Lady Eagles First, Eagles Second At Home Meet

Quick Start… Lady Eagle senior Kimmie Spring carries the baton on the first leg of the 4x200m relay at the Holden Blue and White Invitational Meet on Friday, April 28. Holden’s team of Spring, Rachel Wamsley, Adalyn Campbell, and Gracie Carver recorded a second-place finish in the relay. Photo by Steve Edwards
The Lady Eagles track and field team took the top spot in the final standings with the Eagles boys team placing second at the Holden Blue and White Invitational Meet on Friday, April 28.
With ongoing construction to add all-weather field turf surfaces on the baseball and football fields at Holden High School in progress, the meet marked both the final home meet of the season, and the final meet before the construction phase on the football field began the following day.
“This being the final regular season meet for the seniors is a great opportunity for them to compete in front of their families,” said Holden track and field coach David Diener. “I am very grateful for this group of seniors, and even with the construction, I know it was important for them to get this last home track meet for them.”
For the Lady Eagles team, Jazzy Brown recorded a first-place finish in the 200m dash, and placed second in the 100m dash. Kia Harmon took the third-place spot in the 100m dash, and Adalyn Campbell placed third in the 200m dash for multiple top sprint placings.
“Jazzy is a tough competitor who is going to be a great sprinter for out Holden program,” said coach Diener in regard to the freshman. “She has been battling some lingering injuries, but goes out and puts great times and finishes down every track meet.”
Campbell went on to take the first-place medal in the 400m dash, and carried the baton on the first leg of the Lady Eagles 4x400m relay team which placed first.
Harmon would add second-place finishes in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump to her 100m bronze finish.
Senior Gracie Carver recorded a third-place finish in the 400m dash, and carried the baton on the final leg of the 4x400m relay behind Campbell, K’Lea Westover, and Marah Klover.
“One of the strengths of our girls squad is our 400m entries,” said coach Diener. “Both Gracie and Addy are fierce competitors in the open 400.”
Westover handled the second leg of the 4×400 relay in place of senior Alli Iles on the day.
“K’Lea is a strong runner for us,” said coach Diener. “Each time she has been able to enter a meet, she continues to improve, and she was able to step into two relays for us Friday. She ran a great split in her 4×800 to start the track meet, and stepped into the 4×400 relay to run another great split.”
Lilee Keller turned in a first-place finish in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.77 seconds.
“Lilee had a great performance in the 100m hurdles,” noted coach Diener.
On the boys side, Masyn Powell recorded first-place finishes in both the 110m hurdles at 15.28 seconds, and the 300m hurdles at 41.07 seconds.
“Masyn continues to be our leading point scorer for the guys in the circle,” said coach Diener. “Not only have his hurdles been great all year, but when he gets plugged into a relay, that relay has its best overall times.”
Powell joined Jacob Andes, Sam Comer, and Reco Jenkins on the 4x200m relay team for a first-place finish in a time of 1:33.
High jumper Cole Zillner also earned a first-place finish for the boys team by clearing 6’-00.75”. Senior Tyler Hankins placed second in both the high jump, and the pole vault.
“Cole Zillner has made big improvements this year,” stated coach Diener. “Coach (Griffin) Keller has done a great job with his adjustments, and it has been a big reason why our boys team has had such great success, because Cole and Tyler are doing so well in the high jump placings.”
Other Lady Eagles Top-Three Medal Finishes: Malea Brewington, 3200m, 3rd; Marah Klover, 300 hurdles, 2nd; Klover, HJ, 3rd; Chloe Hernan, SP, 3rd; Addilyn Wooster, PV, 2nd; Izzy Guinn, PV, 3rd; 4×100 (Kimmie Spring, Rachel Wamsley, Clara Hernan, Brown), 2nd; 4×200 (Spring, Wamsley, Campbell, Carver), 2nd; 4×800 (Abby Miller, Westover, Ava Young, Malea Brewington), 2nd.
Other Eagles Top-Three Medal Finishes: Zach Willis, 1600m, 3rd; Willis, 3200m, 3rd; Jayden Ring, PV, 3rd; Marshall Doogs, SP, 2nd; 4×100 (Andes, Comer, Wally Walker, Jenkins), 2nd.
Track Teams Place First At Knob Noster Meet, Zach Willis Sets School Record
The Eagles and Lady Eagles track and field teams swept the top team spots with both squads placing first at the Knob Noster Invitational on Tuesday, April 25.
Holden senior Zach Willis highlighted the meet by breaking the Holden school record in the 3200m run. Willis posted a time of 10:08 in a second-place finish on the day.
“Zach broke the old school record of Shawn Conard who ran at 10:11.88 in 2013,” said coach David Diener. “Zach ran his strongest race of the year by far, by running a 10:08.80. He had great, consistent fast splits, then his last three laps started cutting more time off each lap. I am very proud of his effort and accomplishments this year. He is setting a great example of the work ethic and effort needed to be successful at the distance events, and will help carry that part of our program forward.
“The girls and guys winning the track meet is an outstanding accomplishment,” added coach Diener.
Lady Eagles athletes turning in first-place finishes included Jazzy Brown in the 200m dash with a time of 27.16 seconds, and Adalyn Campbell in the 400m dash with a time of 1:01. Kia Harmon took first-place finishes in both the long jump and the triple jump. Harmon recorded a distance of 15’-03” in the long jump, and went for 32’-03” in the triple jump.
On the boys side, Masyn Powell recorded first-place finishes in both the 110m hurdles, and the 300m hurdles. Powell timed out at 15.35 seconds in the 110m race, and clocked a time of 40.54 seconds in the 300m distance.
Cole Zillner took the first-place finish in the high jump with a height of 6’-02.75”.
Other Top-Three Lady Eagles Medal Placings: Brown, 100m dash, 2nd; Harmon, 100m dash, 3rd; Harmon, high jump, 2nd; 4×100 (Kimmie Spring, Rachel Wamsley, Clara Hernan, Brown), 2nd; 4×200 (Wamsley, Grace Kendrick, Adalyn Campbell, Gracie Carver), 2nd; 4×400 (Campbell, Carver, Alli Iles, Marah Klover), 2nd.
“The girls 4×400 team ran their fastest overall time of the year at Knob,” noted coach Diener. “Their 4:18 puts them very competitive in the top-five in Class 3.”
Other Top-Three Eagles Medal Placings: Tyler Hankins, pole vault, 3rd; Marshall Doogs, shot put, 3rd.