By Geary Deniton, For The Southern

MARION – The Carbondale Terriers girls’ track and field team knocked off five-time South Seven Conference champion Cahokia to win its first conference title in nine years.

“This was just a great meet,” said Carbondale coach Gary Holda. “I can’t say enough about coach Greg Storm helping us with the sprint team. We had a lot of surprises like Kendra Moore being a conference champ after having a hard time just getting around the track with leg injuries and Courtney Flowers coming off a tough time at Senior Fest with blisters on her feet to set a record today. It was a great team effort.”

Carbondale beat Cahokia by 11 points with a team total of 101 points. Mount Vernon finished third (74) followed by Centralia (58) and Marion (49).

Flowers led the Terriers with a record-breaking performance, setting the school and conference record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.63.

“This was the best I’ve ever run,” Flowers said. “I was neck and neck until 50 meters when I pulled away.”

Sarah Goodale took first in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 15:45 and in the high jump clearing 5-feet.

Terriers Kaliyah Cobb won the 200-meter dash (25.52), beating Cahokia’s Rontacial Rogers by .3 seconds, and Kendra Moore won the 400-meter dash (1:02.31), nipping Marion’s Mistiree Stanley in a photo finish.

Carbondale’s Flowers, Cobb, Shaneice Bufford and Hannah Weil finished first in the 400-meter and 800-meter relays.

Defending state champion Margo Richardson from Mount Vernon dominated the distance events winning the 3,200-meter (11:09.23) and the 1,600-meter (5:15.36) runs and the 800-meter run (2:21:40).

“I was actually very disappointed today,” Richardson said. “I set very high standards for myself, and I was coming off an illness and didn’t have the times I wanted. However, I’m happy with three conference titles.”

Mount Vernon’s Rylie Bruce won the triple jump. Centralia opened the meet by winning the 3,200-meter relay.

Marion sophomore Jessi Dryden shattered the pole vault record by clearing 11-feet.

Defending state champion Hannah Baker from Marion repeated as discus champion with a winning toss of 135-03.

Richardson signs with SLU: Mount Vernon’s Margo Richardson has signed to continue her cross country and track careers at St. Louis University next season.

“The main reason I picked St. Louis University because their academics are so much better than the other school,” Richardson said. “I really wanted to get away from the cold, but they were a better fit.”

The senior was considering Arizona State, but chose to stay closer to home.

“I like the feel of being the city, but still being close to home,” Richardson said.

Girls

At Marion

Team scores – 1. Carbondale 101; 2. Cahokia 90; 3. Mount Vernon 74; 4. Centralia 58; 5. Marion 49.

3200 Relay – 1. Centralia 10:37.69; 2. Mount Vernon 10:46; 3. Carbondale 10:59.50.

400 Relay – 1. Carbondale 48.62; 2. Marion 52.40; 3. Centralia 52.55.

3200 Run – 1. Richardson (MTV) 11:09.23; 2. Gibson (CBD) 12:23.46; 3. Modert (MTV) 12:37.70.

100 Hurdles – 1. Goodale (CBD) 15.45; 2. Bufford (CBD) 16.13; 3. Jones (CAH) 16.67.

100 Dash- 1. Flowers (CBD) 11.63; 2. Cobb (CBD) 11.70; 3. Rogers (CAH) 11.95.

800 Run- 1. Richardson (MTV) 2:21.40; 2. Farmer (CAH) 2:30.55; 3. Haywood-Brown (CEN) 2:33.96.

800 Relay – 1. Carbondale 1:45.35; 2. Cahokia 1:45.44; 3. Centralia 1:53.56.

400 Dash – 1. Moore (CBD) 1:02.31; 2. Stanley (MAR) 1:02.41; 3. Looman (CEN) 1:02.92.

300 Low Hurdles – 1. Jones (CAH) 46.44; 2. Goodale (CBD) 47.25; 3. Lovett (CAH) 50.21.

1600 Run – 1. Richardson (MTV) 5:15.36; 2. Gibson (CBD) 5:43.18; 3. Modert (MTV) 5:51.20.

200 Dash – 1. Cobb (CBD) 25.62; 2. Rogers (CAH) 25.82; 3. Owens (CEN) 26.37.

1600 Relay – 1. Cahokia 4:15.80; 2. Centralia 4:17.90; 3. Mount Vernon 4:28.50.

Discus- 1. Baker (MAR) 135-3; 2. Meredith (MTV) 102-10; 3. Long (CAH) 100-2.25.

High Jump- 1. Goodale (CBD) 5-0; 2. Haywood-Brown (CEN) 4-10; 3. Looman (CEN) 4-10.

Long Jump – 1. Collins (CAH) 15-9; 2. Bruce (MTV) 15-8; 3. Crites (MAR) 15-2.

Pole Vault – 1. Dryden (MAR) 11-0; 2. Marshall (CAH) 8-6; 3. Raubach (MAR) 6-8.

Shot Put- 1. Long (CAH) 35-8; 2. Lusch (CEN) 33-9; 3. Joe (CAH) 32-0.

Triple Jump- 1. Bruce (MTV) 36-6.25; 2. Stanley (MAR) 35-2.50; 3. Collins (CAH) 33-8.75.