EudoraNews.com

Over the last few weeks the Cardinal girls track team has been making things look easy with some impressive wins to garner three meet championships.

Things weren't quite so easy Friday at Laws Field.

The Eudora girls team went down to the wire with Tonganoxie, but got by the Chieftains in the tightest meet of the year, winning by just four points to make it four-straight titles Friday at the Cardinal Relays.

"We had a real successful meet," Eudora coach Phil Katzenmeier said. "We had a lot of people step up again and things came down to the very end and the girls were able to do it."

The team took first-place despite the absence of four of its top point earners, including last week's hurdles champ Emily Ballock and 3,200-meter runner Brittney Graff, who along with numerous athletes from Friday's 10-team field, competed in the Kansas Relays at Kansas University's Memorial Stadium.

Once again the boost the Cardinals needed came from the freshman ranks, as this year's newcomers accounted for seven medals on the day.

Freshman Kendal Abel netted a season's best in the long jump with a final attempt of 15 feet, 3 inches, which was good for second place.

Relay teams which included Abel, Alisha Wingebach, Bre Miller, Tianna Dunnaway and Rachel Pyle captured two medals in both the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay, while freshman Allison Hoover kept her personal streak alive with a third-straight gold medal in the pole vault with an 8-6 final attempt.

The boys team made an improvement from its earlier showings with 61 points, which was good for a season-best fifth-place finish.

"It was good to see the boys finish the way they did," Katzenmeier said. "They work just as hard as the girls do and they deserved a good finish."

Leading the way for the Cardinal boys was senior Nolan Smith, who took the gold in the 200 and followed that with a silver medal in the 400 with a time of 53.4 seconds.

Junior Paul Chaffin added to Eudora's point total with a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles, while Cody Burns took home the bronze with a time of 4:52.

The Cardinal track team moves on to the Silver Lake Invitational Friday, where the head coach thinks the boys team can continue to improve.

"It's an even field, so it's a meet where the boys can definitely score," Katzenmeier said. "They got some confidence from the last meet and they should be able to build on that."

Girls team standings:

1. Eudora 86; 2. Tonganoxie 82; 3. Sabetha 78; 4. Perry-Lecompton 66; 5. De Soto 62; 6. KC Christian 62; 7. Baldwin 60; 8. Royal Valley 37; 9. Pleasant Ridge 19.

Individual results- Carrie Lister and Nolan Smith continue to average 25 points a meet scoring big in their specialties. A lot of seasonal bests (*) were accomplished on a beautiful spring day in front of a home crowd.

Eudora placers:

Shot put: 1. Carrie Lister, 37-6

Discus: 1. Carrie Lister, 111-7

Javelin: 3. Carrie Lister, 107-9

Long jump: 2. Kendal Abel 15-3 (season best)

Pole vault: 1. Allison Hoover, 8-6

100: 1. Rachel Pyle 12.9; 3. Alisha Wingebach 13.2

200: 2. Tianna Dunnaway, 28.1

400: 5. Tianna Dunnaway 68.3

400 relay: 1. Alisha Wingebach, Kendal Abel, Tianna Dunnaway, Rachel Pyle--52.3

1,600 relay: 3. Alisha Wingebach 65.6, Bre Miller 67.3, Tianna Dunnaway 67.1, Rachel Pyle 63.4--4:23.4

Boys team standings:

1.KC Christian 105; 2. Tonganoxie 98; 3. Royal Valley 81; 4. Sabetha 74; 5. Eudora 61; 6. Pleasant Ridge 41; 7. Baldwin 31; 8. Perry-Lecompton 30; 9. De Soto 20; 10. Immaculata 17.

Eudora placers:

Pole vault: 2. Austin Hoover, 10-6 (season best)

200: 1. Nolan Smith, 23.2

400: 2. Nolan Smith, 53.4

High hurdle: 4. Paul Chaffin, 17.7

300 hurdles: 2. Paul Chaffin, 41.6

1,600: 3. Cody Burns 4:52.0

3,200: 5. Cody Burns, 10:41.6

400 relay: 6. Travis Clarke, Paul Chaffin, Mason McCurdy, Mike White-- 47.5

1,600 relay: 5. 3:47.5 Travis Clarke 58.0, Jordan Katzfey 56.9, Mike White 58.4, Paul Chaffin 54.2--3:47.

3,200 relay: 5. Travis Clarke 2:24.5, Jordan Katzfey 2:19.4, Carlos Canizales 2:28.2, Cody Burns 2:14.5 -- 9:12.2

Throwers relay: 2. Richard Wilks, Stephen Prudden, Cody Carlson, Jorden Wise--51.4