Suburban South Roundup: Individuals Shine in Postseason Finales

Patch takes a look at the latest news and notes from the Suburban West Conference, including the postseason highlights.

It was all about the individuals last week as Suburban South Conference baseball and soccer teams had already seen their 2011 seasons end.

And it was a great week for some talented conference athletes in the state track and tennis tournaments.

Track and Field
Daniel Mazar and the Rockwood Summit High School boys track team finished in a tie for second at the Class 4 state meet which was held Friday and Saturday at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

Mazar won gold medals in both an open and relay event over the weekend. Mazar won the 800-meter run (1:52.26) and teamed with Aaden Aaden, Devonte Harris and Curt Wood to win the 4x800-meter relay. The Falcons’ time of 7:50.61 won the event by almost five seconds.

Mazar also finished second in the 1,600-meter run and Wood was third in the 800-meter run. Summit's Alyssa Jones was eighth in the 3,200-meter run.

Parkway Central High School's Brandon Sheperd won a pair of state medals. He was also third in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles. Parkway Central had two medal-winning relay teams. Tosha Frazier, Paige Nelson, Camryn Bates and Imani Myton were sixth in the 4x100. Frazier, Nelson, Myton and Annika Sisson were eighth in the 4x200.

The Suburban South had two medalists in the 110 hurdles with the third-place finish by Sheperd and an eighth-place finish by Jordan Helenkamp of Webster Groves High School.

The Statesmen had two other state medalists. LaJuan Moye was third in the high jump and Jamar Ashford was eighth in the 100-meter dash.

Parkway West High School and Seckman High School also had an individual state medalist in Class 4. West's Nick Ingle was fifth in the 800-meter run and Seckman's Kyle Eaves was eighth in the shot put.

Jumpers Darion Boure and Emmanuel Price helped the University City High Schools boys to a seventh-place finish in the Class 3 meet. Boure was second in both the long jump and triple jump, while Price was fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.

The U. City girls also had a top-10 finish in the Class 3 state meet. The Lions, who were tied for sixth, were paced by Kayla Heidelberg. She won four medals, finishing third in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the open 100. She also ran a leg on the 4x100 team with Lydia Bohlen, Erika Murphy and Jamesha Howard which finished fifth. The same four girls were second in the 4x200.

The Lions also medaled in the 4x400 as Bohlen, Howard, Chantel Bethune and Quindara Jackson finished sixth. Bohlen and Murphy also came home with individual medals. Bohlen was eighth in the 400 and Murphy was eighth in the 200.

The Kirkwood High School girls finished in the top 10 in Class 4 with a 10th-place finish. The top effort by the Pioneers was a second place finish in the 4x200 with Lianna Doty, Hannah Richardson, Elizabeth King and Elizabeth Luciani. Doty and Richardson also teamed with Elisa Steele and Lindsey Leeker to finish seventh in the 4x400.

Richardson also won an individual medal, finishing fifth in the 800 while Steele was sixth in the 400.

Kirkwood's Kayla Gutierrez won medals in both throwing events. She was fifth in the discus and seventh in the shot put.

Tennis
Four Suburban South tennis players left the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield with medals from the state tournament.

Rockwood Summit sophomore Dylan Steffens won the Class 2 consolation championship. Steffens had the toughest of draws as he had to face eventual champion Paul Nahon of Springfield Glendale in the first round. He won four games, the most of any of Nahon's four opponents, and then went on to win four matches in the consolation bracket. He beat Alex Pozo of CBC, 7-5, 6-3, in the consolation championship.

Parkway Central had five competitors at the state tourney. Central lost, 5-4, in the semifinals of the team tournament against Lafayette and finished fourth after a loss against Rockhurst in the third-place match.

University City's Alec Kaczkowski also won four matches at state and captured the consolation championship in Class 1. His only loss also came against the eventual champion, Charlie Curtis of MICDS. Kaczkowski beat Eric Dailey of Emxcelsior Springs, 7-5, 6-3, to capture fifth place.

Kirkwood's doubles team of Josh Waite and Robert Conroy finished fourth in Class 2. Kirkwood's other doubles team, Drew Morris and Tanner Morris, had two tough-luck three set losses and fell one match short of a medal.

Patch Suburban South Boys Athlete of the Week
Rockwood Summit’s Daniel Mazar  won gold medals in both an open and relay event over the weekend. Mazar won the 800-meter run (1:52.26) and teamed with Aaden Aaden, Devonte Harris and Curt Wood to win the 4x800-meter relay. The Falcons' time of 7:50.61 won the event by almost five seconds.

Mazar also finished second in the 1,600-meter run and Wood was third in the 800-meter run. Summit placed second as a team (out of 55 teams) with 34 points  in the 18 events.

Patch Suburban South Girls Athlete of the Week
Parkway West junior Nicole Douglas won the state championship in the 100-meter hurdles. She won with a time of 43.21. Douglas was also third in the 300 hurdles. Parkway West placed 18th as a team (out of 44 teams) with 16 points.