Middle school track competes in Joplin Relays

JOPLIN -- The Nevada Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade boys' and girls' track and field teams got back into action Tuesday, competing in the Joplin Relays meet. The meet featured a total of 10 schools, from Carl Junction, Joplin, Pittsburg, Kan., Neosho, Seneca, Webb City and McDonald County.

By the time all was said and done, Nevada came out of the day with a total of 38 top-six finishes on the day. Highlighting that effort were first-place showings by Kaeth Zachary in the seventh-grade girls' triple jump, Adrian Bond, Hailee Richter, Charlene Pettibon and Zachary in the seventh-grade girls' 4x100-meter relay, and Logan Roberts in the eighth-grade boys' pole vault.

Nevada also got second-place finishes from Bond in the seventh-grade girls' long jump, Ben Satterfield in the eighth-grade boys high jump, Zach Gardner in the eighth-grade boys' triple jump, the team of Gardner, Hunter Mason, Shelby Trotter and Braxton Shadden in the eighth-grade boys' 4x100 relay and Grant Phebus in the seventh-grade boys' high jump. Bond was third in the seventh-grade girls' 100-meter dash, as were Zachary in the seventh-grade girls' 200-meter dash, Mason in the eighth-grade boys' 400-meter dash and Sammie Gundy in the eighth-grade girls' long jump.

Alaina Morgan finished fourth in the eighth-grade girls' high jump, in a performance that was echoed by Riley Haller, Gundy, Anna Fulton and Haiden Richmond in the eighth-grade girls' 4x200 relay, Bond in the seventh-grade girls' high jump, Taiten Charles in the seventh-grade girls' pole vault, Pettibon in the seventh-grade girls' 400, Gardner in the eighth-grade boys' 100, Caleb Theis in the seventh-grade boys' pole vault, Tanner Gotschall in the seventh-grade boys' 100-meter hurdles, and Noah Lanear in the seventh-grade boys' long jump and triple jump.

Nevada earned fifth-place finishes from Fulton in the eighth-grade girls' 200-meter dash, Hailey Jackson in the Taylor Severance in the seventh-grade girls' discus, the team of Brianna Swink, Peyton Claypool, Jackson and Zachary in the seventh-grade girls' 4x200 relay, Trotter in the eighth-grade boys' triple jump, Gardner in the eighth-grade boys' long jump, Lanear in the seventh-grade boys' 100, Phebus in the seventh-grade boys' triple jump and the team of Dakota Warren, Devin McHugh, Dillion Warren and Bronson Smith in the seventh-grade boys' 4x200 relay. The teams of Pettibon, Emalie Bower, Richter and Courtney Leeker, and Aidan Arizmendez, Lucas Kammerling, Trotter and Satterfield finished sixth in the eighth-grade girls' 4x400 and eighth-grade boys' 4x200 relays, as did Kenzi Hogan in the eighth-grade girls' pole vault, Gundy in the eighth-grade girls' triple jump, Kaylee Harrison in the seventh-grade girls' shot put, Carson Woods in the eighth-grade boys' 400 and Shadden in the eighth-grade boys' 200.

Both the Nevada Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade boys' and girls' track teams were scheduled to be back in action again Thursday, at Neosho, but those results were not available at press time. Next on the schedule for the Nevada is next Thursday, at the Tri-County meet, which will also be held in Neosho.