The Republic girls track and field team won its second straight district championship, tying Nixa atop the Class 5 District 6 standings, thanks to a mix of victories and unexpected contributions.
Republic won seven girls events. Avery Rossow took the discus (35.13m), Alaina Norman won shot put (11.78m) and javelin (38.1m), and Jenna Belcher won triple jump (11.38m). On the track, Gracie Troester claimed the 1600m (a school record 5:04.29) and 3200m (11:13.41). The Lady Tigers were also winners of the 4x200m and 4x400m relays.
Zion Allen won both the high jump (1.95m) and the long jump (6.75m) for Republic’s only two district titles on the boys side. Daniel Fair finished 4th in the pole vault to move on to sectionals. James Rexroat was 3rd and Kaleb Norman 4th to qualify for sectionals in the javelin.
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With senior Kristin Probst out because of illness, the Lady Tigers needed others to step up. Rossow, ranked third in discus, surprised the field with a personal best to win.
“I was just going in there to try to do my best for my team, try to get some points on the board,” Rossow said. “I threw, and it felt so good. My jaw dropped, and I was like, there’s no way that just happened.”
Sami Watson, seeded outside the top eight, grabbed sixth in javelin (33.43m), and Catherine Wilson, seeded ninth in the 3200m, placed seventh (12:43.38), adding crucial points.
The 4x800m relay team, normally one of Republic’s strongest, faced a tall task without Probst. Troester got the baton in fifth, but refused to let the team’s sectional hopes disappear, ending up third.
“As soon as I got the handoff, I was in fifth, and it was quite a bit,” Troester said. “Very scary race, but we did it. Kristen gets to come back next week and enjoy it with us.”
Belcher, who qualified in four events for sectionals, said her day was fun, but exhausting.
“I’m super excited because I’m coming out strong with a big senior year,” she said. “A really good event today was our 4×2. All year, we’ve been back and forth with Ozark, and this meet we beat them. It’s super exciting, especially at districts, beating them.”
The 4x400m relay team of Gracie Woods, Reese Finley, Rilynn Finley, Alaina Norman broke a school record. They finished in 4:02.81, beating the previous mark of 4:04.51 set by Probst, Woods, Rilynn Finley, and Norman last year at sectionals.
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In all, eight girls qualified for sectionals in 14 events:
200 Meter Dash: Jenna Belcher (3rd)
400 Meter Dash: Reese Finley (3rd)
800 Meter Run: Gracie Troester (2nd)
1600 Meter Run: Gracie Troester (1st)
3200 Meter Run: Gracie Troester (1st)
300 Meter Hurdles: Rilynn Finley (4th)
4×200 Meter Relay: Gracie Woods, Brooklyn Douglas, Reese Finley, Jenna Belcher (1st)
4×400 Meter Relay: Gracie Woods, Reese Finley, Rilynn Finley, Alaina Norman (1st)
4×800 Meter Relay: Gracie Woods, Rilynn Finley, Reese Finley, Gracie Troester (3rd)
Long Jump: Jenna Belcher (2nd)
Triple Jump: Jenna Belcher (1st)
Discus: Avery Rossow (1st)
Javelin: Alaina Norman (1st)
Shot Put: Alaina Norman (1st)
Four boys qualified in a total of four events.
High Jump: Zion Allen (1st)
Long Jump: Zion Allen (1st)
Javelin: James Rexroat (3rd), Kaleb Norman (4th)
Pole Vault: Daniel Fair (4th)