Jumping for joy -- Mosier, Gragg win district titles

Nathan Gragg shows off the medal he won at the district track meet on May 14.

Nevada Herald

The Nevada Tiger and Lady Tiger track team had a good district meet May 14, sending 16 kids on to sectionals, which took place Saturday in Ozark.

Nevada had two district champions, as Veronica Mosier and Nathan Gragg both took top medals in jumping events.

Mosier, a senior, won the triple jump with a mark of 36 feet, 4.75 inches.

Gragg's winning event was the high jump. He cleared the bar at 6-6, tying the school record in the process. Gragg is a junior.

Also placing in the high jump was senior Eric Atkinson. Atkinson placed third by clearing 6-4. The Pittsburg State-bound athlete is also the holder of the school record that Gragg matched.

Atkinson signed Thursday to jump for the Gorillas next season.

The Tigers also brought home second place in the long jump. Senior Harrison Gage covered 19-9.5 at the district meet to secure the second slot.

Other individuals who placed and qualified for the sectional meet were Ben Wilson in the 400-meter dash, Jim Fay in the 800, and Brittany Pettibon in the 100.

Wilson ran the 400 in a time of 55 seconds. That was good enough for third place.

Fay finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:05.10.

Pettibon turned in a time of 12.40 seconds in the 100 to also place fourth.

Nevada also qualified for sectionals with each of their relay teams.

The women's 400 meter team and both the men's and women's 800 meter teams placed third.

The men's 400, 1600 and 3200 teams each placed fourth.

The two third-place women's teams were comprised of Afton Baldwin, Bridget Baldwin, Katelyn Brier and Pettibon.

The men's 800 team was made up of Bill Fay, Blake Sanderson, Atkinson and Gage. The same four were on the 400 team.

The 1600 team had Jim Fay, Mason Benn, Sanderson and Wilson.

The 3200 team had Mark Reed, Jim Fay, Wilson and Benn.

"I was extremely surprised that we were able to get that many through," Nevada coach Robert Watts said of the sectional qualifiers. "They did what I asked them to."

At the sectional meet, the top four in each event will qualify for the state meet. The state meet will be held on May 27-28.