JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau Central High's track and field teams walked away -- or perhaps ran when the rain began to fall -- laden with medals after the Jackson Invitational Saturday.

Upperclassmen from several teams skipped the meet at Jackson Junior High School to take the ACT exam, a circumstance which allowed Central's depth and promising young athletes to come to the fore.

Central's girls piled up 182 points to top Jackson (145); Poplar Bluff (91); Murphysboro, Ill. (72); and Hillsboro (61). Other participants were Sikeston (59), Perryville (28), Kelly (18), Dexter (15) and Fredericktown (13).

And Central's boys, in totaling 152.5 points, also won handily. Trailing the Tigers were Poplar Bluff (112); Sikeston (111); Cairo, Ill. (72); and Kelly (62). The bottom five was comprised of Jackson (61), Perryville (41), Murphysboro (36), Fredericktown (29) and Dexter (21.5).

Central coaches Jerry Dement and Lawrence Brookins left the meet heartened.

"We had several kids step up and fill slots that they normally haven't been asked to fill," said Brookins, the girls coach. "And those kids are fairly young kids, sophomores and even a couple freshmen. That probably was the most pleasing part of whole the day. Now some of those kids know that they can help us."

Dement, the boys coach, expressed similar sentiments.

"I was very pleased with the win," he said. "It was exceptional because we had some kids missing today because of the ACT test and we asked some younger ones to take their place and step up a level, and they did."

The Central performance that perhaps shone brightest was Heather Jenkins' heaves in the shot put and discus. Jenkins, a sophomore, captured the shot put with a throw of 42 feet 9 inches, more than seven feet farther than the next competitor. And her first-place discus toss of 142 feet 2 inches was almost 40 feet farther than that of anyone else.

"Heather Jenkins obviously had a monster day," Brookins said. "Super throws. Over 42 feet in the shot and 140 and some change in the discus, those are state championship throws."

Central's Courtney Haman was also a two-event champion, winning the 100 high hurdles and the high jump. Freshman Brittany Ballard took first in the 3200 run and Myka Bohnsack won the 1600 run.

Jackson fared well in the relays, placing first in the three of the four races. Jackson won the 4x800 with a team comprised of Sarah Stiegemeyer, Cailin Bricknell, Carol Koenig and Annie Stoverink. The team of Janine Love, Jena Bolen, Lindsey Meyr and Megan Kuntze won the 4x100 and 4x200.

"I was real pleased with the way our girls competed," Jackson coach Bob Sink said. "We don't have quite the depth of Cape Central. We're a pretty good track team, but we've got a few events we're not quite as good in as we are others."

In the boys meet, Central's Craig Knoth, with a throw of 46 feet 9 inches, was a surprise winner in the shot put. The Tigers' Chris Allen won the long jump and Demetrius Totton placed first in the 400.

"We point somewhere in every event, and that's the depth that really pulls us through," Dement said.

Although they finished fifth and seventh, respectively, as teams, Kelly and Perryville boasted event winners. Kelly's Nathen King took the 800 and Logan Kirk won the discus. And Perryville's Jared Tanz won the 1600 while the relay team of Tanz, Nathan Davis, James Boyce and Nathan Moore won the 4x800.

Further results appear on Scoreboard on Page 2B.