Lady 'Hounds still I-70's speed demons

Sophomore Morgan Smith, a member of Sweet Springs' state champion sprint relay team, helped the Lady 'Hounds win a pair of races at the I-70 Conference meet. [Click to enlarge]

ORRICK -- When it comes to pure speed, the Sweet Springs girls remain the ones to beat.

The Lady Greyhounds won five events Tuesday at the I-70 Conference Championships in Orrick, including both of the sprint relays. Senior Leslie Keesaer (13.19 seconds) and sophomore Morgan Smith (13.92) finished 1-2 in the 100-meter dash and were joined by sophomore Jennifer Vogelsmeier and freshman Laura Keesaer for victories in the 400- (56.81) and 800-meter (1:55.78) relays.

The elder Keesaer has been part of two state champion quartets, the second with Smith and Vogelsmeier. She has also won a state medal in the long jump. Keesaer claimed the title in the conference meet, too, with a leap of 14 feet, 10 inches -- with Vogelsmeier first in the triple jump (30-1.5).

Vogelsmeier was second in the 200 (28.65) and Laura Keesaer placed third in the 400 (1:06.96) and fourth in the 200 (28.99) as Sweet Springs finished third in the team standings with 83 points. St. Paul claimed the crown with 167 points and the only two points for Santa Fe came from sophomore Jennifer Knipmeyer's fifth place in the 1,600.

The Chiefs (73.5 points) were third on the boys' side, behind Orrick (165.5) and St. Paul (120), getting wins from junior Damien Gordillo in the 1,600 (5:04.28) and senior Kellen Brandt in the high jump (5-10). The 400 relay (48.31) combo of seniors Rashad Fletcher, Dusty Wood and Billy Owen and junior Kyle Gieselman also took first.

Junior Russell Kephardt was second in both the 110 high (17.00) and 300 intermediate (46.18) hurdles, senior Cody Lovercamp placed fourth in the 3,200 (11:58.21) and the 1,600 relay (3:54.82) of Gordillo, Brandt, sophomore Kyle Kirchhoff and freshman Kenzie Thorp was third.

The Sweet Springs boys tallied 13 points. Freshman Tyler Woods was third in the discus (119-0), senior John Mapes fourth in the shot put (36-0) and freshmen Ronnie Hunter, James DeWeese, Travis Hinck and Chris Dickinson combined for fifth in the 400 relay (51.22) and sixth in the 800 relay (1:47.08).

Slater won two gold medals Monday at the Lewis and Clark Conference Championships in Fayette, from sophomores Craig Anderson in the long jump (19-1) and Jason Owens in the high jump (5-8).

Owens was second in the 110 hurdles (16.1), sophomore Dwayne Lewis claimed a silver in the discus (130-2) and junior Katie Tyre was the runner-up in the shot (31-0).

Requests for team scores from the meet manager were unfulfilled.