HHS track athletes perform well at districts 

Following the 13-team Class 3 District 5 Championships meet last Saturday at Cuba, the Houston High School track and field program has several athletes still competing in the 2025 season.

The top-4 finishers in each event advanced to the Class 3 Sectionals 3 meet this Saturday at Mountain Grove.

Two HHS girls earned individual district championships, as senior Kristen Ely won the 800-meter run and sophomore Adyson Dailing won the 300-meter hurdles.

Advancing with runner-up showings were sophomore Summer Seago in girls pole vault (with a school record height) and senior Brody Adkison in boys discus.

Houston athletes going to sectionals after third-place finishes include junior Mason Dodson in boys javelin, Dailing in the 100-meter dash, junior Kynlee Weaver in girls javelin and the Lady Tigers 4X100 relay team (with a school record performance).

Taking fourth and earning a berth at sectionals were senior Maleki Morgan in boys shot put, junior Kayla Wagner in girls 400-meter dash (with a new school record time), Seago in shot put and the girls 4X400 relay squad.

HHS boys who placed 5th and just missed a berth at sectionals included Dillon Shelton in the 800, Jack Sawyer in the 1,600 and Devin Shelton in discus.

In the team results, Eldon took the district crown in both boys and girls competition, while Mountain Grove was second and Salem was third in the boys standings and St. James was second and Mountain Grove was third in the girls standings. Houston’s girls placed fifth and the boys placed seventh.

HHS athletes posted numerous notable finishes at the meet.

HHS BOYS

• 100-meter dash: Kaden Beasley, 6^th, 11.93.
• 800-meter run: Dillon Shelton, 5^th, 2:15.87.
• 1,600-meter run: Jack Sawyer, 5^th, 4:57.01.
• 4X800-meter relay: Houston, 5^th, 9:08.24.
• Long jump: Bryson Jordan, 7^th, 5.69m.
• Triple jump: Bryson Jordan, 7^th, 12.24m.
• Discus: Brody Adkison, 2^nd, 39.93m; Devin Shelton, 5^th, 37.08m.

“Devin missed 4th place by literally 1 inch,” said HHS head coach Mike Tottingham. “Sometimes the measurements go your way, this time it did not.” 

• Javelin: Mason Dodson, 3^rd, 45.59m.
• Shot put: Maleki Morgan, 4^th, 13.21m.; Mason Dodson, 10^th, 10.9m.

HHS GIRLS

• 100-meter dash, Adyson Dailing, 3^rd, 12.97; Marie Palmer, 9^th, 14.17.
• 400-meter dash: Kayla Wagner, 4^th, 1:02.26 (school record, beating her own mark of 1:02.64 from 2023).
• 800-meter run: Kristen Ely, 1^st, 2:29.54 (she enters sectionals as the No. 1 seed).
• 300-meter hurdles: Adyson Dailing, 1^st, 48.66.
• 4X100-meter relay: Houston, 3^rd, 52.53 (Summer Seago, Marie Palmer, Kayla Wagner and Adyson Dailing; school record, beating mark set by the same group a couple of weeks ago).
• 4X400-meter relay: Houston, 4^th, 4:29.05 (Isis Crawford, Kristen Ely, Adyson Dailing, Kayla Wagner).
• Triple jump: Kayla Wagner, 6^th, 9.96m.
• Pole vault: Summer Seago, 2^nd, 2.64m (school record).

“Summer has only been pole vaulting for a month and she has taken to it like she has been vaulting all her life,” Tottingham said. “In the last week she has won an SCA championship and finished 2nd at districts, so that’s a pretty good start for a new event.”  

• Javelin: Kynlee Weaver, 3^rd, 36.12m; Summer Seago, 7^th, 31.19m.

“This is a new PR for Kynlee and sets her up for a very good shot at a return trip to state if she can come close to replicating it at sectionals,” Tottingham said. 

• Shot put: Summer Seago, 4^th, 10.16m.

Ely’s win came after two close calls during her career.

“Both my freshman and junior year, I placed 5th in the 800 at districts, missing my chance to go to sectionals by only a couple of seconds,” she said. “Each year I have improved my times, but the required time to go always decreased just below my PRs. It feels so rewarding to see my hard work finally pay off, and not only qualifying for sectionals but being the district champ in my event.”

Dailing made it through to sectionals in all four of her events.

“That is a first for me and another awesome accomplishment to her standout year,” Tottingham said.  

Seago made it through in three of her four events.

“She has peaked at a very good time and looks like the standout athlete that we always knew she could be when she started track,” Tottingham said. 

The Class 1 through 3 boys and girls state championships meet is set for May 23 and 24 at Jefferson City High School.