Panthers, led by Ross, Rexing, Arbuthnot, shine through track and field season

JERSEY - Jersey head boys and track and field coach Harold Landon couldn’t be more pleased with his group this season for such a stellar effort all year long.

Sophomore Jim Arbuthnot shined in both the Mississippi Valley Conference Meet and the sectional and qualified for state with a jump of 6-3. Tom Rexing qualified in the 300 low hurdles for state and just missed in the lows. Rexing qualified in the 300 low hurdles (43.62).

The 4 x 800 relay of Andrew Bertman, Austin Koenig, Alan Wendell and Asher Stidd, placed fourth at sectional (8:36.85).

Rexing was second in the 110 hurdles in the conference meet with a time of 16.05. the 4 x 100 team was third, 45.1 at conference and the 4 x 800 clocked a time of 8:35 at the MVC Meet. The 4 x 200 relay team was fifth, 1:36 and the 4 x 400 relay team posted a time of 3:36.

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Rexing broke his wrist last year and didn’t run in the conference meet a year ago, so Landon was glad to see him shine here at the end of the season.

Lucas Ross, one of the team captains, is a Jersey graduate, and headed to college on multiple academic scholarships. Ross has been a standout all season for the Panthers and Coach Landon says he is one of those athletes a coach wants on their squad.

“You can’t hold Lucas down; he ran a 53.3 in leg of the 4 x 400 relay at the end of the season and was so close to being dehydrated. He told me there is no way to keep him out. He said this is my last race on this track.

“Lucas is an awesome kid and all my kids are. So many of the kids are in National Honor Society and there are a lot of freshman/sophomore kids on the honor roll. I didn’t have one discipline issue this year.”

Ross Speidel won the conference meet in the shot put, 46-7, about 4-foot above his best, which pleased Landon.

“We were fourth at conference and I was extremely happy,” Landon said. “I am not used to fourth place, but our times and performances in the field events have come down, so I was elated with fourth place in the conference and how we performed in the sectional.”

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