Panther girls shine at SEC middle school meet

MT. PLEASANT — Mapleleaf Athletic Complex played host to the 2023 Southeast Conference middle school track meet on Monday night, and the hosting Panthers had quite the day.

The Mt. Pleasant seventh-grade girls are your 2023 SEC champions. The Panthers scored 172 points to win the meet by a whopping 40 points over second-place Ottumwa.

The Panther eighth-graders were edged by Ottumwa, taking second with a score of 121. The Bulldogs put up 136 to win the meet.

Washington took third in the seventh grade side, scoring 87.5 points. The Demon eighth-graders scored 47.

The Trojans got fourth in both rankings. Fairfield scored 70.5 points on the seventh grade side, and the Trojan eighth-graders scored 87.

The Mt. Pleasant seventh-graders racked up the wins all night. Mt. Pleasant had a fantastic day in the sprints and hurdles, even going one-two in a couple of events.

Megan Newton and Alayna Wilson went one-two in the 100-meter hurdles. Abby Shelangoski took first in the 200-meter hurdles, and the shuttle hurdle squad of Alayna Wilson, Lila Cook, Taylor Williamson and Megan Newton took first as well.

Ellie Freeman won both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash for the Panthers. Paisley Jalas finished right behind Freeman in the 200, for another one-two finish.

In the distance events, Mt. Pleasant’s Bella Dodds took first in the 1500-meter run. In the field, Izzy Sloat won the long jump.

The Mt. Pleasant 4X100 team of Williamson, Shelangoski, Jalas and Ellie Freman took first. Also winning was the 4X200 squad of Williamson, Wilson, Jalas and Shelangoski, and the 4X400 team of Newton, Molly Baker, Josie Dykstra and Sloat.

The Mt. Pleasant eighth-graders had a handful of wins as well. Included in that were two individual wins on the track, as Bathsheba Woman took first in the 200-meter hurdles, and Nevaeh Beans won the 400-meter dash.

Ja’Kiyah Sanders took first place in the long jump. The Panthers’ shuttle hurdle team of Scotlyn Roen, Linzy Striegel, Jayden Yoder and Bowman took first place, as did the 4X400 squad of Paige Newton, Jenna Schwartz, Beans and James.

Washington had three wins on the day, two in eighth grade and one in seventh.

In the eighth-grade competition, Jaedyn Moore won both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. The Demon seventh-graders had a winner in Jaslyn Villa Leyva, who took the 400-meter dash.

Fairfield’s Kayley Snowgren won the 8th-grade 1500-meter championship. The Trojans also won the eighth-grade 4X200, as the quartet of Ashley Lyons, Bella Buckley, Frances Miller and Samantha Lyons crossed the tape first.

Fairfield’s lone field event winner came in the seventh grade throws. Kara Daughterty was victorious.

7TH-GRADE TEAM SCORES

1. Mt. Pleasant 172

2. Ottumwa 132

3. Washington 87.5

4. Fairfield 70.5

5. Burlington 43

6. Fort Madison 38

7. Keokuk 5

8TH-GRADE TEAM SCORES

1. Ottumwa 136

2. Mt. Pleasant 121

3. Burlington 104

4. Fairfield 87

5. Washington 47

6. Fort Madison 37

7. Keokuk 22