Senior Jessica Fleetwood contributed to the Lady 'Cats' victory in the 1,600 relay. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

A strong group of distance runners paced the Santa Fe boys' track and field team to third place Tuesday in the I-70 Conference Championships at Marshall

Junior Darin Buford won the 800-meter run (2:12.19) and ran the third leg of the victorious 3,200-meter relay (9:09.50). Sophomores Jeff Knipmeyer, Derrick Kennedy and Hunter Rolf were also members of the quarter.

Senior Ramon Gordillo was third in the 800 (2:14.93). Kennedy finished third in the 1,600 (5:16.59) and fourth in the 3,200 (12:14.53). The Chiefs also came in third in the 800 and 1,600 relays and fourth in the 400 relay.

The top Santa Fe performer in field events were junior Tylor Strickland, third in the shot put (38 feet, 8 inches), and junior Logan Kirchhoff with third place in the triple jump (37-11.25).

The Chiefs tallied 108 points, only three points behind second-place Wellington-Napoleon. Orrick (181 points) won the title for the seventh year in a row. The Lady Bearcats also claimed a championship, their first since 1990.

The Santa Fe girls were fifth with 70 points, but had two winners: sophomore Lauren Aversman in the 300-meter low hurdles (50.69 seconds) and junior Cassie Wright, the defending MSHSAA Class 1 champion, in the discus (106-9). Aversman was also second in the triple jump (30-8.75).

Freshman Gia Baldwin placed second in the long jump (14-8), third in the 100 (14.07) and fourth in the 200 (29.26) and freshman Anna Sleeper came in third in the 3,200 (14:20.68).

The Sweet Springs boys (31) were seventh, with the girls winding up (27) eighth.

Leading the Greyhounds were two throwers: freshman Nick Peeples placing third in the discus (108-8.5), with sophomore Zach Thomas (105-7) fifth, and freshman Kyle Hollrah with a third in the long jump (18-9) and fifth in the high jump (5-6).

Third places for sophomore Hollie Heaper in the shot put (31-10.5) and sophomore Kristen Jones in the discus (87-3) topped the Sweet Springs girls, who took fourth in the 400 relay (59.13).

All of the Class 1 schools in the local area will be in Marshall on Saturday for the MSHSAA Class 1, District 5 Championships -- with the top four in each event moving on to the sectional meet, an extra step towards to the state meet from previous years.

Slater boys second in L&C

FAYETTE -- The Slater boys' track and field team scored in 15 of 18 events Monday to place second in the Lewis and Clark Conference Championships at Fayette.

The Wildcats didn't win any events, but finished second in several, including two relays: the 400-meter (47.50 seconds) behind senior Aric Falls, juniors Garrett Falls and Jeremy Wilson, and sophomore Cody Skinner and the 1,600 (3:51.00) run by Garrett Falls, Wilson, Skinner and junior Jeremy Fizer.

The 800 combo of Falls, Wilson, senior Kyle Durham and freshman Travis Holt was third (1:41.90).

The Purple also had second-place performances from Wilson in the 400 (55.50), Skinner in the 300 intermediate hurdles (44.90) and Durham in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches).

Coming in third were Wilson in the 200 (4.50), Falls in the 800 (2:19.10), freshman Zach Sullivan in the 110 high hurdles (18.50) and senior Lucas Johnson in the discus (101-10).

Fizer was fourth in the 100 (12.10), as was Sullivan in the high jump (5-2) and Fizer in the long jump (18-11).

Slater tallied 102.5 points to champion Marceline's 181 points. Marceline (154) also took the girls' crown, with the Lady 'Cats (72) fifth.

Sophomore Niki Kruger won the 800 (2:39.90) and 1,600 (2:39.90), leading Slater to victory also in the 3,200 relay (11:24.50) -- where she was joined by junior Rachel Gonzalez, sophomore Lexsi Griffith and freshman Marissa Weiher.

The 1,600 relay (4:35.10) team of Kruger, Weiher, senior Jessica Fleetwood and freshman Ana Jackson also scored a win.

Gonzalez came in second in the 3,200 (13:30.40) and third in the 1,600 (6:14.20). Jackson placed third in the 200 (27.40) and fourth in the 100 (13.20).

Valley's Ferreira wins HAAC title

FAYETTE -- All-American race-walker Thiago Ferreira claimed the only gold medal for the Missouri Valley College men's track and field team Saturday during the Heart of America Conference Championships at Fayette.

A junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ferreira won the 5,000-meter race-walk with a time of 22:24.65, which ranks second in the NAIA. He and senior Anthony Flores, ranked seventh in the half-marathon, are the only Vikings to qualify so far for the NAIA Championships on May 22-24 at Edwardsville, Ill.

Valley (68 points) finished fifth among the men's teams, with the Lady Vikings (32) eighth. Lindenwood beat out MidAmerica Nazarene for both titles.

Flores was Valley's leading medal-winner -- placing second in the 10,000 (32:37.56) third in the 5,000 (15:25.21) and fourth in 1,500 (4:04.77). He was also part of the second-place 1,600 relay (3:22.56) quartet -- running with junior Adam Willis and sophomores Casey Knight and LaQuito Thompson.

Two throwers also medaled for the Vikings, both senior T.J. Tiefenbrun in the hammer throw (42.16 meters) and freshman William Coleman in the shot put (14.16) coming in fourth.

The lone winner for the Lady Vikings was senior Natalie Reische of Brunswick, who claimed her first conference championship in the hammer throw (43.62). She was also sixth in the discus (34.74), as was junior Natalie Porter in the javelin (31.70).

Freshman Jennifer Asberry came in third in the triple jump (9.98), senior Linze Leimkuehler of Marshall was sixth in the 400 (1:00.53) and sophomore Jaci Price of Moberly finished eighth in the long jump (4.33).

The Vikings will have one more chance to qualify more athletes for the national meet, when they head to either Lindenwood or Emporia State (Kan.) on May 10.