Lady Vandals place seventh at SCC Championships

CARLINVILLE – Led by two second-place finishes from sophomore Sierah Ruffner, the Vandalia girls track team finished seventh at the South Central Conference Championships on Tuesday, with 28 points.

The meet also marked the final SCC Championships for Vandalia coach Mike Travelstead.

“I didn’t think about, but I guess it is,” he said. “It’s starting to sink in; 23 years is a long time. I’ve enjoyed it.”

The meet started off well for the Lady Vandals, with Ruffner finishing second best to Pana’s Allie Schoonover in the high jump (5 feet) and triple jump (30 feet 11 ½ inches).

“I was happy with what Sierah did,” Travelstead said. “Even though she didn’t get (5 feet, 2 inches in high jump), she was very close.”

Ruffner leaped into the bar on her first attempt at 5-2, but on her second and third attempts, she grazed the bar just enough that it softly fell to the mat.

On her second attempt in the triple jump, she improved her personal best by more than a foot. Her first and third attempts were both farther than 30 feet, but her final attempt was only about 28 feet.

Travelstead said that happened because there were only six competitors, and there was not much recovery time between attempts.

He said Ruffner seems “enthused” about the triple jump, and with three meets left this season, she could break the school record of 32 feet, 2 inches.

She wasn’t the only placer for the Lady Vandals, though.

Senior Courtney Gordon finished fourth in the long jump, with a leap of 14 feet, 2 inches, and all four relay teams finished in the top six.

“We didn’t do too badly, but we could use some more speed.” Travelstead said.

The 4X200-meter relay team of Kelly Booker, Macey Dokey, Ruffner and Randi Evans was the top relay, finishing fourth in 2:06.7.

The 4X400-meter relay placed fifth (5:26.5), and the 4X100- and 4X800-meter relays took sixth, with times of 1:01.2 and 12:29.9, respectively.

Most of the members of the team are either freshmen or sophomores, so the team is built more for the SCC Frosh/Soph Championships in Litchfield on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Travelstead is excited to see what his team can do at that meet, and he also mentioned that the makeup of the team “bodes well” for whoever takes his place as the next head coach.

Friday, April 29
Vandalia at Cumberland
Second-place finisher
•Ruffner, high jump (5 feet)
Fifth-place finisher
•Ruffner, triple jump (29 feet, 2 ½ inches)
Eighth-place finishers
•Iris Daiber, 100-meter hurdles (0:20.84)
•Cook, M. Roberts, C. Roberts and Leander, 4X800-meter relay (12:25.3)
Ninth-place finishers
• Gordon, long jump (14 feet, 1 1/4 inches)
•Evans, Dokey, Gordon and Frakes, 4X100-meter relay (0:58.81)
•Booker, Evans, Ruffner and Daiber, 4X200-meter relay (2:05.62)
10th-place finishers
•Leander, C. Roberts, Cook and Daiber, 4×400-meter relay (5:41.87)
11th-place finishers
•Evans, 100-meter hurdles (0:22.35)
•Chelsea Roberts, 400-meter dash (1:15.32)
13th-place finishers
•Daiber, long jump (13 feet, 9 ¾ inches)
•Kendall Leander, 400-meter dash (1:16.5)
•Megan Masters, 300-meter hurdles (1:03.17)
•Makenzie Roberts, discus (65 feet)
14th-place finisher
•Brittany Cook, 300-meter hurdles (1:08.15)
15th-place finisher
•Kelsey Rubin, 1,600-meter run (7:31.3)
Vandalia tied for ninth, with 10 points

Thursday, April 28
Vandalia at Stew-Stras
First-place finisher
•Ruffner, high jump (4 feet, 10 inches)
Second-place finishers
•Evans, Dokey, Gordon and Ruffner, 4X100-meter relay (0:57.3)
Third-place finishers
•Leander, 400-meter dash (1:16.7)
•Taylor Parrish, discus (68 feet, 11 inches)
•Parrish, shot put (25 feet, 1 inch)
•Dokey, Evans, Ruffner and Gordon, 4X200-meter relay (2:07.5)
•Pennington, Leander, C. Roberts and Cook, 4X400-meter relay (5:34.5)
•Rubin, C. Roberts, M. Roberts and Leander, 4X800-meter relay (13:13)
Fourth-place finisher
•Gordon, 100-meter dash (0:13.5)
Fifth-place finishers
•Sarah Frakes, 100-meter dash (0:14.1)
•C. Roberts, 400-meter dash (1:20.1)
•M. Roberts, 800-meter run (3:17.8)