Russellville, Jamestown to compete at this weekend's state track meet

Sierra Cooper of Jamestown finishes her leg of the girls 4 x 200 Meter Relay on Saturday afternoon, May 14, 2016, at the Class 1 Sectional 3 meet in Clinton.
Sierra Cooper of Jamestown finishes her leg of the girls 4 x 200 Meter Relay on Saturday afternoon, May 14, 2016, at the Class 1 Sectional 3 meet in Clinton.

Athletes, coaches and fans at this weekend's Class 1 and 2 state track meet in Jefferson City will hear the name Russellville over the loud speakers quite a bit during the boys distance events.

Led by junior Anthony Bertucci and sophomore Harrison Frank, the Indians will be well-represented at this weekend's state meet, particularly on the boys side. The duo of Frank and Bertucci finished 1-2 in the 800 Meter Run at Saturday's Class 2 Sectional 2 meet in Russellville. In the race, Frank edged out Bertucci by eight hundredths of a second with a time of 2:05.55.

Individually, the two also both qualified in the 1,600. Bertucci won the event with a 4:49.52, while Frank was third with a time of 4:52.19. Bertucci also qualified in the 3,200 after winning with a 10:33.02.

The Russellville boys will also have the longer relays events covered as well this weekend. Frank and Bertucci joined up with Damian Miller and Matthew Fringer to win the 4 x 800 Meter Relay at sectionals with a time of 8:43.8. Frank and Miller are also headed to state after being on the second-place 4 x 4 team with Cory Minor and Beau Bryant.

Miller also qualified as an individual in the Pole Vault with a mark of 12 feet and sophomore Tristin Little is headed to state as well after taking fourth in the 110 Meter Hurdles with a 16.12.

In girls action, Mackenzie Schwartz will be competing at state in both hurdle events. She won the 300 Hurdles at sectionals with a 50.72 and took third in the 100 Hurdles with a time of 17.33.

Senior Bethanee Plochberger is the other Lady Indian who will be competing in a pair of events at state. At the sectional meet, Plochberger took second in Shot Put with a mark of 32-02.25 and fourth in Discus with a 97-11. The final individual qualifier for the Russellville girls was Jordan Barnhart, who took fourth in High Jump with a 4-10.

The Lady Indians also had a relay team make it to state as Lindsay Brandt, Anna Koestner, Sydney Robertson and Chyan Wilkes teamed up to take third at sectionals with a 10:46.40.

Strother sisters lead Jamestown qualifiers

In Class 1 action, Jamestown will be competing at this weekend's state meet in four events. Mackenzie Strother was the Eagles' lone champion at Saturday's Class 1 Sectional 3 meet in Clinton, as she won the 800 with a time of 2:32.13. Her sister, Mickayla, will compete in the 100 Hurdles after taking second at sectional with a 16.96.

The two will also be representing the Jamestown girls team in the 4 x 200 Relay after joining up with Chiane Harlan and Sierra Cooper to take fourth with a time of 1:56.23.

Finally, on the boys side, the Eagles will send sophomore Trenton Barbour to state after a he scored third in Long Jump with a mark of 18-08.5.