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DyeStat Missouri
May 26-27, 2000
2000 Outdoor State Meet
4A Boys Preview
by Brandon Daniels
The battle for the team title will be fought between three Kansas City area teams, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, and Liberty.
Liberty won the Mid-Eight Conference and plans to defend their state title. Returning state competitors include Ryan Hampton (Sr. 2nd 1600m 4:17.11, 3rd 3200m 9:38), Josh Davis (Jr. 15th 3200 10:13), and Jason Richenberger (Sr. 6th 100m 11.04, 7th 200m 22.12). Liberty requalified a few relay teams including their 3200 meter relay team (1st 7:51.73) and their 1600 meter relay team (4th 3:21.81).
Blue Springs topped Liberty in their district meet, but they must make an attempt to win the state title without the valuable points of distance runner Caleb Teague (Jr.). Last year, Teague finished ninth in the 3200 meter run and sixth in the state cross country meet last fall; Teague failed to qualify in any event.
Lee's Summit won their district meet while returning state qualifiers include Matt Tegenkamp (Sr. 3rd 1600m 4:17.37, 1st 3200m 9:14.10) and their 3200 meter relay team (6th 8:00.35). Kendall Pyant (Jr.) is expecting to capture many points with four events to compete in. Hazelwood West will make an incredible impact by qualifying in twelve events. Last year's third place team, Jefferson City, qualified in nearly ten events.
4x800 Meter Relay The defending state champions, Liberty (7:51.73), will defend their title against rival power houses Lee's Summit and Lee's Summit North. Liberty lead qualifying in 7:55.6, Lee's Summit finished a shade behind in 7:55.7 and Lee's Summit North qualified in 7:57.8. Because of Liberty's addition of Adam Perkins (Fr. 1:56.1 PR), Lee's Summit and Lee's Summit North will need to drop two of their legs under 2:00 if they plan to compete with Liberty. By winning the Sectional 1 Cape Girardeau meet in 7:59.8, Parkway Central adds even more heated competition to the event.
110 Meter Hurdles The leading returnee, Chris Williams (Sr. Hazelwood West), suffered a defeat to Belger (University City) at the Sectional 1 meet. Belger crossed at 13.8 with Williams at 14.2. Andy Nelson (Jr. Lee's Summit) and Brian Butler (Blue Springs) qualified in 14.3 and 14.2.
100 Meter Dash Damien Nash (Jr. Riverview Gardens) leads the qualifying field with a run of 10.5 at the Sectional 1 meet. Chuckie McGhee (Sr. Ladue Horton Watkins), defending state champion, lost the Cape Girardeau meet to Whitney (Jackson). Whitney finished in 10.5 with McGhee finishing at 10.6. Mario Smith (Jr. Parkway South), who finished in eighth place last year, returns with a 10.6. Earlier in the season, Liberty's returning runner, Jason Richenberger (Sr. 6th 11.04) ran 10.52. Kendall Pyant (Jr. Lee's Summit) ran 10.7 before winning four events at the Blue Springs Section meet. The stacked field of runners is capable of clocking in several runners under 11 seconds.
4x200 Meter Relay Hazelwood West leads the qualifying field at 1:27.1 and Parkway South captured the second place spot at 1:27.7. Hazelwood East finished under the 1:28 mark in 1:27.9. The race has a highly competitive field with eleven teams under 1:31.
1600 Meter Run Lee's Summit runner Matt Tegenkamp heads the field with a personal best split of 4:11. As set at earlier in the year, Tegenkamp intends to seek his goal of a low 4:00 1600 meter race. Tegenkamp will face avid competition from Jason Sandfort (Jr. West Plains 4:16.7 PR), who finished closest to Tegenkamp at the state cross country meet by a minute. Last Saturday, Matt Tanner (Sr. Hickman) ironically lost to Sandfort by a second, at 4:17 as in comparison to the state cross country meet. Sandfort finished the uphill 5k race in 16:26 with Tanner crossing at 16:27. Last year, Ryan Hampton (Sr. Liberty) edged Tegenkamp for second place finishing 4:17.11. At the Blue Springs Section meet, Hampton qualified smoothly, tucking himself into fourth place. Hampton's teammate, Adam Perkins (Fr.), pushed a 4:20 at the Kansas Relays. At the Cape Girardeau meet, David Mertins (Sr. Marquette) broke the 4:20 mark in 4:19.9.
4x100 Meter Relay With a time of 41.9, Parkway South qualified a slightly under 42 seconds to lead the field. The Lindbergh and McCluer relay teams will need to utilize their depth to compete for the title. Last weekend, Christian Brothers College ran 42.2 beating Webster Grooves by two tenth of a second to win the Sectional 1 meet. Other top qualifying teams include Hazelwood West (42.3), Riverview (42.4), and Pattonville (42.8).
400 Meter Dash Peterson (Fr. Jefferson City) heads Kendall Pyant's (Jr. Lee's Summit) 47.8 with a 47.8. At the Lee's Summit/Lee's Summit North Invitational, Pyant won the face off in 48.3 to Peterson's 48.53. Ryan Hartman (Sr. Oak Park) is the only returning All-State competitor. Since last year's state meet Hartman bettered his time of 48.5 by a second. Other competitors include, Hazelwood East 4x400m runners, Starks and Brown and Anthony Freeman (Sr. Kirkwood 48.8 PR).
300 Meter Hurdles Clocking in at 38.3, Belger (University City) heads up the qualifiers by winning the Section 1 meet. Morris White (Sr. Lindbergh), the top returning competitor (6th 39.80), qualified for the second spot in 38.6. King (Hannibal) coasted to a 38.7 as Wilburn (Hazelwood West) finished shy of King at 38.8. Andy Nelson (Jr. Lee's Summit) beat, Blue Springs runner, Brian Butler in a photo finish race both running 38.8s.
800 Meter Run Chaz Brown (Jr. Parkway North) leads second place qualifier Brandon Lowery (So. Normandy) by two seconds with a time of 1:52.5. Qualifying for second place boosts Lowery's confidence after last year's thirteenth place finish of 2:01. Lowery's teammate, Talley, also qualified after finishing in third place at 1:56.4. Because of wise experience, returnees Mike Hutsel (Sr. 2nd 1:54.04) of Parkway North and Mat Whitehead (Sr. 3rd 1:54.11) of Carthage can be expected to take an early lead. Freshman Adam Perkins (Liberty PR), Ray Taylor (Northeast 1:56 PR), and Jonathan Collins (Sr.1:56 PR) have unexplored potential for the race. Jason Sharf (Sr. Parkway Central) led the Cape Girardeau qualifying at 1:56.9. With quite a few runners capable of running under 1:57.5, this may possibly be the best 800m field in state history.
200 Meter Dash The 200 meter race may also bring potential out of runners. Qualifying in 21.44, at the Blue Springs Sectional meet, Kendall Pyant (Jr. Lee's Summit) heads the 200 meter field. Early this season, Peterson (Fr. Jefferson City 21.6 PR) previously defeated Pyant in an open 200 meter race. At the Cape Girardeau Section, Robert Tillman (Marquette) defeat last year's runner up, Chuckie McGhee (Jr. Ladue Horton Watkins 2nd 21.58) with a time of 21.7 opposed to McGhee's 21.9. Other competitors who have run under 22 seconds includes Anthony Freeman (Sr. Kirkwood) and Jason Richenberger (Sr. Liberty).
3200 Meter Run With eager intentions to break nine minutes, Matt Tegenkamp (Sr. Lee's Summit) has his eyes set on the goal 8:52. Tegenkamp placed fifth at the Footlocker Cross Country Championships, and expects to defend his title with his calm, gutsy, and confident running style. At the Kansas Relays, Tegenkamp achieved a personal best of 9:03.38. Jason Sandfort (Jr. West Plains), last year's runner up in the 3200m qualified with a best of 9:13.5. Matt Tanner (Sr. Hickman) is among a group of runners with a lot of potential. After qualifying with comfort, returning Liberty runners Josh Davis (Jr. 13th 10:13) and Ryan Hampton (Sr. 3rd 9:38) expect to run up to their potential. Mile Brown (Jr. Glendale) returns after placing in tenth place and in eleventh at the cross country state meet. Webster Grooves runner John Stanton-Geddes (Sr.) qualified with a personal best of 9:27.2. In 9:45.93, Stanton-Geddes crossed in eighth place last year. Other competitors include: Taylor (Sikeston 9:29.8), Person (Ladue Horton Watkins 9:32.7), Koziater (Marquette 9:37), and Doherty (DeSmet).
4x400 Meter Relay Normandy and Hazelwood East Qualified the top times, at the Sectional 1 meet, in 3:17.2 and 3:17.5. With two legs comprised of 49 seconds or better, Hazelwood East will depend on their slower legs to compete for the victory. Lee's Summit faced no trouble qualifying in 3:19.8, winning the Section without the anchor leg of Kendall Pyant. The anchor leg of Oak Park (3:19.3), Ryan Hartman, will intend to challenge Pyant on the anchor leg.
Long Jump At the Blue Springs Sectional meet, Kendall Pyant (Jr. Lee's Summit) advanced to the state meet, with a jump of 23-9. Pyant's toughest competition, Anderson (Hazelwood East), qualified at 23-3. Roosevelt Tharp (Sr. Belton) is the only competitor from his team. The field will be loaded with jumpers jumping 22-0 or better.
High Jump Brett Terp (So. 11th 6-2) heads the field with a jump of 6-8.
Triple Jump Top qualifiers are Harris (Hazelwood West 48-8 1/20, Marvin Fowler (Sr. Pattonville 47-5 1/4) and Tony Hawkins (Sr. Raytown South 46-5 3/4).
Shot Put Top qualifiers include Weeden (McCluer 56-10 1/2), Atiyyah Ellison (Sr. Parkway South 55-11), Adam Burla (Jr. Marquette 55-11 1/4), and Jeremy Troupe (Lee's Summit 53-3 1/4).
Discus Throw Earl Jack (Blue Springs) won the sectional meet by beating second place finisher Brian Woodward (Truman) by over 13 feet. Grant Knowles (Jr. Lee's Summit North) finished in third place with a throw of 156-8. Jeff Thiele (Sr. 10th 148-3) returns entered at 158-7 1/2. McCoy (Carthage) qualified for first place with a throw of 171-8 beating Lindquist (Jefferson City 162-5. Francis Howell thrower Koch enters state with a throw of 160-1 1/2.
Pole Vault Last year's runner up, Phillip Brown (Sr. Popular Bluff), has already surpassed last year's winning height of 15-2 in a vault of 16-1. Keenan King (Sr. Hannibal) will enter with a vault of 15-0 after scratching out, last year. Camdenton vaulter J.R. Skola (Sr. 5th 14-00 qualified with a 15-4 vault.
