The East Atchison and Rock Port athletes and coaches continued to have record-setting seasons at the end of the 2022-23 year, finishing up with the girls’ and boys’ track and boys’ golf seasons. KMAland recognized several of them for their accomplishments:
All-KMAland Boys’ Golf Team Member
KMAland Missouri Golfer of the Year
The All-KMAland Golf Teams are made up of the top golfers from the Hawkeye Ten, Corner, Western Iowa, Pride of Iowa and Rolling Valley Conferences, plus select schools from the Bluegrass Conference. With Missouri and Nebraska boys playing spring golf, athletes from KMAland Missouri and Nebraska schools were also considered.
This year’s lineup included River Dow, an East Atchison sophomore. East Atchison’s Dow put in the extra work to also earn KMAland Missouri Golfer of the Year recognition. He saw all of his extra work pay off in a big way, finishing 10th at the Class 1 State Tournament. Dow’s performance surprised many people, including himself.
“At the beginning of the season, I was just hoping to make it to state,” Dow said. “I was hoping to get at least top 20. I ended up doing better than I thought.”
Dow ultimately carded a two-day score of 163 to collect a medal.
“It was about how I went into it,” he said. “Holes one through 11, I played passive-aggressive and got to the shots I wanted to. Once I got to 12, I knew I had to play more carefully because everything was a little tighter.”
Dow credits the strides he made in his sophomore season to his constant work, particularly at the driving range.
“I realized I wasn’t consistent last year,” he said. “I basically live on the golf course, so I just needed to play as many holes as I could. It improved me a lot. My scores got better, my drives went further and everything was more accurate.”
Dow also honed in on his putting this year.
“Last year, that was my biggest struggle,” he said. “I couldn’t chip to save my life and could never make anything inside of six feet.”
Dow plans to put in plenty more work between now and the start of the next season.
“It boosts my confidence,” he said. “I’ll work more on my putting and driving. Since I played baseball, I haven’t been able to get rid of my slice.”
Dow joins Maryville’s Trevin Cunningham as recipients of this award.
KMAland Track & Field Coach of the Year
The championship East Atchison Lady Wolves’ track season earned Coach Joe Unternahrer the KMAland Track & Field Coach of the Year recognition. The East Atchison girls’ team knocked on the door in 2021 and 2022, but this year, they kicked it down. The Lady Wolves claimed the Class 1 state title in Jefferson City after back-to-back top five finishes.
“It’s starting to (sink in),” Unternahrer said. “I’m just really glad the girls were able to accomplish this.”
The Lady Wolves were on the cusp of titles in 2021 and 2022 but finished second and fourth.
“We had been really close,” Unternahrer said. “I think some youth and injuries kept us from getting there. This year, everything aligned, and we got it done.”
The expectations were high for EA coming into this season.
“I thought we might be able to do it,” Unternahrer said. “But we just talked about getting better each meet. We didn’t want to peak at the beginning or the middle. We wanted to do our best at the end of the year. For the most part, I think we were able to do that.”
Unternahrer points to his team’s mid-season performances as the turning point of their season.
“We were going to larger meets with bigger schools,” he said. “We held our own against them and beat them in some instances. That’s when I thought we could put something together.”
The Lady Wolves put it all together at the state meet, scoring 70 points to claim the title.
“The girls were determined from the moment we got down there,” Unternahrer said. “They were ready to go. I didn’t have to pep them up or calm them down. I could see in their eyes what they were there to accomplish. They were comfortable with the surroundings.”
The girls won five event titles on their way to the team crown. Faith Anderson won the high jump and 300 meter hurdles, Tommi Martin won the 800 and the Lady Wolves also won the 4×200 and 4×400 relays.
“We were lucky to have a lot of girls that could do a lot of different events,” Unternahrer said. “We put different relay lineups together throughout the year to see what worked. We kept our eye on that and put it together at the end of the year.”
The championship performance was a fitting end to a successful school year for East Atchison athletics. The volleyball program made the state final four, both the girls’ and boys’ cross country teams qualified for state, the girls’ golf team won state and had the state individual champion, and the boys’ golf team sent a golfer to state, placing 10th.
“It was really great,” Unternahrer said. “This year was great athletic-wise. This was a great way to end the year – bringing home a state championship.”
Repeating won’t be easy, but the cupboard is far from bare for the Lady Wolves next year.
“We’ve got a good group returning,” Unternahrer said. “And we have a good group of junior high girls coming up. We’ll start the process over in the spring and see what works. Hopefully, we can put together a pretty good team.”
Unternahrer joins Jared Hoffman (Riverside), Tyler Ridder (Underwood), James Cairney (St. Albert), Cory Faust (Glenwood) and Alan Jenkins (Atlantic) as recipients of this award.
All-KMAland Girls’ Track & Field Team
KMA Sports also recognized the 2023 track & field competitors with the All-KMAland Track & Field Teams, beginning with the girls. Eligible individuals for this team include those from the Bluegrass, Corner, Hawkeye Ten, Pride of Iowa, Rolling Valley and Western Iowa Conferences, plus all Council Bluffs schools and all KMAland Nebraska and KMAland Missouri schools. (No individual was selected for more than one event. This created some challenges with putting the team together, but also allots for as many deserving KMAland athletes as possible to claim this honor.)
This year’s team included East Atchison’s Faith Anderson and Tommi Martin and Rock Port’s Rylee Jenkins:
300 meter hurdles – Faith Anderson, senior, East Atchison – The 2023 KMAland Missouri Track & Field Athlete of the Year won four state titles, one of which was in the 300 hurdles. She also won the high jump and contributed to the Lady Wolves’ champion 4×200 and 4×400 relays.
Javelin – Tommi Martin, junior, East Atchison – Martin had a big season in this event, although she ultimately finished sixth at state. She won the Class 1 800 meter run championship, helped the 4×400 meter relay earn gold, and the 4×800 meter relay earn a silver medal.
Discus – Rylee Jenkins, junior, Rock Port – Not only did Jenkins win this event, she also ran on a 4×800 team that claimed a state championship title and helped lead the Lady Blue Jays to a fourth place finish. What an interesting combo for the now two-time member of this squad.
KMAland Missouri Track Athlete of the Year
East Atchison’s Faith Anderson overcame an injury to help her team win the state title. She claims the KMAland Missouri Track & Field Athlete of the Year honor.
All Faith Anderson could do was watch last year’s state track meet. One year later, she is the KMAland Missouri Track Athlete of the Year. The Northwest Missouri State University commit had a memorable state meet with four titles while leading the Lady Wolves to a Class 1 Team Championship.
“It’s extremely gratifying and rewarding,” Anderson said. “All the hard work has paid off. I couldn’t be any happier.”
Anderson’s presence could have been helpful as the Lady Wolves chased a Class 1 state title, but an injury shelved her junior season.
“I tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus,” she said. “I definitely thought my track career was over. It was hard because running and jumping is my therapy, and I couldn’t do any of that for 11 months.”
The Lady Wolves ultimately finished fourth last year.
“I was upset I couldn’t be with the girls and help them get more points,” Anderson said. “It was hard to watch. It was the motivation. Watching them do so well without me made me work harder so we could get the title this year.”
Anderson made up for lost time this season with numerous impressive showings, highlighted by winning four state championships. Anderson won the 300 hurdles and high jump. She also contributed to the champion 4×200 and 4×400 meter relay teams.
“Getting all the golds sealed for me that I love this sport,” Anderson said. “It’s my therapy. It’s my way to release my emotions. I’m so glad I’ve been a part of it.”
Anderson ran 45.72 in the 300 hurdles and cleared 1.59 meters in the high jump.
“The high jump, I didn’t perform as well as I would have liked,” she said. “That’s the lowest I’ve jumped all year. They made me jump right after my 300 hurdles. My legs were too fatigued, but the 300 hurdles went smoothly in the prelims and the finals. I usually have trouble stuttering, but something just clicked. It was a smooth race.”
Anderson contributed 25 points to the Lady Wolves’ lineup as they held off the crowd for a state title.
“At the beginning of the season, we knew we had a chance to get the title,” she said. “That’s what we worked on all year long. Our relays were a big part of the scoring. We started off with completely different relays than what we ended with. It was about finding the sweet spot and putting us in the right spot in the relays.”
With her days at East Atchison behind her, Anderson is thankful for her time with the program and how her high school career ended.
“It’s a family environment here,” she said. “Everybody wants us to succeed. We’re a small town, but we have some amazing athletes. We showed we can compete.”
Anderson joins Nodaway Valley’s Riley Blay as recipients of this award.
All-KMAland Boys’ Track & Field Team
Eligible individuals for the 2023 All-KMAland Boys’ Track & Field Team include those from the Bluegrass, Corner, Hawkeye Ten, Pride of Iowa, Rolling Valley and Western Iowa Conferences, plus all Council Bluffs schools and all KMAland Nebraska and KMAland Missouri schools. (No individual was selected for more than one event. This created some challenges with putting the team together, but also allots for as many deserving KMAland athletes as possible to claim this honor.) This year’s team of 18 featured East Atchison’s Jarrett Spinnato.
100 Meter Dash – Jarrett Spinnato, senior, East Atchison – If you’ve ever watched Spinnato play football, you knew he is fast. He showed that speed in track as well and won a state title in the 100 meter dash. He also placed fifth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.85.
