Spoofhound boys win third-straight district crown
KEN GARNER/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Connor Blackford hands to Dylan Meyer in the 4×400-meter relay on Saturday in Plattsburg.
PLATTSBURG, Mo. — There’s a saying that goes along the lines of good things come in threes. The Maryville boys track and field team made that a reality winning their third-straight district championship on Saturday at the Class 3 District 8 meet in Plattsburg.
Maryville nearly doubled up the competition scoring 202.50 points which was 98.50 points more the the runner-up.
“It definitely feels good coming out of conference, it really shows how we have been putting in the work this season to stay consistent and it’s really paying off,” senior Delton Davis said.
On a day where the wet and windy weather played a role in nearly every event, Maryville coach Rodney Bade liked the grit he saw from his team.
“Today was good for our boys,” he said. “In almost everything we came out here and took care of business. We persevered through the conditions. It was certainly not ideal. They rose to the challenge and they took care of business.”
Although winning a district championship is nice and is the icing on the proverbial cake, this time of year in track and field it’s about qualifying for the next meet. In total, the Spoofhounds are moving on to the sectional competition this weekend in 16 events.
“We were more concerned about making sure we were qualifying individuals and relays in the right (events) and the right places and not overload someone just to get a district championship,” he said.
The formula seemed to work as Maryville crowned multiple district champions including sweeping the throwing events.
Senior Wesley Snead took first in the javelin with only one throw, which was 41.62 meters, in his return to action as he is still recovering from injury.
Freshman Mace McKim won both the shot put and discus with throws of 14.31 meters and 43.07 meters respectively. Carson Sterling was the runner-up in each event with distances of 14.30 meters and 39.38 meters.
McKim and Sterling have been near the top of the leaderboards all season, but taking the top two spots as teammates and moving on together along with their other qualifying teammates is something that McKim clearly enjoyed.
“It was a cool experience to be a freshman out here winning both (events),” he said. “It feels good. Carson is a really good thrower and a really good friend. … We’re really deep and have a lot of good people on the team. It’s going to be be fun.”
Also in field events, senior Wyatt Garner, a recent Northwest Missouri State track and field commitment, continues out-distancing the competition with a district championship in the long jump with leap of 6.77 meters.
The Spoofhounds were extremely strong in the relay events as they won three of the four races and placed second in the other.
The 4×800-meter relay team of Dylan Masters, Connor Blackford, Colton Berry and Bradley Deering were the top team with a time of 8:54.21 over 40 seconds faster than the runners-up.
The team of Tuan Jacobson, Dylan Meyer, Delton Davis and Garner were the district champions in the 4×200-meter relay in a time of 1:32.25.
The 4×400-meter relay team of Davis, Blackford, Meyer and Masters also are the champions with a time of 3:32.35.
In the 1600-meter run, the Hounds took the top two spots with Blackford as the champion at 4:43.10 and Berry the runner-up at 4:46.72.
In the 3200-meter run, Deering had the top spot in 10:01.62.
In the 400-meter dash, Masters is the district champion with a time of 51.57 and Meyer was the runner-up in a time of 52.25
There were also a host of runner-up finishes for Maryville,
Blackford was district runner up in the 800-meter run in a time of 1:59.15. Garner was second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.30.
The team of Brody Shepherd, Jacobson, Davis and Garner were second in the 4×100-meter relay in a time of 44.51.
Shepherd also qualified for the sectional round with a personal-best in the pole vault with a height of 3.39 as the district runner-up.
Sadler Viau is also moving on with a third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.69. Titus McKim also qualified with in the triple jump with a leap of 12.31meters.
The team first aspect of the Spoofhounds is clear with the sheer number of athletes who are moving on and those who surrender some individual accolades for the betterment of the team.
“It says a lot about our character and culture that we have within our track and field program,” Davis said. “We know we have one central goal and are devoted.”
Other scoring points to help Maryville to the district title were
Dalton McDonough in the 800-meter run (fifth place), Caden Eigmhy (fifth place) in the 110-meter hurdles, Titus McKim (fifth place) in both the high jump and javelin, Shawn Mahoney (fifth place) in the pole vault, Jonah Miller (seventh place) in the 300 meter hurdles, Viau (seventh place) in the triple jump, Shepherd (seventh place) in the 100 meter dash and Titus McKim (ninth place) in the long jump.
Although Bade likes where his team sits heading into this weekend’s meet to move his athletes forward there is still work to be done.
“We have some things that are in good shape and we have some things that are going to be a heck of a challenge,” he said. “There are some tight events, but that’s why we do the meet.”
The Spoofhound qualifiers will compete at the Class 3 Sectional 4 meet on Saturday in Holden.
