El Dorado Springs Bulldogs State Track results

The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs Track team have a Big Weekend at the Class 3 State Championships!
On Thursday, May 26, the El Dorado Springs Track team loaded the bus to head to Jefferson City to prepare for the 2022 State Track and Field Championships for Classes 3, 4, and 5. They were escorted out of town by the El Dorado Springs and Olympia Fire Departments. After a wonderful sendoff, the track team ventured onto Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City. After walking the track and setting up camp, the team headed to eat and then get back to the motel to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for day 1 of the Class 3 State Championships.
After a good night’s sleep, the six boys (4 runners and 2 alternates) loaded the bus at 7:30 am to head over to Adkins Stadium at Jefferson City high school to prepare for Eldo’s first event, the 4 x 800 meter relay. After pinning numbers on jerseys they began to warm up for the first race, in hopes of getting the day started off right. As 10:30 started to get closer, the girls team showed up to support the boys and cheer them on, and then 10:30 showed up. Senior,James King, led things off for the Bulldogs, starting conservative as planned and moving through the field on his second lap and handing off to Freshman, Braxton Watts. Braxton took James lead and continued where James led off, both running their fastest legs of the year. Next up, Braxton handed off to Junior, Connor Goatley, which began to reel in some more teams throughout his run and set things up for the anchor, Senior, Daelen Ackley. As Daelen received the baton he continued moving forward, running his fastest split, and ending with a 4th place finish, giving the El Dorado Springs 4 x 800 team All-State honors, due to finishing in the top 8. In addition to the All-State honors, they re-broke the school record that they had originally set two weeks earlier at the District track meet, a record that had set since 1978, finishing with a time of 8:16.50. After that incredible start, the Bulldogs had a long wait for their next event, Hannah Klaiber in the 800 meter run at 4:30. Finally, the long span had passed and it was time for Hannah to continue the great start to the weekend in the 800 meter run. Hannah stepped up to the start line, awaiting the start of the gun, a long awaited sound to dispel the nerves. As the race began, Hannah started somewhat conserbative on the first lap just feeling out the competition. With 300 meters to go, Hannah began to move around and move herself through the pack getting herself into a position to attack. At the 200 meter to go mark she really started to get things moving, moving herself up into 3rd, heading into the final stretch, which after a close finish is where she finished. So a 2nd race and another All-State honor. She also broke the school record that she set last year at this meet, running a time of 2:21.85. Next up, to conclude Day 1 was the highly anticipated 3200 meter run. This race featured a pretty strong field of competitors, including Daelen Ackley. At risk, a long standing Class 3 State Record. The race got off to a very fast start and then settled but at a very fast pace led by Connor Burns, an athlete from Southern Boone County. Daelen just edged him last year in his races but Connor got him this year in cross country, so this proved to be a fast competitive race. However, after lap 3 and the blistering pace that was taking place, Daelen backed off the pace a little, thinking that Connor would not be able to hold the blistering pace. However, at the end of the day, Connor proved to be on his game, shattering a long standing State record, running a time of 8:48. This, however, brought Daelen in with a 2nd place finish, shattering his school record and beating the previous State Record, with a fast time of 8:59.47. So for the Bulldogs, Day 1 saw 3 All-State Performances and 3 new school records. Now to eat and prepare for Day 2.
On Day 2, Saturday, May 28, it was the girls 4 x 800 team to load up and leave early for the start of the day. They arrived around 8:30 and prepared to get themselves prepared for their 10:30 race, in hopes of getting Day 2 started in the same fashion as Day 1. So as the time drew closer, the girls headed out for one last build up and then sent Senior, Morgan Mitchell, onto the track to get things started for the girls Bulldog relay team. Morgan started off conservative through the first 650 meters of the 800 and then really turned it on the last 150 meters, moving through the field and gaining positions, running her fastest split since her freshman year. Morgan then handed off to Freshman Audrey Goatley to continue the 2nd leg. Audrey got off to a fast start on the first lap trying to move forward through the field and held the positions that she had gained throughout the second lap, handing off to Senior Kenli Rader. Kenli took off in a conservative fashion throughout the first 600, but really turned it on with 200 meters to go moving the Bulldogs up into 7th place, as she handed off to Junior Hannah Klaiber. Hannah held that position, seeing the Bulldog 4 x 800 relay team finish 7th, another All-State honor, with another school record time of 10:11.72. Next up was clash #2 between Bulldog Senior Daelen Ackley and Connor Burns, embedded in an extremely talented class of seniors. As the race began Daelen and Connor emerged at the front of the race, with Daelen leading the first two laps, an unwanted move. So after going fairly slow through the first two laps for these two, Connor led the 3rd lap in a very fast pace with Daelen right on his heels. Daelen was already planning on pushing the 3rd, so it worked out well for Daelen that Connor was able to do some of the work. This led to an exciting finish. Daelen made a move coming off the curve into the final stretch, to win the 1600 with a state best time of 4:05.96, once again, breaking another school record. Next up was Daelen and teammate Connor Goatley in the boys 800 meter run. Again a very fast field. Daelen took the lead shortly before the first lap ended in a somewhat conservative pace for him and then pushed the 3rd 200, setting up a wild finish, as he had another competitor close by and trying to close on Daelen, however, in the process of overrunning, trying to catch Daelen, he fell and Daelen went on to win the 800 in a state fastest and school record breaking time of 1:53.52. Teammate Connor Goatley, started the race conservatively through the first 500 meters, but began to move through the field in the next 150 meters and finishing with an aggressive sprint to the finish, putting him on the medal stand with Daelen, with an 8th place finish and a personal best time of 2:00.66. To wrap things up for the Bulldogs was Freshman Audrey Goatley in the 3200 meter run. Audrey went in ranked 13th and finished 10th with her second best time of the season, 12:31.44.
At the end of the day, the boys team found themselves in 5th with 35 points as a team, missing a 4th place, Team Trophy by 1 point and 3rd place by 3 points. So it was an exciting weekend and a great ending to an incredible season. This weekend saw 7 All-State performances (top 8 Places) and 6 new school records. The Bulldogs represented El Dorado Springs incredibly well. As they returned home at around 9:30, they were met by the Olympia and El Dorado Springs Fire Trucks at Sac Osage and given an incredible warm escort back into town, as they were met by the public for one last hoorah. They got off the bus to the fight song being blared over the speakers. Coach Goatley then gave a wrapup of the incredible weekend to the fans and introduced all of the athletes, then we concluded the weekend.
The El Dorado Springs track team and coaches would like to extend a huge thank you to the School Board, the El Dorado Springs Bulldog Boosters Club, the Optimist Club and the Nine Wonders Optimist Club for helping make it financially possible for us to make this trip. We would also like to thank the El Dorado Springs and Olympia Fire Departments for giving us an incredible escort both out of and into town. We would also like to thank Dave Rotert for putting together the warm gathering and DJ session bringing the team home in a warm fashion. And last but not least we would like to thank the incredible parents and fans for their incredible support. We are truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing community. It is truly a great time to be a BULLDOG! GO BULLDOGS!