After two local stars won titles on Friday, no Jefferson County athletes captured first place on the final day of the large-school state track and field championships Saturday in Jefferson City.
In fact, the competitors from all over the state were just glad to get through the meet. Severe weather forced a five-hour delay in the schedule, so the competition in Classes 3-5 didn’t finish until late into the night.
The Class 5 girls 1,600-meter run was underway when nearby lightning and a tornado warning sent Missouri State High School Activities Association officials scurrying to stop the runners and shut down the meet. A packed grandstand and tent city were quickly evacuated as the heavy rain and strong winds whipped Pete Adkins Stadium at Jefferson City High School.
After an exciting first day on Friday, when De Soto senior Lamont Allen won the Class 4 state championship in the high jump (6-10) and Hillsboro junior Isaiah Martin threw the javelin 161-9 for first place (Class 4) in the new event, county athletes climbed no higher than second on the medals podium.
Allen and Martin both competed in four events, the maximum for an athlete. Adding to his high jump title, Allen placed fourth in the triple jump at 44-10.5 and anchored the Dragons’ third-place 4x100-meter relay. JaDan Brown, Trevor Johnson and Mayson DeRousse ran the first three legs to help De Soto finish in 43.39 seconds.
Martin had his sights set on two hurdles championships, but came away with second in the 300 in 38.56 (his first sub-39 run this season) and third in the 110 in 14.48.
“During the races, I felt good,” Martin said. “(But) some things could have gone better.”
Martin hopes to compete nationally this summer in the 10-event decathlon, the greatest challenge in track and field, starting with the Great Southwest meet in New Mexico on June 1-2.
A day after teammate Nicole Barton finished second in the pole vault in Class 4, Windsor junior Taylor Richey was on the medal stand twice after finishing third in the 100 in 12.19 and seventh in the 200 in 26.63. Barton and Richey scored all 16 points for the Owls, who finished 16th in the Class 4 standings.
Grandview, competing in Class 3, lost pole vault qualifier Kayla Norris on Friday with a broken leg she suffered in the event. Norris was back at home on Saturday. Grandview head coach Mike Loyd said he told the rest of the Eagle state qualifiers to stay focused on what they were doing.
“She got her foot caught in the box,” Loyd said, describing how Norris was injured.
Grandview got points from its 4x800 relay team of Allison Wakeland, Rebecca Wakeland, Isabelle Kuczka and Kyrsten Elder, which finished seventh in 10:09.12, and Melina Eaker, sixth in the pole vault in 10-3.
The Eagle boys were led by Owen Johnson, who cleared 14 feet to finish fifth in the pole vault for the Eagles. Johnson’s personal best is 14-9.
“I’m happy that I’m here and competing, but I know I could have done better,” he said.
Teammate Noah Richardson finished seventh in the triple jump in 41-11 despite injuring his hamstring while stretching Saturday morning. Richardson, a sophomore, moved up from finishing 16th and last at state a year ago.
“It was a fun weekend,” Richardson said. “I had a great time.”
St. Pius X junior Grace Steed put the Lancers on the Class 3 scoreboard by finishing third in the high jump in 5-2, four inches above her sectional performance the week before. In joining fellow Lancer Zach Morlock, who medaled in the boys long jump, Steed gave St. Pius two state medalists for the first time in a number of years.
Herculaneum freshman Jonathon Coffman joined teammates Corben Clubb (800) and Loki Cortner (1,600) as state medal-winners, clocking 9:43.48 for sixth place in the 3,200. Coffman said earlier in the season he thought he could win a state medal if he could get under the 10-minute mark.
Two county pole vaulters brought home medals in the Class 4 competition. Senior Corey Sellers of Festus finished third at 14 feet, a foot higher than his sectional performance a week earlier. And De Soto’s DeRousse, a junior, finished eighth after matching his sectional height of 13 feet.
Sellers had just cleared 13 feet when the weather delay began. Festus head coach Chris Partney said the long break hurt Sellers, who fell from title contention when he couldn’t clear 14-6.
“He looked fantastic in practice and warmups,” Partney said. “When (the vaulters) came back (from the delay) it was about who could recover from that situation, and he did a great job.”
Partney said vaulters have about five or six quality attempts in them, at any one meet, before their strength starts to wane.
“At a certain point you want to have plenty of good jumps and he was jumping well,” Partney said.
Sophomore distance man Max McDaniel of Festus continued his habit of excelling in state competition, placing sixth in the 3,200 in 9:15.42. That’s the fastest time ever at state for a Tiger athlete – no small feat considering that Festus has had two recent champions in the 3,200 in Drew White (9:34.57 in 2012) and Michael Karls (9:17.85 in 2015).
McDaniel also has two fourth-place finishes in the state cross country meet (Class 3) in his first two seasons.
Partney was among the many Tiger faithful who admired McDaniel’s performance in the lightning-fast 3,200 field.
“That (time) is phenomenal as a sophomore,” Partney said. “He surged at the last lap and got up to third for awhile. He’s a great kid and you never know what he’s going to do. There’s no telling how far he’s going to go in cross country or track.”
Friday’s results
Windsor’s Nicole Barton saved her best day for last in the pole vault.
The Owl senior topped her personal record by six inches in vaulting 11-6 Friday at the state Class 4 track and field championships in Jefferson City. The only athlete to top her was Helias Catholic junior Chloe Ramsey, who cleared 12-6.25, less than four inches off the state record of 12-10 set by Brittany Kallenberger of Lee’s Summit West in 2012.
Barton, a conference champion this spring, has come a long way in the event. She finished 14th at state as a sophomore at 9-6 and ninth last year, going 10-3.
“My coaches did awesome helping me get this far,” Barton said. “Everything was on point today. I’m very excited. My goal is 13-6. To reach that, I’ll need bigger poles and bigger runs.”
There’s no bigger run at state than the 4x800-meter relay, the first event on the track schedule each year – run early enough to avoid the highest of the day’s heat and humidity.
The Herculaneum girls 4x800 team of Emily Fischer, Emily Enghauser, Chloe Richardson and Danielle Prince finished sixth in Class 3 in 10:07.42, 16 seconds off the championship pace by Bowling Green and a half-second better than the Blackcats had run all year.
Fischer, a junior, will head to Canton, Ohio in August as a finalist for the U.S. Army-Pro Football Hall of Fame scholarship. She’s a leader in the school but counts on her relay partners to help her get through the grueling run.
“It’s been incredible,” Fischer said. “They’ve been such good teammates and I’m closer to them than anyone else on the team.”
St. Pius X senior Zachary Morlock severely sprained his ankle during the last basketball game he played for the Lancers this year. So he had to sit out of track until the Jefferson County Activities Association meet in late April.
At the Class 3 sectional meet on May 20, Morlock set a personal best in the long jump at 21-5. On Friday, Morlock finished fifth in the state with a jump of 21-1. Owensville senior Devon Ridenhour won, leaping 22-9.25.
“I did all right,” Morlock said. “I tried to do the best I could but my hip’s been holding me back.”
Therese Ruble, the new head coach at St. Pius, noted how well Morlock rebounded from adversity.
“He didn’t start until late because he was plagued with injuries from basketball season,” Ruble said. “Each week he’s progressed.”
Lancer athletic director Tilden Watson said that Ruble has gradually assumed the head coaching duties from him this season and will be fully in charge next year as Watson focuses on his AD responsibilities.
Herculaneum juniors Loki Cortner and Corben Clubb each won medals on the track Friday.
Cortner, a third-place medalist in the 3,200 a year ago, finished seventh in the 1,600 this time in 4:31.34, while Clubb took third in the 800 in 1:57.26, three seconds better than his previous personal best.
“I was really nervous at first because the meet was behind schedule and I was getting really tired,” Clubb said. “I finally started warming up by the time the event was supposed to happen.
“I want to think my coach (Kyle Davis) for finally showing me how to run the 800 right.”
Cortner said that while he ran at sectionals to place in the top four, it was time to let it all out when he got to state.
“The race wasn’t great,” Cortner said. “(It) was delayed about 20 minutes and I went cold to the line. It was a tough race. The first lap was about a four-minute-flat pace. I waited for my time in the second half and took off to improve my standing.”
Blackcats Prince and Enghauser competed in the girls 3,200 Friday and finished just out of the medals at ninth and 10th respectively.
Grandview junior Melina Eaker finished sixth in the pole vault in Class 3 at 10-3.