Western-Star.com

It wasn't that long ago that the Waynesville track teams struggled to field a full squad.

This spring, however, the Spartans find themselves in contention for team titles at invitational meets.

Waynesville's boys and girls took second at their home invitiatonal last Friday, following up a pair of top three finishes at the KTC Invitational the week before.

Clinton-Massie won both meets, but the Spartans' 94 point showing by both the boys and girls enthused coach Jon Stubbs.

"It's pretty exciting for us, especially to follow up the good showing we had the KTC meet the week before," Stubbs said.

"We've been making a living on the track, but we got some solid performances in the field events as well this week, which was good to see."

Jessica Dahnke swept the strength events for the Spartans, throwing the discus 111 feet, 1/2 inch, and winning the shot put with a throw of 29-10 1/2.

"Jessica has been throwing those distances consistently this spring," Stubbs said. "It's nice to be able to rely on her taking first or second in every meet."

The Waynesville boys also scored some points in the field events as Kevin Cornett took second in the discus (121-8) and Joey Hernandez and Jeff Messinger finished second and third in the long jump.

"Joey and Jeff have consistently jumped 19 feet all season and Kevin has thrown the discus between 120 and 130 feet consistenly," Stubbs said. "Being able to count on points in those events has been huge for us."

On the track, the Waynesville girls have been dominant in the distance events, while the boys have ruled the sprints.

Junior Bobbi Wilson led the Lady Spartans last Friday with wins in both the 1600 meters (five minutes, 49.49 seconds) and the 3200 (12:43.80).

Freshman Chandler Gianatasio won the 400 meters in 1:04.03 and Stubbs said he expects her to get under one minute by the end of the season.

"Chandler is somebody to watch out for," Stubbs said. "She comes off the track after running the 400 and she's not even breathing hard. That means she's not running hard enough. She looks effortless out there, and I think she can get under a minute by the end of the season."

Waynesville's girl hurdlers — Maggie Dowe and Natalie Dowe — finished third and fourth in the 300 hurdles, and the 3200 meter relay team of Wilson, Farran Eide, Paige Fedor and Lizzie Elson also took third, while Eide was second in the 1600 meters.

Waynesville's boys had just one champion on the track, as the 800 meter relay team of Seth Millar, Jeff Messinger, Kyle Keegan and Tyler Johnson won in 1:33.67. That same quartet took second in the 400 meter relay (44.66) and the Spartans got second place finishes from Joey Hernandez in the 110 meter hurdles (17.25) and Seth Millar in the 100 meters (11.23).

In addition, Tyler Johnson was third in the 400 (52.49) and Danny Parsons was third in the 800 (2:12.46).

"The most exciting thing is that we have a really young team," Stubbs said. " ... This is the first time in a long time we've had a team that compete in invitationals, and to do it with young kids is a great sign for the future of our program."

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