LADY TIGERS WIN JACKSON INVITATIONAL

JACKSON -- Nobody challenged Dionna Webb and Mario Whitney after all.

With the wind at their backs, Webb and Whitney were even faster sprinters on Saturday at the 12-team Jackson Invitational.

Whitney, a Jackson sophomore phenom, broke a 12-year old meet record in the 200 (:21.87) and set a personal record in the 100 with a 10.48. Both bettered school records which he established just seven days earlier despite running in temperatures that topped out around 50.

"I don't care how windy it is, that's fast," said Jackson coach Bob Sink.

Cape Central's Webb, meanwhile, remained undefeated in three events with a win in the 100 (12.46), the 200 (25.76) and the long jump (16-0).

A foreign exchange student from North County would've pushed Webb in both the 100 and the long jump, but North County did not make the trip. And perhaps it was a good thing for Webb, whose jump was more than two feet less than her best this season.

As far as the team competition, Central ran away with the girls title, scoring 172 points to finish well ahead of second-place Jackson which finished with 144 1/2.

On the boys side, Central, with 118 1/2 points, almost pulled off an upset, falling just one point behind Poplar Bluff.

Though Cape Central is led by "veterans" -- as coach Lawrence Brookins puts it -- both the boys and girls team are relying on some underclassmen to pick up valuable points.

Perhaps most impressive among the talented freshman class is Vicky Wilson.

Wilson took second in the 100, just .11 off Webb's pace. Wilson also took fourth in the 200, .01 behind Jackson's Lindsey Meyr.

"Vicky has a couple of junior high records she established last year," said Brookins. "She's one of a few good athletes out of the freshman class."

Central has gotten solid contributions from freshmen all season.

Alex Wieser has excelled in the 400 where she took second Saturday behind Jackson's Jessica Venable.

Courtney Edge, another freshman, took third in the 100 hurdles. Ninth-grader Whitney Pingel took third in the mile in 6:10.49.

Cape Central sophomore Kim Pancoast took first in the 1600 at 5:34.74 and first in the 800 at 2:33.67.

"It's exciting to see some of the youth coming up," said Brookins. "The future looks real good."

So does the present.

With Webb and Heather Jenkins (first in the shot at 38-7 1/4 and the discus at 132-9) as virtual locks for first places in their events, Cape Central has a team that could make some noise at state this year.

"I think the girls' team, barring injury has a great chance (to place at state)," Brookins said.

"Cape's too strong," admitted Sink whose girls team is solid as well. "They've got so much depth -- quality depth."

Cape Central took first place in one girls relay, the 4x100 team of Webb, Wilson, Lauren Lee and Edge. Central, which clocked :52.14, finished the race almost three seconds faster than the next closest team.

For Jackson's girls, Jennifer Love took first in the 100 hurdles at 16.66 and the 300 hurdles in 49.85; and Venable ran the 400 in a first-place time of 1:05.14. Jackson's 4x200 team of Emily Essner, Megan Kuntze, Jeanna Bolen and Meyr took first in 1:51.70.

"Everybody competed real hard," said Sink. "I was pleased with the effort."

One of Jackson's better athletes, Carol Koenig did not compete with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Jackson's 4x100 team, which Sink thought could win, dropped a baton, but according to Sink it would've made no difference in the final standings.

In the boys competition, Cape Central's Jeff Thiele took first in the discus with a throw of 147-0 which was 10 feet farther than the second-place finisher. Also for Central, the 4x800 team of Mark Stone, Ross Tilghman, Gabe Austin and Trevor Duncan took first in 8:38.80.

For complete results, see "Scoreboard" on Page 2B.