CHS track and field team to run at District 6 meet

Carthage will move one step closer to the 82nd MSHSAA Track and Field Championships, with the Class 3 District 6 meet in Nevada on Saturday.
   

The Carthage Lady Tigers had a stellar conference meet a week ago at Webb City’s Cardinal Stadium, finishing second behind perennial power Neosho.
   

As the competition improves, the goal for Carthage becomes relatively simple: to advance athletes to the next level.
   

Not to say Carthage is admitting defeat but, at this point, a team championship isn’t quite as important as it was a week ago during the Southwest Conference Championships.
   

The Lady Tigers qualified five athletes for the state championships, and coach Andy Youngworth is encouraged by the girls’ prospects this weekend.
   

“I’m not really worried by how many points we score,” Youngworth said. “I hate to say this, because you always want to go into a meet and have a chance to compete for a team championship, but that is not realistic at this point.”

Instead of scratching for points, Youngworth says, the Lady Tigers will focus on qualifying for the next level — the sectional meet in Branson — set for Saturday, May 17.
   

“A girl that may place seventh, eighth or can scratch a point or two ... I’m not going to enter her,” Youngworth said. “At conference I split up our relays to grab individual points, well now we’re going to load up our relays and, again, focus on getting our relays to the next level.”
   

Youngworth said Carthage would focus on its sprint relay teams including the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter relays.
   

Ivy Shepherd, who qualified for state last season, will look to make some noise, once again, in the 1,600 run and 800 run, while junior Kori Gregory will look to get out in the 200 run. Jumper Taylor Smith, who has made strides this season in the long jump, will also compete for a spot at the sectional meet.
   

“If she continues to improve,” Youngworth said. “Right now she’s not in the top four or five, but she’s not far. If she has a good day, where she improves, she could get out in the long jump.”
   

In the boys’ division, a team championship is plausible. The Tigers are coming off a conference championship and enter the district meet with a chip on their shoulder.
   

Last season, surprise East Newton came away with the boys’ team title — turning more than a couple of heads.
   

Youngworth said the Tigers might have come out of the conference meet with a little too much confidence.
   

“East Newton, who we had beat a couple of times earlier (last) year, had a great meet,” he said. “We had a good meet as well, but they snuck up on us.
   

“They are very talented.”

This year’s meet, on paper, appears frighteningly similar to last season; Carthage, Branson and East Newton will, once again, compete for a team title.
   

“I think it will come down to us, Branson and East Newton,” Youngworth said. “It could be in any order, and there might be someone else that sneaks in there. I know Carl Junction had a good (Big 8) conference meet.
   

“Those things you can’t control can play a factor like it did last year,” Youngworth went on to say. “We had some things that didn’t go our way and, like I said at the conference meet, nobody is going to have a perfect meet.”
   

The top four in each event advance to the sectional meet. Field events and preliminary running events for the district meet begin at 11:30 a.m., with finals set to start at 1:30 p.m.