More than 1,000 athletes from 58 boys and girls track and field teams convened at Tiger Stadium in Festus for the McCullough-Douglass Invitational on March 29, providing an early look at some of the top athletes and teams.
The day started with the 3,200-meter elite-class boys and girls races. There was a sense that the nine-minute mark could be broken on the boys side, challenging the on-Missouri-soil prep record of 8:56.53 by Ryan Riddle of Webb City, set on his home track in 2018.
The Festus boys 3,200 record of 9:04 is held by Drew White, who set it at the 2012 Arcadia Invitational in California. Thirty Arcadia alumni competed for the USA in the Paris Olympics in 2024, several of them winning medals. Tiger junior Carson Driemeier will get another chance at breaking White’s record when he competes at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11-12.
Driemeier led the race Saturday until the eighth and final lap, when Rockhurst senior Henry Acorn, the 2024 Class 5 state cross country champion, powered to the front and finished first in 9:01.93. St. Louis University High senior Alexander Bendana outleaned Driemeier at the finish line for second place in 9:05.25, Driemeier placing third at 9:05.35. His Tiger teammate, Tate Uding, was 14th in 9:35.88 – what would ordinarily be a winning time in many early-season meets.
“(Driemeier) was frustrated because he wanted to break that (school) record,” Festus boys head coach Chris Partney said. “He’s a junior. He’s going out to California to race where (White) set the record. That’s Carson’s best shot because the competition will push him. Even at the state track meet, he’s not going to get this type of competition.”
Driemeier won the Class 4 cross country title and Uding was third last fall when the Tigers finished second to West Plains. At the state track and field championships in Jefferson City last May, Driemeier won the 3,200 in 9:17.48 and was fourth in the 1,600 in 4:17.01. The Tigers won their first state title in 2023 but slipped to seventh last year.
“We’ve had a lot of distance runners who had their ups and downs,” Partney said. “Injuries, you can’t get around those, but outside of that Carson’s been solid his entire career.”
It wasn’t just the distance runners trying to set records Saturday; all 19 events were filled with top athletes who are already proven at the state level. Third in the state in Class 5 last year, Columbia Rock Bridge won the boys team competition with 102 points. Festus was the top local boys squad, placing eighth with 34 points. Hillsboro (12th, 25), Jefferson (16th, 19), Herculaneum (19th, 11) and Grandview and De Soto (both 30th with two points) also represented the small and large schools in the Jefferson County Activities Association.
The JCAA was shut out from the top of the medal stand on the boys side. Herculaneum senior Nate Wright was second in the 800 in 1:57.07, two seconds off the winning pace. In the boys high jump, Festus junior Rowan Stucke was second in 1.8 meters. Hillsboro senior Preston Brown and Rock Bridge senior Donivan Taylor each hit the sand in the long jump at 6.65 meters, with Taylor winning the tiebreaker for the title with the better No. 2 jump. Brown finished third in the state in the javelin last year but did not throw it Saturday. Festus sophomore Antonio Pinkston (fourth, 43.84) and senior Owen Gardner (fifth, 42.72) were the Tigers’ top performers in the event.
Jefferson senior Alex Roth, eighth in the state in Class 2 in the shot put (14.46) last year, took fourth at Festus in 14.35.
Partney and Festus girls head coach Wes Armbruster organize the meet, one of the largest early-season invitationals in the state. Armbruster’s girls team ran away with the championship, racking up 106 points. The Tigers narrowly missed a state trophy last year and have won three straight JCAA and district titles.
“Coach Armbruster does a great job with all of the connections he has with distance coaches across the state,” Partney said. “Getting someone like Jackson Free from Arkansas to come up here makes it a special event. We hoped the times would come. You can never guarantee it with the weather, but it was nice and cool, the rain held off and it was about perfect running conditions.”
Armbruster said the idea for the elite races began a few years ago and this was the deepest field yet. “When the boys entries started coming in, I felt there were 24 boys who could be in it and added an (elite) championship race,” he said. “The times speak for themselves. It was an outdoors PR for Carson. He went after breaking nine minutes and did the dirty work (running in front). We have a rich distance history and kids want to come to Festus to race us.”
Fresh off their 2024 state cross country championship, Festus standouts Lucy Boyer and Katelyn Thurman competed in the elite girls’ 3,200. Blue Springs South senior Ella Rew (11:05.34) and St. Charles West sophomore Brianna Krueger (11:05.50) ran neck-and-neck to the finish. Boyer, a sophomore, was ninth in 11:43.56 and Thurman finished 12th in 11:52.58. It was only the second time Thurman, a junior, had ever run the event.
“I came in with the mindset to go out with the pack and see what happens,” Thurman said. “Being a cross country runner, we do a lot of long workouts and that kind of prepped me for it. I wasn’t super nervous because I already had the feeling down for a longer race. I set the pace with a pack of four girls and wanted to see how long I could hold it.”
Boyer was a 2024 state qualifier in the 1,600 and placed third at the state cross country meet. She said her goal is to consistently run in the 11:30s. She also finished fifth in the 800 Saturday in 2:25.90.
“I was going in (to the 3,200) with an open mind, but I was really trying to break 12 (minutes),” Boyer said.
The girls side of the JCAA is filled with all-state hurdling talent. Festus junior Jessica Hawkins and Hillsboro senior Emily Wright will battle all spring in both the 100 and 300-meter events. Both were all-state in the 300 last year. On Saturday, Hawkins won the 100 in 15.59 and Wright was second in 15.76. Hawkins also outdueled Wright in the long jump, sailing to victory at 5.36 meters to Wright’s second-place 5.26.
In the 300 hurdles Hawkins challenged another top performer, Grandview senior Catherine Wakeland, who won by six-hundredths of a second (45.94-46.00). At last year’s Class 2 state meet, Wakeland was fourth in the 100 hurdles and second in the 300. She ended her career on the basketball court this winter with more than 1,000 points.
“Where the hurdles are at in the county is impressive,” Armbruster said. “The Wrights were out in front of everyone for years and when Coach Frank (Terry Frank, formerly of De Soto) joined us, we got a hurdles coach. The cool part is mostly the girls want to beat each other. But when the race is over, they give each other a hug.”
The Jackson girls were second with 72.5 points and North Point from
Wentzville finished third with 71.5. Jefferson, coming off a second-place state finish in Class 2 last year, wound up 10th with 30 points. Hillsboro and De Soto were 11th and 12th with 28 and 27, followed by Grandview (14th, 18), Crystal City (23rd, 5.5) and Herculaneum (26th, three).
A state qualifier last year in the 100 and 200, De Soto senior Neo Bourn was third in the 200 Saturday in 26.58. Dragon sophomore Kennedy Shores finished second in the 400 in 1:02.73. The Festus 4x100 relay won in 50.74.
After missing last season with an injury, Festus senior Rylie Moore returned Saturday to finish in the top four in the discus, javelin and shot put. Jefferson senior Megan Wood won the shot put in 11.15, half a meter farther than Moore. Wood placed eighth in the state last year. Tiger junior Leinna Smith was second in the discus in 34.29.