Kliethermes takes second in girls pole vault

Calvary Lutheran's Samantha Gunn splashes down in the pit while competing in the Class 1 girls long jump Saturday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.
Calvary Lutheran's Samantha Gunn splashes down in the pit while competing in the Class 1 girls long jump Saturday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.

Shanley Kliethermes wasn't aiming for second place instead of first, but she didn't have much of a choice.

The St. Elizabeth pole vaulter was competing against the other 14 athletes in the pole vault Saturday at the Class 1 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City, while Columbia Indepedent's Khristen Bryant was in a league of her own.

Kliethermes reached 9-6 to finish in second place. Bryant didn't even begin to vault until 10-0 and finished at 12-6 to break her own state record set last season. The pole vault was the third of three state titles Bryant won Saturday. She took a break in the middle of the pole vault competition to go win the Class 1 girls 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash.

"It's great just to watch her, but to compete with her, it's crazy," Kliethermes said. "I just tried to go for my own personal record."

Kliethermes didn't quite reach her personal record of 10-0, which she accomplished last weekend at sectionals. Still, she doesn't plan to be intimidated by Bryant if she gets an opportunity to face her again next season at state.

"I'm going to work more this summer in the offseason," Kliethermes said. "Hopefully I can get up to 10-6 or 11-0."

St. Elizabeth also had an All-State pole vaulter in the Class 1 boys competition, with Wyatt Stiles finishing in fifth place. Stiles is also a member of the Class 1 District 9 champion Hornets baseball team, so his spring season isn't over yet. St. Elizabeth will play at District 10 champion New Franklin at 6 p.m. Monday.

Calvary Lutheran's Luke Allen also finished runner-up to a state record-breaker in the Class 1 boys triple jump. Allen's leap of 42-4.25 was a distant second behind Rich Hill's Bryant Courter, whose record jump was 47-8.75.

"I was expecting to get into the top five at least, but second's great," Allen said. " I want to try and get 44-0 next year. That's my goal."

Allen was one of three area athletes to medal in the boys triple jump. St. Elizabeth teammates Drake Wilkerson and Jacob Struemph also placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

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hax0428 for hax

The two were separated by less than two inches in the final results and Struemph made the cut-off for All-State honors by a quarter of an inch. Wilkerson, a senior, gets to hold the final bragging rights over Struemph, a junior, in their final competition together.

"That's probably the reason we're both here," Wilkerson said. "We've just been pushing each other and pushing each other."

Many athletes competing during the two-day championships have plenty of experience on their side, but that wasn't the case for Calvary Lutheran's Samantha Gunn. She didn't try the long jump until this season, and prior to districts, she had only jumped at three regular-season events.

Making the move from the 100-meter hurdles to the long jump to compensate for a back injury paid off for Gunn. She took sixth place at state, setting a personal record of 15-9.75.

"It's just a great experience to be here at state and know that you made it this far, to be in the top 16 in the state," said Gunn, who was a state qualifier last year in the 300-meter hurdles. "Next year, I plan on hopefully getting first. I'm going to try to improve my jump by a couple of feet and really work on my technique."

As for other All-State medalists, St. Elizabeth senior Audrey Strutton finished sixth in the girls discus and Chamois junior Lucas Kuhn placed sixth in the boys 300-meter hurdles.

Mickayla Strother was Jamestown's only state track and field qualifier who competed Saturday and the senior was looking for a little redemption in her final high school competition.

Strother was an All-District softball player in the fall for the Lady Eagles and was the CCAA conference MVP on the basketball court. Jamestown had high expectations this season in both softball and girls basketball, tabbed as the No. 1 seed in both districts. However, the highly-touted Lady Eagles were upset in the district semifinals in both sports.

State track was Strother's last chance to make an impression on the statewide scene and she didn't let the opportunity go to waste. Strother finished seventh in the Class 1 girls 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 16.61 seconds in the race.

"When I got to my final race, I thought, 'At least I get a medal,'" Strother said. "So I'm good."

Bryant and Courter broke four out of a total nine Class 1 state track and field records this weekend. In the track events, Hardin-Central's Riley Gorham set a record in the boys 1,600-meter run (4:21.88) and Zac Breitkreutz of Lutheran (Kansas City) set the record in the boys 400-meter dash (49.30). Three girls broke the record in the 3,200-meter run, but Claire Workman of New Covenant Academy won the race in a time of 10:53.38. In the field events, North Harrison's Haley Craig set the record in the girls discus (133-2).

Bryant and Courter broke multiple records this weekend as well. On Friday, Workman set the record in the girls 800-meters (2:16.89) and Bryant broke the state record in the girls 100-meter hurdles during the preliminaries (14.54).

In addition to winning the Class 1 girls basketball state championship in March, Mound City also won the Class 1 girls state track and field team title Saturday, posting 72.5 points. Last year's state champion, New Covenant Academy, took second with 68 points. New Haven was third with 59 points and Salisbury finished fourth with 38 points.

North Andrew won the Class 1 boys team title with 51 points, edging second-place Rich Hill by one point. Osceola and Hardin-Central tied for third with 48 points.

Class 1 results

BOYS

Team scores: 1. North Andrew 51; 2. Rich Hill 50; 3. (tie) Osceola, Hardin-Central 48; 5. Harrisburg 41, 6. School of the Ozarks 39; 7. Lutheran (Kansas City) 28; 8. (tie) Humansville, Wellington-Napoleon 24; 10. Stanberry 23; 11. Van-Far 22; 12. Paris 21, 13. Winston 19, 14. (tie) Knox County, West Nodaway 18; 16. (tie) Green City, New Haven, Drexel 16; 19. Santa Fe 14; 20. (tie) Zalma, Viburnum 12; 22. (tie) Tarkio, Hermitage 10; 24. (tie) Albany, King City 9; 26. (tie) Calvary Lutheran, Greenfield, Worth County 8; 29. Salisbury 7.5; 30. St. Elizabeth 7, 31. (tie) North Shelby, Northland Christian, Wentworth Military Academy 6; 34. (tie) St. Joseph Christian, Appleton City, Princeton 5; 37. La Plata 4; 38. Lockwood 3.5; 39. (tie) Malta Bend, Braymer, Chamois, Polo, Jamestown, New Franklin 3; 45. Stover 2; 46. (tie) Meadville, Chadwick, Mound City, DeKalb, Glasgow 1.

110-meter hurdles: 1. Keaton Tillack, School of the Ozarks, 15.38; 2. Luke Schmidt, Santa Fe, 15.59; 3. Seth Cline, Albany, 15.89; 4. Bradley Heath, Green City, 15.99; 5. Teddy Lingner, School of the Ozarks, 16.60; 6. Tanner Smith, La Plata, 16.63; 7. Preston Aye, Stanberry, 16.72; 8. Cade Combs, Harrisburg, 17.83.

Para 100-meter dash (exhibition): 1. Brandon Lamm, Stewartsville, 29.51.

100-meter dash: 1. Mitchell Officer, North Andrew, 11.05; 2. Bryant Courter, Rich Hill, 11.09; 3. Jaime Anderson, Wentworth Military Academy, 11.12; 4. Jordan Leonard, Winston, 11.18; 5. Zac Breitkreutz, Lutheran (Kansas City), 11.23; 6. Zachary Atkins, North Andrew, 11.43; 7. Eli Mitchel, Osceola, 11.49; 8. Sharrod Connor, Van-Far, 11.65.

4x200-meter relay: 1. Paris, 1:32.88; 2. Wellington-Napoleon, 1:33.11; 3. Osceola, 1:33.15; 4. North Andrew, 1:33.55; 5. King City, 1:34.50; 6. Knox County, 1:34.58; 7. Albany, 1:35.63; 8. Van-Far, 2:01.72.

1,600-meter run: 1. Riley Gorham, Hardin-Central, 4:21.88; 2. Dustin Shoemaker, Humansville, 4:33.48; 3. Blake Wilson, Northland Christian, 4:35.38; 4. Noah Strawn, Harrisburg, 4:35.89; 5. Hauns Tholin, Drexel, 4:38.49; 6. Lathyn McMorris, Van-Far, 4:40.66; 7. Jacob Steinberg, Zalma, 4:42.07; 8. Evan Smith, Chadwick, 4:43.37.

4x100-meter relay: 1. North Andrew, 44.73; 2. Van-Far, 44.93; 3. Osceola, 44.99; 4. King City, 45.32; 5. Paris, 45.53; 6. Rich Hill, 45.85; 7. Wellington-Napoleon, 45.93; 8. Albany, 45.94.

400-meter dash: 1. Zac Breitkreutz, Lutheran (Kansas City), 49.30; 2. Noah Talton, Knox County, 50.83; 3. Jordan Leonard, Winston, 51.16; 4. Freddie Wieder, Humansville, 51.44; 5. Mathias Pedersen, Hermitage, 51.60; 6. Harrison Smith, Princeton, 51.74; 7. Damian Payne, Viburnum, 51.78; 8. Tucker Gruber, Paris, 52.73.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Bradley Heath, Green City, 39.71; 2. Brevyn Ross, Worth County, 40.80; 3. Alex McQuinn, Stanberry, 41.42; 4. Zach Carney, Osceola, 41.64; 5. Keaton Tillack, School of the Ozarks, 41.88; 6. Lucas Kuhn, Chamois, 42.02; 7. Zachary Atkins, North Andrew, 43.29; 8. Tanner Smith, La Plata, 43.72.

800-meter run: 1. Riley Gorham, Hardin-Central, 1:57.25; 2. Noah Strawn, Harrisburg, 1:59.84; 3. Noah Payne, Viburnum, 2:00.24; 4. Dylan Todd, North Andrew, 2:02.13; 5. Aadin Humble, Rich Hill, 2:02.92; 6. Dillon Meyer, Hermitage, 2:03.17; 7. Evan Mitts, Appleton City, 2:03.22; 8. Hayden Hackman, Glasgow, 2:03.38.

200-meter dash: 1. Mitchell Officer, North Andrew, 22.40; 2. Jordan Leonard, Winston, 22.51; 3. Zac Breitkreutz, Lutheran (Kansas City), 22.53; 4. Noah Talton, Knox County, 23.19; 5. Rylan Sommer, Osceola, 23.35; 6. Freddie Wieder, Humansville, 23.43; 7. Alex Majors, New Haven, 23.50; 8. Damian Payne, Viburnum, 23.71.

4x400-meter relay: 1. Hardin-Central, 3:29.48; 2. Wellington-Napoleon, 3:30.63; 3. New Haven, 3:31.16; 4. Osceola, 3:32.26; 5. Lutheran (Kansas City), 3:32.78; 6. Polo, 3:35.64; 7. Knox County, 3:35.96; 8. School of the Ozarks, 3:36.99.

Triple jump: 1. Bryant Courter, Rich Hill, 47-8.75; 2. Luke Allen, Calvary Lutheran, 42-4.25; 3. Shaughn Malcarne, North Shelby, 41-10; 4. Teddy Lingner, School of the Ozarks, 41-6.25; 5. Garrett Francis, Salisbury, 41-3; 6. Jordan Miller, Braymer, 41-1; 7. Drake Wilkerson, St. Elizabeth, 41-0; 8. Jacob Struemph, St. Elizabeth, 40-10.25.

Discus: 1. Marek Thompson, Osceola, 150-7; 2. Jerrett Esposito, Greenfield, 144-5; 3. Joey Jacobs, Drexel, 139-8; 4. Shelby McMillen, Stanberry, 137-9; 5. Taylor Bottomley, Harrisburg, 136-2; 6. Kenneth Boggs, New Franklin, 131-9; 7. Hunter Boxley, Princeton, 130-6; 8. Blake Farnan, West Nodaway, 127-3.

Pole vault: 1. Gage McAdams, Tarkio, 13-6; 2. Jacob Strawn, Harrisburg, 13-6; 3. Christian Reifschneider, School of the Ozarks, 12-9; 4. Blake Gipson, Harrisburg, 12-6; 5. Wyatt Stiles, St. Elizabeth, 12-6; 6. Jacob Self, School of the Ozarks, 12-3; 7. Zach Carney, Osceola, 12-3; 8. Ben Shifflett, Mound City, 11-6.

Javelin (exhibition): 1. Andrew Lingner, School of the Ozarks, 148-4; 2. Peyton Richardson, Midway, 144-10; 3. Ben Reeders, Santa Fe, 139-7; 4. Zachary Smith, Norborne, 139-3; 5. Joshua Yahnig, Midway, 138-1; 6. Rune Zinn-Scheiffele, Worth County, 134-9; 7. Hunter Fogler, Humansville, 131-2; 8. Nick Bales, Appleton City, 128-9.

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Mound City 72.5; 2. New Covenant Academy 68; 3. New Haven 59; 4. Salisbury 38; 5. Columbia Independent 33; 6. Southwest (Livingston) 32; 7. (tie) Dora, School of the Ozarks 27; 9. Jasper 26.5; 10. Liberal 24; 11. Malta Bend 23; 12. Rock Port 21; 13. (tie) North Harrison, Stanberry 20; 15. Wellington-Napoleon 18; 16. Lutheran (Kansas City) 16; 17. King City 15; 18. Glasgow 14; 19. (tie) Rich Hill, Silex 13; 21. St. Elizabeth 11; 22. Stewartsville 10; 23. Green City 8; 24. Sweet Springs 7.5; 25. (tie) Crystal City, Wheaton, Stover, Knox County 6; 29. (tie) Santa Fe, Paris, Albany 5; 32. (tie) Jefferson (Conception Junction), Prairie Home, Midway, McAuley Catholic, Northeast (Cairo) 4; 37. La Plata 3.5; 38. (tie) Calvary Lutheran, Worth County, Atlanta 3; 41. (tie) Tarkio, Jamestown, Drexel, Mercer, North Shelby, Braymer 2; 47. (tie) Crocker, North Andrew 1.

4x800-meter relay: 1. New Covenant Academy, 9:54.15; 2. Stanberry, 10:08.28; 3. Mound City, 10:08.77; 4. Knox County, 10:16.32; 5. Salisbury, 10:18.39; 6. Lutheran (Kansas City), 10:19.12; 7. Glasgow, 10:19.14; 8. Wellington-Napoleon, 10:20.57.

100-meter hurdles: 1. Khristen Bryant, Columbia Independent, 14.82; 2. Emily Wedlock, Mound City, 15.67; 3. Elly Boothe, Silex, 15.82; 4. Lynzi Miller, Malta Bend, 15.91; 5. Megan Stevens, Rock Port, 16.05; 6. Lexie Royster, Jasper, 16.07; 7. Mickayla Strother, Jamestown, 16.61; 8. Hannah Wedlock, Mound City, 16.73.

100-meter dash: 1. Khristen Bryant, Columbia Independent, 12.64; 2. Lynzi Miller, Malta Bend, 12.77; 3. Ashlynn Vanatter, Dora, 12.92; 4. Kaylie Campbell, Southwest (Livingston), 13.04; 5. Emma Bearden, Lutheran (Kansas City), 13.18; 6. Audra Etcheson, Jasper, 13.27; 7. Bailey Owens, Mercer, 13.27; 8. Victoria Hinton, Sweet Springs, 13.50.

4x200-meter relay: 1. Jasper, 1:48.68; 2. Mound City, 1:49.89; 3. New Haven, 1:50.52; 4. Rich Hill, 1:51.64; 5. Salisbury, 1:52.25; 6. Wellington-Napoleon, 1:52.75; 7. Albany, 1:53.18; 8. Glasgow, 1:54.14.

4x100-meter relay: 1. Mound City, 51.87; 2. Rich Hill, 51.92; 3. Salisbury, 52.39; 4. Lutheran (Kansas City), 52.42; 5. Rock Port, 52.44; 6. Albany, 52.78; 7. Stewartsville, 52.84; 8. Sweet Springs, 53.70.

400-meter dash: 1. Ashlynn Vanatter, Dora, 58.72; 2. Grace Schottel, King City, 1:00.62; 3. Lauren Gerlemann, New Haven, 1:00.80; 4. Halley Wilmes, Stanberry, 1:01.25; 5. Kylie Limback, Santa Fe, 1:01.63; 6. Marissa Jochem, Northeast (Cairo), 1:02.03; 7. Jacy Bolton, Drexel, 1:02.33; 8. Kristin Stockhorst, Glasgow, 1:05.92.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Emily Wedlock, Mound City, 46.59; 2. Katelyn Conner, Green City, 47.26; 3. Elly Boothe, Silex, 47.56; 4. Rachel Snyder, School of the Ozarks, 48.19; 5. Megan Stevens, Rock Port, 48.37; 6. Khristen Bryant, Columbia Independent, 48.40; 7. Mallory Hughson, Braymer, 48.62; 8. Rachel Lipsey, Silex, 55.69.

200-meter dash: 1. Ashlynn Vanatter, Dora, 26.23; 2. Kaylie Campbell, Southwest (Livingston), 26.86; 3. Emma Shirley, Crystal City, 27.31; 4. Grace Schottel, King City, 27.32; 5. Emma Engelbrecht, New Haven, 27.37; 6. Payton Adwell, Worth County, 27.63; 7. Adrienne Messer, Mound City, 27.89; 8. Amanda Nejedly, Salisbury, 27.96.

3,200-meter run: 1. Claire Workman, New Covenant Academy, 10:53.38; 2. Alexys Barton, Liberal, 11:25.70; 3. Claire McCune, New Covenant, 11:30.38; 4. Katie McCune, New Covenant Academy, 11:54.90; 5. Kendey Eaton, Mound City, 11:57.05; 6. Ashley Riley, Jefferson (Conception Junction), 12:16.57; 7. Julia McIntyre, New Haven, 12:20.77; 8. Mara Hamilton, Northeast (Cairo), 12:41.25.

4x400-meter relay: 1. New Haven, 4:11.57; 2. Mound City, 4:16.21; 3. Wellington-Napoleon, 4:17.46; 4. Salisbury, 4:18.17; 5. Glasgow, 4:18.46; 6. Rock Port, 4:18.57; 7. School of the Ozarks, 4:18.86; 8. Knox County, 4:26.03.

Discus: 1. Haley Craig, North Harrison, 133-2; 2. Kaylie Campbell, Southwest (Livingston), 123-1; 3. Lydia Henke, Salisbury, 122-1; 4. Hannah Mitchell, Paris, 120-10; 5. Shianne Rhorer, Prairie Home, 117-8; 6. Audrey Strutton, St. Elizabeth, 107-3; 7. Hattie Wright, North Shelby, 104-11; 8. Marchya Jackson, Salisbury, 104-1.

Pole vault: 1. Khristen Bryant, Columbia Independent, 12-6; 2. Shanley Kliethermes, St. Elizabeth, 9-6; 3. (tie) Kortnee Vaught, Sweet Springs and Tess Phillips, Mound City, 9-0; 5. (tie) Audra Etcheson, Jasper and Elizabeth Larson, La Plata, 8-9; 7. Amanda Culver, Tarkio, 8-9; 8. Kylee Kuecker, Santa Fe, 8-3.

Long jump: 1. Lynzi Miller, Malta Bend, 16-9; 2. Lauren Gerlemann, New Haven, 16-8.25; 3. Rachel Lacey, Wheaton, 16-6.5; 4. Emily Wedlock, Mound City, 16-5; 5. Lexie Royster, Jasper, 15-11.5; 6. Samantha Gunn, Calvary Lutheran, 15-9.75; 7. Colee Webb, Southwest (Livingston), 15-8.5; 8. Kayla Knifong, Crocker, 15-3.5.

Javelin (exhibition): 1. Kate Ruediger, New Haven, 126-10; 2. Ellie Kalinka, Midway, 119-04; 3, Audrey Suschanke, Newburg, 108-9; 4. Jenna Johnson, Polo, 100-11; 5. Hannah Mansur, Norborne, 99-4; 6. Payton Craig, North Harrison, 99-2; 7. Jahnni Donahoo, North Andrew, 95-7; 8. Lauren Dunlap, Viburnum, 92-7.