MOUNT VERNON — Freshman Leevi Stump of Mount Vernon took first place in the long jump at the 2009 Mount Vernon News SpecTRACKular, leaping 20-feet-7 1/2 and barely beating teammate Harley Filyaw who jumped 20-foot-5 3/4.
“It’s good coming out here, being a freshman,” said Stump. “Winning felt pretty great. I never thought that I would out-jump these seniors out here. I have a great coach — Coach Malone helped me so much. I did what I could and it worked.”
Dana Van Dervort of Northridge won the girls long jump with a jump of 17-foot-1/4.
“It feels really good,” said VanDervort. “I was here last year and I got second. This year, I came back and got the win. I also PR’d this year. It’s overwhelming, because I never jumped close to 17 before.”
Mychelle Furlan of Johnstown won both girls throwing events, heaving the shot a personal best 40-foot-7 1/2. Earlier she flung the discus 121-foot-1.
“It’s an adrenaline rush,” said Furlan. “It’s awesome, especially that it’s my best so far and it’s going to be even better.”
Mount Vernon’s Katie Groseclose (110 feet) was second in the discus. For her, being a part of SpecTRACKular is a chance for the best to show their best.
“You want to do well,” said Groseclose, “but you also want to see everyone else do their best, because you don’t want someone to have a bad day when you know they can beat you.”
Anna McCann of Centerburg, who was third in the shot with a toss of 32 feet, enjoys the competition.
“I have a lot of friends who are throwers and it’s just neat to compete against them,” said McCann.
With Mount Vernon’s Lucas Ferguson disqualified for a uniform violation, the boys throwing events were suddenly wide open. Highland’s Steven Stooksbury (142-foot-4) edged Isaac Ute (140-foot-8) of Clear Fork in the boys discus. In the shot, it was also Steven Stooksbury (48-foot-10). That was more than half a foot further than Masen Gilbert of East Knox.
“It’s great,” said Steven Stooksbury. “It’s the best of the best. It’s just an honor to be able to throw with them. I enjoy hanging out with them. I’ve grown to know them over the past few months and it’s fun to be out here with them in friendly competition.”
“It’s a real honor,” said Ute. “I go up against really good kids all the time but this is one of the better meets, even though it’s a local meet. We have a lot of really good kids here. It’s definitely a real honor if you can make it to Spec.”
Matt Stooksbury, who was third in the shot, was happy to be out there with his brother.
“I felt pretty good today,” said Matt Stooksbury. “I worked pretty hard all weekend. It paid off today. With my brother, it makes it that much better.”
Gilbert was third in the shot. His 41-foot throw was a shot of confidence for him.
“It helped me out,” said Gilbert. “I mean, I’ve got more confidence right now. I’ve got the (Mid-Buckeye Conference) up next and then regionals and stuff, so that will help me out for the confidence.”
Kaitlyn Newkirk of Fredericktown flew over the competition in the girls pole vault with a 9-foot-6 jump. Rachel McKinley of Clear Fork was second at 8 foot.
“It’s always an honor to get into a meet like this with so many people and such good competitors,” said Newkirk. “Everybody says that, but it’s really true. People work really hard to get here.”
The boys high jump winner was Fredericktown’s Nate Cubbage, who cleared the bar at 6-foot-2.
“It’s an honor,” said Cubbage. “It’s really tough competition and you really don’t know how you are going to finish until the end.”
