O’Fallon girls score second major meet victory

Major meets dominated the high school track scene this past week.

The milestone 50th annual O’Fallon Relays took center stage for the boys while Belleville West hosted the West Invitational on Saturday.

The OTHS girls collected their second consecutive invitational championship, edging the Edwardsville Tigers. The Edwardsville boys team claimed the O’Fallon Relays title with the host Panthers finishing fourth.

At Belleville West, the Lady Panthers were tested and survived the challenge without the benefit of a first place event in either the track or field events.

O’Fallon’s team depth was the key to victory as the OTHS squad finished the day with six second place medals and the same number of third place awards.

Seniors Jasmine Spearman and Caitlyn Clinton paced the Panther attack. Spearman secured second place in the discus, only 11 feet off the mark set by the event winner, Allison Richter of Triad who is currently the number one ranked thrower in Illinois Class 2A track.

Clinton was solid in the 800 meter race. One of O’Fallon’s team leaders, Clinton kept pace with Edwardsville’s Lori Cashdollar until the final few yards.

O’Fallon’s 33-point margin of victory was fueled by solid races in the relays. Second place finishes were secured by both sprint relays (4x100 and 4x200) as well as the 4x800 and the frosh/soph 4x400 quartet.

Adding to the OTHS total with third place medals were: Mackenzie Ryan (100 hurdles and triple jump), Mya Watson-Blake (high jump), Hannah Nabb (3,200), Tamya Houston (100) and the varsity 4x400 relay.

“Our goal at Belleville West was to show improvement in events across the board, and our girls accomplished that,” Panther coach Neil James said. “This is our second major meet victory in as many weeks, so we want to build on that going forward.”

The Edwardsville Tigers were the big story at the OTHS Relays. Edwardsville junior AJ Epenesa set a new meet record in the discus with a winning toss of 190’11”.

The effort broke the record set by O’Fallon’s Tom Barrett of 175’11” set in 1996.

The OTHS squad finished second to Edwardsville in the Gold division. The Panthers scored 112 team points to the Tigers’ 170.

“Any time you get a majority of teams coming from the Southwestern Conference in a meet, the competition is going to be tough,” said O’Fallon coach Ron Koch. “I thought our team competed well with several kids equaling or bettering personal bests.”

Those who did excel against the stiff competition included two first place efforts.

The lone individual title was earned by Aaron Smith in the high jump. Smith soared over the bar at 6’6”, an inch higher than Collinsville’s Bailey Crone.

The Panthers’ other blue ribbon came through the combined efforts of the freshmen/sophomore 4x800 relay team. Other contributors to the OTHS final team tally were second place medal wins in the varsity 4x100, the frosh/soph 4x100 and the frosh/soph 4x200. Third place medals were collected by Brandon Hunter in the discus, the 440 hurdle shuttle and the varsity 4x400.

Major meet action continues this week with the O’Fallon girls scheduled for the Tiger Town Invitational in Festus, Mo., and the Panther boys traveling to Belleville on Saturday for the Belleville West Invitational.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 9:27 AM with the headline "O’Fallon girls score second major meet victory."