Women's Track and Field 6/1/2021 1:54:00 PM

Class 5 state track and field championships recap: Perez wins 2nd, breaks own school record, 6 top-ten finishes

24 Nixa athletes, 12 boys and 12 girls, qualified and competed in the 2021 MSHSAA Class 5 Track and Field State Championships at Jefferson City High School on May 27.

Inclement weather was a factor all day, as lightning strikes put roughly a two-hour halt to the meet.

The athletes weathered the storm and had six individuals place in the top ten.

Nixa's top performance came from junior discus thrower Tony Perez.

On his first throw, Perez launched the discus 51.30 meters and earned a second-place finish. That throw also broke Perez's previous school record of 50.21 which he also set in the ring in early April. Perez's proceeding throws were 46.38, 47.29 and 47.47.

Lee's Summit West's E'lan Moore won the discus championship at 53.16.

Junior Dakota Hale was roughly a foot and a half away from earning a medal, as she finished ninth in the javelin with a throw of 34.29. The eighth-place throw was 35 and championship throw was 46.16. Hale also had throws of 29.18, 30.73 and 33.39.

Freshman Afton Hopkins is poised for a bright future in years to come as he placed tenth in the pole vault clearing 3.99. The winning jump was 4.49.

Freshman Faith Chepkondol also showed signs of promise in her first state meet. Chepkondol placed tenth in the 200 dash at 26.32. The winning time came in at 24.08 which was also a meet record.

Both the boys (Sanders, Ward, Cagle, McCracken) and girls (Figueroa, Thomason, Kamies, Chepkondol) 4x100 relay teams rounded out Nixa's top-ten performances. The boys team was kicked off by sophomore Dylan Sanders and anchored by sophomore Austin McCracken and came in at 44.08. Freshman Camila Figueroa began the girls relay and Chepkondol anchored the girls team that clocked in at 51.50.

Nixa's remaining performances include:

-Michael Sportsman (Sr.), 11th, High Jump, 1.83.
-Koby Graham (Jr.), 11th, Javelin, 44.28.
-Nall (Sr.), Sanders (So.), Ward (Fr.), Wheeler (Sr.), 11th, Boys 4x100 Relay, 3:28.10.
-Alicen Ashley (Jr.), 12th, 3200 Run, 11:32.91.
-Smith Wheeler (Sr.), 12th, 400 Dash, 51.20.
-Lily Simmons (Sr.), 13th, High Jump and 100 Hurdles, 1.55 and 15.94.
-Macy Kopp (Jr.), 13th, 800 Run, 2:23.46.
-Ashley (Jr.), Bidinger (Fr.), Harris (Jr.), Kopp (Jr.), 13th, Girls 4x800 Relay, 10:05.11.
-Austin McCracken (So.), 14th, 100 Dash, 11.24.
-Carter Krummen (Jr.), 15th, Discus, 41.
-Ali Kamies (Jr.), 16th, 100 Dash, 13.12.
-Carlee Brumley (Jr.), 16th, 300 Hurdles, 49.60.

As a team, the boys placed 26th out of 50 teams with eight points. Columbia Rock Bridge won the team championship with 52 points. Cardinal Ritter won the girls championship.

The full state championship results can be found here.

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