay a step ahead of Central V.P.A junior LaJada Baldwin who finished second to Usery in all 3 events in 2005.

Hurdles
The favorite to sweep top honors in both hurdles races in 2006 is St. Joe Central senior Katie Wenger. Wenger ran 14.60 and 44.04 to finish third and second at last year’s Class 4 State Meet. Challenges could come from Lee’s Summit North’s Megan Marlborough in the 100 hurdles and McCluer’s NaTasha Blair in the 300’s.

Distance
The 2006 Class 4 State Meet will be the final curtain call for one of Missouri’s best ever distance runners. Eureka’s Meredith Snow will try to add to her 11 state titles in cross country and track. At the 2005 State Championships Snow pulled off an incredibly tough triple by winning the 800, 1600 and 3200. After a stellar fall in which Snow broke a 16-year-old course record at the State Cross Country Championships and finished 33rd at the Foot Locker National Championships the Texas A&M bound senior appears poised to go out with a bang.

Jumps
In 2005 Jefferson City’s Leandra McGruder and Rolla’s Chantae McMillan went 1-2 in the Class 4 long and triple jumps. McGruder took the top spot in the triple with a mark of 39 feet, 7 inches, while McMillan leapt 19-5 for the long jump title. Their double rematch could be two of this year’s most exciting events on the field. Another sequel will feature two more Jefferson City athletes as Vera Neuenswander and Breanna Bussel look to repeat their 1-2 finish in the pole vault. Branson’s Tara Diebold was last year’s Class 3 champion and her 11-9 height topped all Classes. The girls high jump is wide open with several athletes hitting the 5-5 mark at the 2005 Championships. Washington senior Jesse Wood was runner-up in Class 4 and may be the slight favorite to take home this year’s title.

Throws
Fort Osage junior Katie Vanarsdall is the leading candidate to take home this year’s best discus mark. Her 134-3 was nearly 18 feet farther than the next best underclassmen at last year’s Championships. The path to shot put supremacy is less clear with William Chrisman’s Tessa Letuli and Hazelwood East’s Ashley Holmes the top returners from 2005. The pair finished second and third and were separated by just more than an inch.

Teams
Jefferson City dominated the girls Class 4 meet a year ago, scoring 76.5 points and outdistancing second place Hazelwood Central by more than 25 points. The Lady Jays have a great opportunity to climb to the top step once again and can expect big points in the field from jumper Leandra McGruder and pole vaulters Vera Neuenswander and Breanna Brussel. If McCluer South Berkeley can find a Robin to Alishea Usery’s Batman they may be able to challenge for the Class 3 title. In 2005 it was traditional power Ladue Horton Watkins taking the Class 3 honors with 75 points.

BOYS

Sprints
Paul Chaney of St. Louis University High returns in 2006 in an attempt to add to the State Title collection he started last year. Then a junior, Chaney ran away from the fields in the 100 and 200 meters, with times of 10.52 seconds and 21.25 seconds, respectively. Chaney added a third place finish in the 400 and is the favorite for this year’s one-lap title as well. Should he improve upon his winning marks from a year ago, Chaney may well be a favorite for a national sprint title. The University of Iowa-bound senior ranks as the country’s sixth best returner in both short dashes.

Hurdles
Another St. Louis University High standout tops the list of returning Missourians in the 300 hurdles. Stephen Simmons, a football teammate of Chaney’s in the fall, was second in last year’s long hurdles with a time of 38.17. On his heels a year ago was Rockwood Summit’s Edward Calvin and the two are in line to duel for the top spot in 2006. Seniors took the top three spots in the Class 4 110 hurdles in 2005, leaving this year’s race wide open. Ritenour’s Derrick Howard and Oak Park’s Nick Adcock are the top returners.

Distance
Lee’s Summit North’s Jacob Boone looks to find the form that brought him to the top of the podium in 2005 in the 3200. Boone’s furious 59 second last lap brought the crowd to its feet and secured the team title for LSN on the meet’s final day. Boone, who has already committed to the University of Oklahoma, is also the man to beat in the Class 4 1600. His stiffest competition for top state honors in both events may come from Class 3 and the Josh and Josh show from Potosi. Juniors Josh Mathis, 9:23 in the 3200, and Josh Thebeau, 4:15 in the 1600, are coming off outstanding cross country seasons and should deliver fast times this spring in both events.

Jumps
The Class 3 meet is also home to the state’s best returning jumper. As a junior in 2005, Andrew Gassen of Clinton took top honors in the triple jump with a leap of 47-2. His 22-7 long jump placed second and was tops in any Class for this year’s jumpers. Marquette’s C.J. Johnson should mount a strong challenge for best overall jumper as his marks of 47-5 and 21-11 make him Class 4’s best returner in both events. The Class 4 competition is likely to see the best high jumping with Lee’s Summit North senior Dustin Andrews and Raytown South senior set to renew their battle from a year ago. In 2005 the Kansas City pair went 1-2 with Andrews’ mark of 6-10 getting the best of Payne’s 6-9. Not to be outmatched by the big schools, it is Class 2 that boasts the state’s best pole vaulter. Monroe City’s Brian Hancock will look to improve on his 16-0 mark from a year ago, a height that tied for tenth among the nation’s underclassmen.

Throws
As it was with the jumps so it goes with the throws. The battle for overall state supremacy is also a battle between Classes. The top returning shot putters are Class 2’s Andy Oaker from Steelville and Class 3’s Drew Frizzell from Chillicothe. Both are returning State Champions with Oaker putting 59-6 and Frizzell close behind with a 58-2. Oaker and Frizzell should also duel for top marks in the discus, but it is Class 4’s Michael Swart who can lay claim to the title of top returner. The Blue Springs South Senior launched a 168-4 to take second in the 2005 finals, a full 11 feet farther than Oaker’s winning Class 2 mark.

Teams
It is every true track fan’s dream for a meet to be decided by the final event, the 4 x 400 relay. At this year’s Class 4 meet that may very well be the case. In 2005 only eight points separated first from fourth and the big players are all back. Defending champions Lee’s Summit North return distance ace Jacob Boone, high jumper Dustin Andrews and pole vaulter Scott Betsher. Between the three of them they could garner nearly forty points. St. Louis University High brings back double state champion Paul Chaney and 15-point scorer Stephen Simmons as well as distance man Ben Murphy-Baum to try and counter the LSN attack. Look for Oak Park and Jefferson City to score well in the relays and the meet could indeed be determined on the last lap of the day. The Class 3 Meet should be no less dramatic with Potosi’s distance squad trying to rack up enough points to overcome last year’s champion Ozark.