NHS track and field sends eight to state

Nevada High School junior high-jumper Lilly Hart qualifies for the Class 4 state track and field meet in her first of three jumping events at the Class 4 Sectional 3 meet Saturday at Bob Shore Stadium in Camdenton.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

CAMDENTON — For Nevada High School’s Lilly Hart, this year's state track and field meet in Jefferson City turned out to be just a hop, skip, and jump away.

The junior leaper placed third in each of her three field events at the Class 4 Sectional 3 meet Saturday at Bob Shore Stadium — the high jump, triple jump, and long jump — qualifying her to join seven of her teammates at the MSHSAA Class 4 Championship Friday in the capital.

“That’s rarified air, to say the least,” NHS head coach Ryan Watts said of Hart’s trifecta, which started at the high jump (5 feet, 1 inch), then the triple (34 feet, 11 inches), before she leaped 17 feet, .5 inches in the long jump. “Going into Saturday, I probably would have said the high jump was her best event. But going 17 feet in the long jump is very impressive. That’s going to open some eyes at the next level.”

Hart competes in the triple jump (she also qualified in the long jump).

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Also attracting attention: fellow junior Claire Pritchett, who became Nevada’s lone returning state qualifier after taking second in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 10.25 inches.

“Claire’s a gamer. She’s been to state before, so that’s definitely going to give her an advantage,” said Watts, who along with throwing coach Wes Beachler hopes the bigger stage will inspire Pritchett to throw over 40 feet, something she’s done twice at meets this season (and plenty of times in practice). “Shot is down across the board in the state. Not really sure why that is. But it’s such a technical event that, when things go right, they really go right. Claire’s got such brute strength and good form, she’s always capable of popping one really far. We’re hoping that’s what happens Friday at state.”

NHS junior Claire Pritchett tosses the shot put and will return to state in the event.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

On the track, NHS junior Brooklyn Kutina-Smith qualified for state in the 400-meter dash with a third-place time of 1 minute, 1.77 seconds.

“That’s legitimately fast,” said Watts, whose now seen Kutina-Smith shave nearly a second off her 400 time in each of her last three races. “That’s a testament to her just working hard and being coachable. The two things she needed to work on were the final 100 to power through the line, and also getting out of her blocks better and getting her time on the first 100 down. She’s always run a good second and third 100, so she’s basically fixed the two biggest issues she had. State would be a cool place to dip under 60. I haven’t seen one of those in a while.”

NHS junior Brooklyn Kutina-Smith runs past a fellow competitor in the 400-meter dash (for which she qualified).

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

The biggest surprise of the day came in the 4x100-meter relay, when Bailey Ast, Jade Feller, Kristin Buck, and Maddy Majors edged out Monett by .06 seconds for fourth place, crossing the finish line — and qualifying for state — in 52.21 seconds.

“Maddy just closed it out there at the end, running through the line. She never takes her foot off the gas. I’m pretty sure what happened was, the girl next to her eased up just enough at the end,” said Watts, who added the other big difference was his squad’s pristine baton exchanges. “They worked really, really hard on handoffs to make them perfect. We just beat it to death with them. Some schools don’t understand that. Anxiety’s not going to slow you down, but it might make you bobble a handoff. And at state, if another team has a bad handoff and we keep our cool, that could be the difference.”

NHS junior Bailey Ast (left) hands the baton off to 4x100-meter relay teammate Jade Feller (who, along with Kristin Buck and Maddy Majors, qualified for state).

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Sophomore Drew Beachler will be the Nevada boys’ lone representative in Jefferson City after scratching on his first three long jumps before recording on his final attempt a leap of 21 feet, 10 inches — earning him fourth place and booking his first ticket to state.

“Drew definitely did not jump as well as he could have, but he had some monster jumps if he’d just been on the board,” Watts said. “The goal this week is getting him consistent. If he can get one of those boards at state, it’s going be a big jump.”

NHS sophomore Drew Beachler qualifies in the long jump.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Beachler’s teammate and older brother Dylan Beachler ended his high school track and field career with an eighth-place vault of 12 feet, 0.5 inches.

The district champion Lady Tigers, meanwhile, had a few other athletes compete at sectionals but fail to advance to the state meet — despite executing their top marks of the season.

Senior Tylin Heathman had the unfortunate luck of seeing the first three of her four events scheduled relatively close to each other. She started by helping the 4x800-meter relay team jump out to an early lead, before handing the baton off to Ast, who handed it to Delanie Hope, who gave it to Clara Swearingen on the anchor. The relay team dropped nearly 30 seconds off its best time, finishing in 10 minutes, 24 seconds, good enough for fifth place and only a second behind Webb City for that all-important fourth position.

Heathman was still catching her breath when she had to compete in the triple jump, a disadvantage that resulted in an eighth-place finish (31 feet, 1.25 inches). As soon as she was done there, Heathman hustled back over to run the 100-meter hurdles, where she finished eighth with a time of 18.32 seconds.

Heathman was well-rested as the anchor for the 4x400 toward the end of the meet, though, and it showed with an impressive sprint down the final 100 meters in a race against the anchor from Union for fourth place. Along with Kutina-Smith, Majors and Swearingen, Heathman and co. crossed the finish line in 4:19.94 — just .14 seconds from qualifying.

“After the year that we’ve been through, hands down Tylin is the most deserving to qualify for state who didn’t than anybody I’ve ever coached,” said Watts, who will still bring Heathman to Jeff City as an alternate for the 4x100, not to mention for her influence over the younger Lady Tigers who did qualify. “Her leadership, not an exaggeration, has set us up for several years of success. All those underclassmen and juniors, they see Tylin’s the hardest worker at practice. Her senior year, she did some special things on the track, but also from a leadership standpoint she’s been invaluable.”

Feller, another junior, ran in three solo events and finished seventh in each of them — first in the 100-meter dash (13.17 seconds), then in the 300-meter hurdles (50.12), and finally the 200 (27.17 seconds).

Swearingen, a freshman, was in the same 400 field as Kutina-Smith but just missed out on state with a fifth-place finish (1:02.82). She and Kutina-Smith, along with Buck and Majors, were also part of the 4x200-meter relay team that finished sixth (1:54).

Junior Jerica Collins may have broken the school record in the javelin this season, but she was up against stiff competition at sectionals — finishing eighth in the event with a throw of 95 feet.

Fellow junior Laura Kimmell had no better luck in the pole vault, where she managed to clear 7 feet, 6.5 inches for eighth place.

“I was very excited for how they performed, even for the kids who didn’t make it out,” said Watts, whose girls team finished in fourth place overall with 62 points, behind Union (78), Rolla (87), and Marshfield (93). “Some of them just got unlucky in a stacked sectional.”