ShawneeDispatch.com

Mill Valley's track team had to make some adjustments last week at the Shawnee Mission West meet.

There were no finals in any of the events, because SM West does not have lights and the meet had to be finished before it got dark.

So instead of racing against the competition in the finals, Mill Valley's runners were racing against time, which presented different challenges for the athletes.

"When they don't have finals, it's tough," sophomore hurdler Colin Orand said. "You've got to come with your best race first."

Junior sprinter Justin Woods had to change his mindset.

"I just do enough to get in the finals and save the rest for the finals," Woods said.

But don't be fooled; Orand and Woods seemed to have few problems adjusting. Orand ran a season best third in the 300 meter hurdles and set a personal record of 43.06 seconds.

Woods continued his record-breaking season by breaking his own school record in the 200-meter dash for the third week in a row. Woods' time in the 200 meters of 21.80 seconds is the best time in the state of Kansas so far this season.

Senior Kyle Gladfelder jumped more than 40 feet for the first time this season in the long jump. His leap of 41 feet, 5 inches was good enough for second place.

The Mill Valley girls continued their consistent performances this season.

The poster child for the team is senior Sara Karcher, who finished second in the 800 meters for the third straight week; however her times continue to improve and she ran a season best 2:23.88 at SM West.

"She ran really well," Mill Valley coach Mark Peck said. "She's running good times right now, so I'm not really worried about where she's placing."

The most impressive Lady Jaguar so far this season has been junior Sara Exon. Exon won her second 300-meter hurdles race of the season Friday.

She also finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and broke the school record in the 300-meter hurdles, a record she owned, running a time of 48.08 seconds.

"I was thinking it was just about time for her to bust out, because her form in practice keeps getting better," Peck said. "Her strength is in her endurance and her form, which really fits the 300 meters."

Exon was not the only girl to break a school record Friday; another group of girls did so as well. The 400-meter relay team broke the school record and finished third.

The Jags will next compete at the Kansas Relays Friday in Lawrence.