HHS girls win Mount Vernon track meet

With seven event victories, the Houston High School girls track and field team won the annual Mountaineer Relays meet Thursday at Mount Vernon.

The Lady Tigers scored 105 points to top the field of 20 squads, while Pierce City was second at 82 and Nevada was third at 75.5. The top 8 finishers earn points in each event (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, respectively).

“Those wins make a huge difference in the points standings when there is no stacked team like West Plains or Eldon in the field,” said head coach Mike Tottingham. 

Houston junior Adyson Dailing won three events at the meet, including the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 300-meter hurdles. She also placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and scored 35 points. Her time in the 300 hurdles set a new school record (breaking her own previous mark).

Freshman Lyla Huffman maintained her torrid pace in distance running, taking first in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs, while senior Kayla Wagner won the 400-meter dash (breaking her own previous school record time) and senior Kynlee Weaver won the javelin (with a throw 3 inches short of a new school record). 

The HHS boys placed 14^th among 19 teams at the meet.

Only 10 Lady Tigers participated due to injuries and other factors. The win was the team’s first since a meet at Salem in 2023.

“But the competition was nowhere close to what we had in Mount Vernon,” Tottingham said. 

What the HHS girls are doing this season is particularly remarkable considering the school has no viable track.

“Adyson, Lyla, Kayla and Kynlee continue to do amazing things for us every night,” Tottingham said, “and I don’t want their efforts to become routine and not celebrated. However, if I am being honest, I was most excited about Hally Scheets in the high jump and Jessyn Allen in the 3,200-meter run showing up and giving us their best performances when we needed them the most. Hally, in particular, isn’t far off from entering the discussion of top tier jumpers if she continues to improve the way she has.” 

HHS HIGHLIGHTS

Girls

100-meter dash: Adyson Dailing, 1^st, 13.13 (31 runners).

• 200-meter dash: Adyson Dailing, 1^st, 27.30; Kayla Wagner, 2^nd, 27.95 (31 runners).
• 400-meter dash: Kayla Wagner, 1^st, 1:01.49, school record (26 runners).
• 800-meter run: Lyla Huffman, 1^st, 2:29.75 (22 runners).
• 1,600-meter run: Lyla Huffman, 1^st, 5:33.48 (21 runners).
• 3,200-meter run: Jessyn Allen, 4^th, 13:57.65 (7 runners).

• 100-meter hurdles: Adyson Dailing, 4^th, 17.73 (20 runners).
• 300-meter hurdles: Adyson Dailing, 1^st, 47.72, school record (19 runners).
• Shot put: Kynlee Weaver, 10^th, 8.62m (36 throwers).
• Javelin: Kynlee Weaver, 1^st, 37.30m (31 throwers).
• High jump: Hally Scheets, 3^rd, 1.5m (14 jumpers).
• Long jump: Hally Scheets, 7^th, 4.57m (29 jumpers).
• Triple jump: Kayla Wagner, 3^rd, 9.64m; Millie Manier, 9^th, 8.22m (20 jumpers).

Boys

• 400-meter dash: Kane Crawford, 5^th, 52.99 (34 runners).
• 800-meter run: Dillon Shelton, 6^th, 2:20.19 (29 runners).
• 300-meter hurdles: Hudson Volk, 9^th, 46.78 (17 runners).
• 4X800 relay: Houston 5^th, 9:37.82 (Michael Perez, Christopher Meier, Jack Sawyer, Dillon Shelton – 11 teams).
• Javelin: Mason Dodson, 10^th, 40.68m (36 throwers).

Tottingham has been waiting for years for a measure to pass allowing construction of a new track at HHS. Voters approved such a measure on April 7.

“I would like to say thank you to the voters in the Houston school district for passing the bond to build a new track and make other improvements around the campus,” Tottingham said. “Exciting things are happening for the Houston track and field team and last night was a big deal for our program. I sometimes struggle with letting myself be happy when my teams do great things. Winning is what you are supposed to do, it is the expectation, and there is always room for improvement. Several of my athletes have that same mentality and it drives them to always work and never be satisfied.

“That being said, we all need to step back and let ourselves celebrate our victories, because that is literally why we put in all that time and effort. I could not be more proud of the work that my girls and boys put in every day, and it is showing in the final results at track meets.”   

Both HHS squads will travel to Osage Beach on Monday for the annual Osage Warpath meet.