The Lady Tigers posted sectional qualifiers (top four finishes) in 18 of 19 events.
Ozark had nine first-place finishes overall, with junior Bria Wright leading the way. Ozark finished first or second in the four relay events as well.
On the boys’ side, Rolla used strong finishes in the late events to overtake Ozark for first place.
Wright, depth lift Ozark girls to district team title
The “B” in Bria Wright stood for “busy” on Saturday.
The Ozark junior brought the Lady Tigers 38 points, sweeping both hurdle events, winning (with a PR time) in her return to the 200 and taking second in the long jump.
“Having all the events so close together… I don’t know if it benefited (me) but it was good,” Wright said.
Wright, who was all-state in the 100 hurdles as a sophomore last year, clocked a 14.87 in the event on Saturday.
About an hour later, Wright got an endurance check as well. Over a 45-minute span, she performed in the long jump, 300 hurdles and 200 dash.
Wright hasn’t participated in the 200 full-time since her freshman season.
On Saturday, she won the event with a PR of 25.28, besting teammate Ileana Naihe (25.52).
Wright’s normal times in the event, she said, were in the 26-second range.
“Coach (Shawn) Widel had randomly said, in the middle of the season, ‘Do you want to be in the 200?’” Wright said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll try it.’
“Today, he was right because it all came together. I was really tired because I had just run the 300 hurdles about 25 minutes earlier… When I came off the turn in the 200, it felt really good and I (realized) I’m not going to slow down.”
Several other Lady Tigers had notable finishes on Saturday, including two in Ozark’s freshmen class. Brooke Bowman won the 400 (1:00.05), while fellow freshman Lola Kensinger won the triple jump (10.9m) and javelin throw (37.47m).
Ozark won the 4×400 and 4×200 relays. Senior Izabella Rickard placed first in discus (33.91m).
“We advanced (to sectionals) in nearly every single event,” said Ozark girls’ coach Shawn Widel. “Everyone, athletes and coaches, deserves credit for that. It doesn’t just happen. I’m grateful for our staff and the athletes we have.”
Saturday’s performance comes 10 days after Ozark won the Central Ozark Conference (COC) meet.
“We didn’t graduate very many points last year,” Widel said. “We knew with what we had coming back that we were going to be solid. We also knew the (freshmen) coming in had won conference as 8th graders, so we would be getting an influx of talent in that class. They’ve really stepped up and contributed in a great way.
“I knew, pretty soon, in practice that we were going to be at the top.”
Ozark posted 199 team points, well ahead of second-place Kickapoo (136).
Ozark will compete in sectionals at Waynesville High School next week. The Lady Tigers will try to put through enough qualifiers to contend in the team standings at the state meet in Jefferson City in two weeks.
“We’re just an extremely balanced team,” Widel said. “That’s what makes it so tough. Even if we have someone who maybe doesn’t have a great day, there’s another girl who picks up the slack.”
Said Wright: “Our entire team is so dedicated to every single event. Almost every single event today, we had someone in the top four or multiple girls. That’s really rare to have all that.”
Glendale senior Gabrielle Pitts was the star of the day for Springfield Public School female athletes, winning the long jump, and placing second in the 100 and third in the 200.
Branson freshman Alexis Carter won the 800 (2:18.34) and 1600 (5:15.80) events.
Rolla clips Ozark for boys’ team title
Victories in the 3200 and discus helped Rolla (136) claim first place over Ozark (132) in the boys’ team standings on Saturday.
The Tigers were led by junior Kannon Williams. He won the 100 (10.55) and 200 (21.26) sprint events.
Among the SPS schools, Glendale had three first-place finishes. Junior Lincoln Crews won the 800 (1:59.25), while sophomore Joelle Rover won the triple jump (13.62m) and placed second in the high jump (1.88m). The Falcons won the 4×100 relay (42.08).
Kickapoo also registered three first-place finishes, including Morgan Nicholls in the shot put (16.38m) and Levi Phillips in the 300 hurdles (41.39). The Chiefs’ 4×800 relay pl... Click here to read full article
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