CLINTON, Mo. - Clearly coach Jonathan Lindquist has the California track and field team peaking at the right time.
At the Class 3 District 7 meet in Clinton on Saturday, May 14, several Pintos registered season-bests - most notably on the girls side - as California sent athletes through to sectionals in 11 different events.
On the girls side, six athletes across eight events will be headed to this Saturday's sectional. The girls team finished third overall with 86 points. In boys action, a trio of fourth place finishes, highlighted by a pair of relays, saw the team take seventh in the 12-team field. Host Clinton won the team title for both the boys and girls, while Lamar took second in both divisions.
"We plan our peak at the beginning of the season with weight training," Lindquist said. "It's a formula that's worked for me for a long time and it seemed to work today, we had a lot of kids do a pretty good job. But it's all on the kids, they have to put the work in."
The only champion for California on Saturday came early in the day as Audrey Pickering breezed to a win in the girls Shot Put with a mark of 41-08. Pickering won the event by nearly five feet as she successfully completed the first step in defending her Class 3 Shot Put title.
"(Audrey's) struggled a little bit the last couple weeks, but she kind of honed in and had a good week of practice," Lindquist said. "We'll have to build on that in these couple weeks. When you have a girl like that who's already that good, it's harder to make big gains. It takes patience and a lot of work on technique."
The Pinto girls team doubled up on sectional qualifiers in the throwing events when junior Cameron Meyer took second in Discus and fourth in Shot. Meyer's 116-09 in Discus came just a few feet off her school record of 119 feet.
Another junior for the Pintos to make it through in a pair of events on Saturday was Ellie Wirts. After scoring a third-place finish in Triple Jump with a mark of 32-03.5, Wirts sprinted her way to fourth-place in the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 1:04.79.
A trio of freshman rounded out the sectional qualifiers for the Pinto girls. Trinity Higgins took third in the Pole Vault with a mark of eight feet. She also added a couple of fourth-place finishes in the High Jump and 100 Meter Hurdles. Higgins was joined in the 100 Hurdles by Cora Kuykendall, who took second in the event with a 17:48. Later on, California scored another second-place finish in the hurdle events when Jocelyn Wells ran a 49.79 in the 300 Meter Hurdles.
"I'm super proud of the kids," Lindquist said. "A lot of our kids who got in were kind of dark horses, they weren't expected to get through, but they don't care, they worked hard and they got there."
On the boys side of things, Cory Friedmeyer's 11-foot mark in the Pole Vault was good for a fourth-place finish. Despite several close calls - particularly in the jumping events - Friedmeyer would be the only individual qualifier for the California boys.
The sophomore was also a member of the Pintos' two fourth-place relay teams. After teaming up with Hunter Carpenter, Isaac Ash and Ethan Hodges for a 9:00.43 in the 4 x 800 Meter Relay, he joined Hodges, Gunner Baquet and Toby Dalbey later on to take fourth in the 4 x 2 with a 1:36.84.
The Pintos will compete in Saturday's Class 3 Sectional 4 in Richmond for a chance to head to state.
"All we can do is put the work in," Lindquist said. "If you know you did that, you should never be upset with the results. That's what we push. If you give it your all and know that you gave it your all, no matter what happens, you'll be satisfied."
Pickering wins Shot Put at conference meet
California's Audrey Pickering was the Pintos' lone champion at the Tri-County Conference Track and Field Meet on May 5 in Eldon. The junior won the Shot Put with a mark of 38-07.
Elsewhere in girls action, Ashley Sommerer took second in the Pole Vault and Cameron Meyer placed third in Discus with a distance of 119-01. On the track, freshman Jocelyn Wells scored a pair of top-three finishes. She took second in the 200 Meter Dash and third in the 100.
On the boys side, Ethan Hodges was California's top individual finisher, taking third in the 800 Meter Run with a 2:08.46. Hodges also teamed up with Isaac Ash, Hunter Carpenter and Adam Burkett to finish second in the 4 x 800 Meter Relay. Ash and Hodges were also members of California's third-place 4 x 400 team, teaming up with Gunner Baquet and Alex Meisenheimer for a time of 3:37.59.