On Saturday, the El Dorado Springs Track team traveled to Odessa to compete in the class 3 Sectional track and field meet.  We entered into Saturday with 9 athletes in 14 events total.  This meet would determine who is to move on to the state track meet, held in Jefferson City on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25.  The top four finishers in each event punch their ticket to Jeff City and the Class 3 State Track and Field Meet.

This day would give some challenging weather as we went in and out of delays several times due to weather conditions and lightning, but the team, I thought did well with going with the flow and rolling with it.

On the girls side, Morgan Mitchell got through, placing 4th in the 800 meter run, with a personal best time of 2:34.  Unfortunately, the girls 4 x 800 meter relay, consisting of Kenli Rader, Morgan Mitchell, Leah Rohlin and Sarah King, fell just short of qualifying, ending up in the infamous 5th position, despite improving their time by 14 seconds.  It was kind of a bitter sweet moment, disappointing that we missed it, but good that we finished with such a strong time.

On the boys side, Senior Shelby McKinney, started the day off with a heartbreak performance in the discus, holding on to the 4th position, up until one of the final throws in the last round, which edged him out by a mere 2 inches, to end up 5th.  He went on to take 6th in shot put.  This was the first year Shelby had got shot put and discus to the sectional meet, and really threw well, but just fell short.  However, this was a year of redemption for him in the javelin throw, as he has been to sectionals the last 2 years, and just missed state in 5th place, each of the last 2 years.  So this year, he came in with a purpose of redemption on his mind, determined to not let that happen a third time, and third time proved to be the charm.  Shelby through well, and ended up winning the competition with a school record breaking throw of 157’8” and looks to contend for an All State position this weekend at the State meet.  That being said, Shelby’s teammate, threw a personal best throw of 151’ to finish in 2nd place.  While the javelin was wrapping up, Daelen Ackley was punching his ticket to State in the 1600 meter run, running a personal best time of 4:31.  Unfortunately, Brayden Housh and Taylor Wingert weren’t able to get through in the 110 or 300 meter hurdle races.

Finally, just before the 3200 meter run and class 3 boys pole vault, a huge thunderstorm cell moved in and the rest of the meet was postponed until Monday, May 20.  So, Brayden Housh and Ethan Parshall will pole vault at 10 a.m., Monday in Odessa, with Kenli Rader running the girls 3200 meter run at noon and Daelen Ackley running the boys 3200 meter run at 12:30.  Monday will determine the final tickets to State.

Thank you all for your support.