Lady Wildcats medal twice at state, boys one place away in relay
By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
A strong senior class helped propel the Cassville track and field teams to new heights at the state meet, highlighted by two medals and two new school records for the Lady Wildcats.
The Cassville boys and girls competed in 10 events at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday, with the girls taking fourth place in the 4×800 relay and Jolie Evans placing fifth in the 3200-meter run.
Erin Flehmer, Cassville girls track coach, said the 4×800 relay team of senior Marianne McCrackin, junior Tori Mitchell, junior Jadyn Williams-Reed and senior Jolie Evans has worked its way up the ladder in recent years, going from ninth place two years ago to eighth last year and fourth this year. Experience, Flehmer said, made all the difference.
“They have all been there before and got a taste of what it feels like to get a medal,” she said. “Going in, they saw it as just another meet. It has always been on their radar they would run at state this year, so they were calm and focused and knew what to expect.”
Along with the medal, the Lady Wildcats also broke a 21-year record by less than a second. The Lady Wildcats ran a 10:03.51, and the previous record set in 2002 was a 10:04.
Flehmer said Evans performed well in each of her events, and the 3200-meter and 800-meter fields were as fast as they could expect.
“I think that’s the fastest two-mile Jolie has ever run,” she said. “Usually she runs the first mile at a pace to get a feel for the competition, then turns it on in the second mile. Both of those miles on Friday were hard, so she was happy with the fifth-place finish.”
Evans also broke a school record — her own. At the SBU Meet this season, she ran an 11:50.68 to break Jordyn Stafford’s 2018 record of 11:57. At state on Friday, Evans turned in an 11:36.15.
Overall, Flehmer said Cassville competed exceptionally well.
“[Freshman] Aaliyah [Franklin] competed in discus at state for the first time, so she had a little nerves,” Flehmer said. “But, she came out and competed, and that gave her drive to want to be back next year. Jolie came up just short in the 800 on Saturday in a very fast race after having run hard in two events on Friday.”
Looking to 2024, Flehmer said losing the seniors and quality of athletes will put Cassville in a rebuilding phase, but still with state qualifiers.
“Aaliyah is planning to get in the weight room this summer and hopefully qualify for discus and shot put, and Tori and Jadyn should make some running events.”
Cassville’s boys qualified for six events, with the best finish coming for the 4×800 relay team, one spot away from a medal in ninth place.
“I’m really proud of our guys to make it up there,” said Clay Weldy, Cassville boys track and field coach. “These senior boys had a really good season and I am proud they made it to state in multiple events. Of course we hoped for better, but I am proud of how they competed and conducted themselves the whole weekend.”
Weldy said the number of qualifications this year was a testament to the seniors and their continued efforts over their prep careers.
“The coolest thing is they are all extra hard workers,” he said. “When they came in as freshmen, they were underdeveloped physically. If you saw them then and what they are now as seniors, it’s everything a coach could ask for. They made themselves very good athletes. I am impressed with how much they improved and how they made themselves good runners and progressed over four years.”
Weldy said he also hopes that example leaves an impression on his underclassmen, who hope to qualify to state next year.
“We’ll return Ashton Wheeler as a possible qualifier in long jump, and the 4×200 relay team was just one place out of qualifying for state,” he said. “This was a good seniors group, but we also had a lot of young guys. I hope the younger ones learned from the older ones how to do things the right way. I hope that rubs off on the younger guys and that Ashton can help with him being experienced at state now.”
Full results from the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships include:
Girls 4×800 relay — 4th
The Lady Wildcat relay team of Marianne McCrackin, Tori Mitchell, Jadyn Williams-Reed and Jolie Evans ran a 10:03.51, just over 6 seconds behind race winner El Dorado Springs, to take fourth place in Class 3.
Cassville made the first exchange in ninth place at 2:34.76, moving up to seventh place at the next exchange at 5:07.14 (2:32.39 split). Williams-Reed then gained another three places to deliver the baton to Jolie Evans at 7:39.22 (2:32.08 split), who kept Cassville in that position through the end at 10:03.51 (2:24.30 split).
El Dorado Springs ran a 9:57.03, Centralia a 9:57.64 and Osage a 10:01.39.
Girls 3200-meter run — 5th
Cassville’s Jolie Evans finished in fifth place in the Class 3 3200-meter run with a time of 11:36.15. She ran her first 400 in 1:15.95, and each subsequent split between 1:23.38 and 1:31.63. The winner of the race, St. Michael the Archangel’s Elsa Henry, finished the race in 11:09.84.
Boys 4×800 Relay — 9th
The Cassville boys 4×800 relay team of Forsyth Hayse, Jacob Martinez, Charles Elliott and Caleb Leach took ninth place in Class 3 with a time of 8:16.65. Dexter High School won the event with a time of 8:03.05.
Girls 800m Run — 11th
Cassville’s Jolie Evans took 11th place in the Class 3 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.97. Eldon High School’s Zoe Martonfi won the event in 2:16.02.
Boys 800m Run — 12th
Cassville’s Caleb Leach took 12th place in the Class 3 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.18. He turned in a nearly even split, with his second 400 meters only .54 seconds slower than his first, the third-best split in the race. The event’s winner, East Newton’s Chase Sorrell, ran the race in 1:53.60.
Boys Long Jump — 13th
Cassville’s Ashton Wheeler took 13th in the Class 3 long jump competition with a distance of 6.06m. The winner of the event, Orchard Farm High School’s Jason Williams, turned in a jump of 7.01m.
Boys 3200m Run — 15th
Cassville’s Forsyth Hayse took 15th place in the Class 3 3200-meter run, finishing in a time of 10:18.26. Hayse was as high as eighth early in the race, and the winning time was turned in by Southern Boone County’s Connor Burns in 9:20.14.
Girls Discus — 16th
Cassville’s Aaliyah Franklin took 16th place in the Class 3 discus competition, throwing a distance of 26.96m. The winner of the event, Palmyra’s Candra King, threw for 39.95m.
Boys 4×400 Relay
The Cassville boys 4×400 relay team of Jacob Martinez, Caleb Leach, Charles Elliott and Peter Littlefield took fifth place in the first heat on Friday with a time of 3:31.46. The Wildcats finished in 10th out of the 16 teams, two spots from Saturday finals qualification. Lutheran North won the finals Saturday with a time of 3:23.51.
Boys 300m Hurdles
Cassville’s Charles Elliott took sixth place in the second heat of the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.68. He also took 10th out of the 16 runners, two spots away and .24 seconds from finals qualification. The winning time Saturday was a 38.74 from St. James High School’s Kaiden Snyder.
Full results are provided by MSHSAA at https://live.pttiming. com/?mid=5669. Updates will be provided here as soon a possible.
