Four years and counting.
That’s how long the Festus girls have put a hammerlock on the Jefferson County Activities Association track and field championship.
The Tigers roared again April 30-May 1 at Hillsboro with top-four placers (good for all-conference recognition) in every event except the 100 meters. The 218.5 points for Festus more than doubled the second-place total of 89 by Windsor and sent a clear message: the Tigers are loaded and ready to claim a Class 4 trophy (top-four finish) at the state championships May 30-31 in Jefferson City.
“We want to be a team that covers 19 events, well-rounded and deep,” said Festus head coach Wes Armbruster, who last November led the school’s girls cross country team to the Class 4 state title in Columbia.
Armbruster’s track and field squad got a major boost with the return this spring of talented thrower Rylie Moore. The senior missed her junior season with a serious knee injury that required surgery, followed by a long recovery that kept her from playing softball last fall. All she could do was concentrate on getting back on the track (and field) in the final weeks of her high school career.
At Hillsboro, Moore set personal records in winning the discus in 41.28 meters (on her first throw) and the shot put in 11.86. She also finished second by 13-hundredths of a meter to Jefferson senior Madelyn Barbagallo in the javelin (37.44 to 37.31).
“Everything (on her winning discus toss) was just right,” Moore said. “Leg, arm, hand just clicked. Then we had to go inside for a lightning delay. After we sat around, I threw pretty average.”
As a sophomore in 2023, Moore threw the javelin 35.33 to finish eighth in the state. She’s aiming for 40 meters before heading to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin to continue her career.
Her long road back to competition was challenging, both mentally and physically.
“Just watching everybody else get to do it, it was very hard,” Moore said. “My friends and family and coach all told me there’s nothing I can do about it and will take time to fix. It’s OK to wait.”
Armbruster said Moore keeps to herself and doesn’t like a lot of attention.
“She’s all business,” he said. “We let the seniors talk and she got emotional about the whole ordeal. She thought she’d be back the whole (school) year; that perspective changed and she’s been living in the moment, having fun in sports, and that’s reshaped her focus.”
Festus junior Jessica Hawkins made all-conference in four events and was named the JCAA girls most valuable athlete. She won the 100 hurdles in 15.29 seconds and the long jump in 5.19 meters and placed second in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the 200. Hawkins was a state qualifier in the 300 hurdles and long jump last season.
“She’s special,” Armbruster said.
Another Tiger named Hawkins, junior Constance (or CeCe, no relation to Jessica), won the 400 in 1:00.57 and ran on two medal-winning relay teams.
Grandview senior Catherine Wakeland repeated as conference champion in the 300 hurdles in 44.95, breaking the Grandview and JCAA records. Wakeland was second in the state (Class 2) in the 300 hurdles last year and scored more than 1,000 career points as an Eagle standout in basketball.
“I love running with people I’m competitive with, and (Wakeland) pushes me at the end with a good kick,” Jessica Hawkins said.
“We’re trying to fine-tune and keep (Wakeland) healthy,” Grandview head coach Josh Holland said. “The goal is for her to be in four events at state. (She needs) less stuttering on the hurdles. If she can pull that off, she can be a 42-second runner.”
Another Grandview senior, Brooke Lunsford, set a school record in winning the triple jump in 10.66 and finished second in the long jump in 5.09.
In an upset, Windsor sophomore Shealee Mancuso won the 200 in 26.25, beating 100-meter champion Neoles Bourn, a De Soto senior, by eight-hundredths of a second (26.25 to 26.33). Wakeland was a close third in 26.36 and Jessica Hawkins wasn’t far back in fourth at 26.79.
Athletes are limited to four events per meet, but when that meet is spread over two days as the JCAA is, it can require a lot of waiting and maintaining focus, sometimes punctuated by rushing from one event to another.
“I like praying and talking to God,” Jessica Hawkins said. “It keeps my head straight. I make sure I eat the right things and stay hydrated.”
After finishing fourth in the JCAA pole vault last season, Festus senior Alexandra Yates moved up to first place this time, soaring 3.37 meters to break former Tiger Ella Shy’s meet record of 3.35 set in 2023. Shy won the state title in the pole vault that year.
“(Yates) has made steady progress and she had a breakthrough last night,” Armbruster said.
Just as on the boys side, the Festus girls reap consistent points in the distance events and this meet featured sophomore Lucy Boyer’s second-place finishes in the 800 (2:27.29) and 1,600 (5:16.14), trailing only St. Vincent junior Reagan Meyer in both. Boyer also ran a leg on the conference-champion 4x800 relay.
Host Hillsboro finished third with 77.5 points, including 20 by senior Emily Wright, who placed second in the 100 hurdles (15.91), third in the 300 hurdles (48.07) and third in the javelin (36.94 meters).
The next big stops for all the athletes are the district meets May 10 (for Classes 1-3) and May 17 (Classes 4-5). Windsor is hosting Class 4 District 2. The sectional meets are set for May 17 in Classes 1-3 and May 24 for Classes 4-5. Grandview will host Sectional 1 for Classes 1-2.
“We’re trying to take care of business with districts and sectionals first,” Moore said. “We want to win state. We’re at the point where we’re all rooting for each other. That really helps.”