Eleven Republic athletes qualified for the sectional track meet at Eldon Saturday. Eight of them are moving on to State next weekend.
On a day with a lot of stars in orange and black, the standout was Jerney Jones. The junior qualified for state in four events. He won the long jump with a leap of 21’5″. He took 3rd place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.39. He finished 4th in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 23.48. And he was a member of the 4×100 relay team that took 4th place with a time of 43.90.
Joining Jones at state on the boys team will be Tryston Ellison, who finished 4th in the 100-meter dash, just one-hundredth of a second behind Jones. Ellison was also a member of the 4×100 relay team, along with fellow state qualifiers Jace Duvall and Jake Jones.
Among the girls, Haven Lander and Brooke Stanfield each qualified in two events. Lander finished 3rd in the pole vault by clearing 10’9″. Stanfield finished first in the high jump by clearing 5’3″. Both of them were members of the 4×100 relay team that took 2nd place.
That relay team, which also included Autumn Garner and Molly Zinecker, shaved about two seconds off their previous best time, finishing in 50.62. They had been seeded sixth coming into the day.
Republic’s 4×400 boys relay team finished 6th overall, failing to qualify. Brooke Stanfield, still battling a nagging injury, finished 6th in the 100-meter dash and 7th in the 200-meter dash.