Ada qualifies nine for Class 5A State meet

JENKS — Sophomore Jadyce Burns keeps rewriting the Ada High School record book, and now the Lady Cougars are sending a large group to the Class 5A State Meet.

Behind another record-breaking sprint from Burns and a record-tying performance from Lillian Keefer, Ada qualified nine athletes for state during Saturday’s Class 5A Regional meet at Jenks Middle School.

Burns won the regional title in the 200 meter dash with a record-breaking time of 25.09. Daisy Stone of Coweta placed second in 25.62 and Jordan Ere of Tulsa Washington finished third in 25.87.

“Every time she runs, it’s a new school record. and she’s only a sophomore,” said Ada track coach Chad Roark.

Senior Lillian Keefer tied Ada’s school record in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 6 inches while finishing second. Karen Fountain Hudson originally set the record in 1980.

Nyah Addison of Coweta also cleared 5-6, but earned the gold medal on a tiebreaker. Ada’s Bella Holcomb finished fifth in the high jump at 5-2.

“The girls had a huge day. We’re sending seven girls to the state meet across nine different events,” Roark told The Ada News. “Last year, we were just happy to be there — this year, our focus is on getting on the podium and bringing home some hardware.”

GIRLS

Two Ada relay teams also qualified for the state meet.

The 4x100 relay team of Edyn Keefer, Lillian Keefer, Journie Redbird and Burns finished second with a time of 49.36. Coweta won the race in 48.82, while Tulsa Washington placed third in 50.25.

That same quartet took third in the 4x200 relay in 1:47.08. Coweta captured the title in 1:43.07, and Grove claimed runner-up in 1:46.16.

Ava Campos earned a state berth in the shot put after finishing second with a throw of 35-10.5. Ashtyn Golkey of Collinsville won the event with a mark of 39-7.

Ada’s Peyton Tiger finished fifth in the shot put at 31-6.

In the discus, Ada’s Haiden Bundy qualified for state with a throw of 114-8, while Campos followed with a toss of 105-0.

Edyn Keefer also turned in a pair of strong hurdle performances. She finished runner-up in the 300 hurdles and qualified for state with a time of 50.32.

Keefer added a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles in 17.28.

In the 400 Meter dash, Burns finished third with a time of 1:01.02.

The Lady Cougars finished fifth in the team standings with 81 points. Grove won the 5A Regional championship with 143 points and Catoosa was runner-up at 134.

BOYS

Ada junior Grayson Morris qualified for the state meet in three separate events.

Morris won the high jump with a mark of 6-6. Richard Tolon of Tulsa Rogers finished second at 6-2.

In the 300 meter hurdles, Morris placed second in 40.81. Peyton Dobbels of Blanchard won the race in 40.16.