Republic’s girls track and field team rolled to a first-place finish Thursday at the Branson Invitational, piling up 225 points to outdistance runner-up Branson (179) in a seven-team field. The boys finished second with 156 points, six and a half behind Branson’s 162.5.
Freshman Maura Lander and senior Avery Rossow each won two individual events to lead the girls’ effort, while sophomore Zoey Johns added a win and a runner-up finish. On the boys’ side, junior Ekene Chukwu, senior Danny Fair, and junior Anthony Uhl each claimed individual titles.
Lander swept the horizontal jumps, winning the long jump (4.97 meters) and triple jump (10.94 meters). She also placed fourth in the 200 meters (28.29 seconds). Rossow took the shot put (10.44 meters) and discus (32.45 meters), with sophomore Audrey Pearce finishing second (31.09 meters) and senior Allison Burford third (30.05 meters) to give Republic a podium sweep in the discus.
Johns won the 3200 meters (13:00.80) and finished second in the 1600 (5:37.43). Sophomore Brylie Harris placed second in the 3200 (13:30.51) and third in the 800 (2:41.06).
Republic’s girls won three of the four relays. The 4×800 team of Johns, Josie Stalzer, Peyton Bodoin and Harris finished first (10:36.53). The 4×400 relay of Aryanna Kucij, Stalzer, Jordan Coleman and Quinnlyn Keller won in 4:23.52, and the 4×200 team of Maddlyn Nystrom, Keller, Victoria Johnson and Kyndall Snider took first (1:51.08). The 4×100 relay of Gracie Shanks, Victoria Johnson, Keller and Snider placed second (52.11).
Freshman Reese Tate won the pole vault (3.05 meters), and junior Madi Chevalier took the javelin (31.87 meters). Kucij placed third in the 400 meters (1:03.84).
On the boys’ side, Chukwu won the discus with a throw of 49.10 meters. Fair cleared 4.10 meters to win the pole vault, and Uhl took the 110-meter hurdles in 15.67 seconds.
Junior Alex Johnson placed second in both the 100 meters (10.93) and 200 meters (22.48). Jance Mercado finished third in the high jump (1.85 meters), and Trenten Coleman was third in the long jump (5.88 meters). Senior Kaleb Norman placed third in the javelin (48.70 meters).
Republic’s 4×100 relay of Jacob Duran, Gavin Lawhon, Treyton Gray and Johnson finished second (44.48), and the 4×400 team of Jordan Todd, Zachary Smith, Remington Hart and Joshua Obafemi-Ajayi placed third (3:44.03).
Team Scores
Girls: 1. Republic 225, 2. Branson 179, 3. Logan-Rogersville 78
Boys: 1. Branson 162.5, 2. Republic 156, 3. Logan-Rogersville 140
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