Sikeston's Lashawna Turner hands the baton to Michel'le Flye in the 4x200-meter relay Friday evening at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. Sikeston won the event. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

By Andrew Powell ~ sd_sports@yahoo.com

SIKESTON -- The windy weather brought more than a strong breeze to Public Schools Stadium on Friday evening as track and field teams from around the area blew in to compete in the second annual Sikeston Twilight Relays.

This year's relay included 13 teams as Notre Dame, Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Kelly, Saxony Lutheran, Scott Central, Malden, Caruthersville, Cape Central, Kennett, Hayti, Chaffee and host Sikeston were all represented.

Left: Dexter's Jessica Satterfield jumps 4-8 in the high jump event won by the Lady Bearcats Friday evening. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat) [Click to enlarge]

"We were very pleased with this year's turnout," said Sikeston head coach Jerry Dement. "We had a nice crowd for the kids to run in front of. And I think for the most part they got to see a lot of good competition and some good races."

Both the boys and girls competed in 15 different track and field events which where scattered throughout the afternoon. Six of these events found a position in the field categories while the remaining nine events took off on the track.

In the field, the Bulldogs excelled in the jumping categories, capturing first in each event for the boys and two out of three for the girls.

For the boys, the team of Cal Lane, Gavilan Bland and Robert Walls took first in the high jump (18-0) over Notre Dame and Kennett. Lane, Darryl Howard and Eli Jackson scored 60-4.5 a win in the long jump while Dominic Fondon, Demetrious Jackson and Trey Lewis also took first with 125-8.5 in the triple jump.

For the girls, Nadia Cox, Kanyesha Burrows and Olivia Burrows won the triple jump with 81-4.5. Cox, Vonterria Applewhite and Mykesha Jackson were tops in the long jump with 43-11.75.

"We were really pleased with our jumps on both the boys and girls side," said Dement. "Which, of course, we knew we'd be strong there but we really jumped well."

The boys (20-6) and girls (7-0) each placed third at the pole vault event in their respective fields while the girls discus team placed second behind Cape Central with a total of 226.3

The field athletes also had a change of scenery when they took to the track in the final event of the day, the throwers 4x100 relay. The girls finished third with a time of 1:01.05 while the boys took second with 51.60 seconds.

Sikeston had an equally good showing in the track events during the Twilight Relays as well. Senior Brandon Washington took first in the boys 100-meter dash with a time of 11.40.

In the 4x100 both the boy and girl squads placed first. Lashawna Turner, Applewhite, Michel'le Flye and Chasmin Herrion recorded a time of 51.20 over second-place Malden and the third place Sikeston (B) team. Washington, Dominique McCray, Eli Jackson and Brian Branion beat Poplar Bluff and Sikeston (B) team as well with a time of 44.97.

In the 4x200, Turner, Flye, Herrion and Tyanne Townsend took first again with a time of 1:48.86 for the girls while Washington, Fondon, McCray and Eli Jackson took first on the boys side with 1:34.33. The Sikeston girls also placed second behind Cape Central in the 4x400.

In the 100-meter hurdle relay, the team of Gavilan Bland, Alex Clark and Tanner Bryant came away with first with 48.43 while the girls 100-meter hurdle relay team received third.

"I thought we did pretty well in the sprinting and running events today," said Dement. "It was a little windy but we did good considering the limited practice time we've had. Overall I'm really pleased with the kids effort tonight and I think Southeast Missouri will be well represented by the end of the year."

The Bulldogs will be back in action at 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when they host Dexter and Scott City in a Triad meet.