McPherson, Jones shine at sectional meet

May 18, 2008 12:40 am

— By Pat Dailey
sports@joplinglobe.com
BRANSON, Mo. — Devyn McPherson and Kylie Jones posted two of the most convincing victories at the Class 3 Sectional 3 track meet on Saturday, while Monett's D.J. Dunmire was the winner in one of the most talked about events.
McPherson, of Carl Junction, claimed the shot put by nearly three feet and Jones, of Webb City, took the discus by almost 23 feet.
Their wins were rather predictable, given their own marks and that of their rivals last week in districts.
McPherson, whose seeded distance was more than two feet better than the rest of the field, motivated herself beforehand by competing against her own standards. Her personal record is 41 feet, 6 inches.
Her best on Saturday was 40-11 3/4. A distant second was Mount Vernon’s Teaven Taylor (38-2 3/4).
“I was comfortable coming in, but not too confident,” McPherson said. “I was ranked second in the state coming in to today's meet. But I think I’m going to have to hit 42-0 next week to win state. That (42-0) has been my goal the past few weeks.”
For Jones, it was about the same story. Her district heave of 147-11 was nearly 20 feet better than all her competitors. Her sectional toss of 142-7 overwhelmed her foes, with teammate Lauren Jones a faraway second at 119-9.
Jones returns to state after finishing seventh last year.
The pole vault produced a buzz, but not because of a duel at 14-0 between Dunmire and Nevada’s Tyler Werner. Earlier, Osage’s Nathan Deman, a district champ last week by clearing 14-0, was disqualified for wearing his warmup shorts on his first vault. The shorts were not school issued, as mandated by MSHSAA, thus prompting his abrupt exit.
“I noticed he was warming up with those shorts on, but didn’t think anything of it,” Dunmire said. “I didn’t think nothing of it until he came up to me, threw off his glasses, took his shorts off and said they were debating whether to disqualify him or not.
“He should have known that, but I feel bad for him, with this being his senior year.”
Dunmire was victorious over Werner based on his one scratch at 14-0 and Werner’s two.
He’s optimistic he can have a good showing at state. Last year, 14-0 was good enough for third place.
“I think I’m capable of 14-6,” Dunmire said.
Mount Vernon’s Kenzie Williams, Seneca’s Morgan Cooper and East Newton’s Lindsey Bragg all qualified for state in the long jump and were part of what nearly was one of the biggest upsets of the day. They stood 1-2-3 after Bolivar’s Katy Roweton, a defending state champ in the long jump, scratched on her first two attempts and posted only a 15-7 on her third try.
At that point, Roweton stood in fifth place. But she came through like a champion, posting a 16-7 on her final jump.
Williams’ 16-4 1/4 earned her second, Cooper’s 16-3 was good enough for third and Bragg’s 16-1 1/2 put her fourth. For the trio, only Cooper has been to state before.
“Last year, I finished second-to-last at state (15-3 1/4), so hopefully I’ll do better this year,” Cooper said.
Mount Vernon’s Zach Kleine had to sweat out a photo finish in the 200 to earn his first trip to state. West Plains’ Joey Meyer was a runaway winner (22.38), but the rest of the field had to wait a while before knowing their status. Eventually, Kleine was awarded second at 23.17, Aurora’s Ben Weldin third at 23.2, McDonald County’s Randy Mustain fourth at 23.28, Reeds Spring’s Owen Allphin fifth at 23.3 and Owensville’s Phillip Shoemaker sixth at 23.33.
“Everybody was so close coming in, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Kleine said. “I finished fifth here last year. So, I was just hoping to get in.”
Other area girls champs included Carl Junction’s Sagan Graskemper in the 100 (13.21), Williams in the 400 (59.91), McDonald County’s Gayla Booth in the high jump (5-4) and Monett’s Emily Newbold in the triple jump (34-9).
Other area boys winners were East Newton’s 4x200 relay of Derek Allphin, Jacob Endicott, Justin Guinn and Eddie Hansen (1:31.35) and Carl Junction’s Seth Hackney in the shot put (58-1 1/2).
Carthage’s 4x100 (43.85) and 4x200 (1:31.42) relays both finished second, as did Trey Derryberry in the 100 (11.18) and Ivy Shepherd in the 800 (2:23).