When Madelyn Griffard enrolled as a freshman at Valle Catholic High in Ste. Genevieve, her mother made her choose: play volleyball or run cross country.
Griffard picked the latter and three years later she’s won medals at the Class 2 state championships in Columbia, finishing 10th in each of the last two years.
“I didn’t know I could run distance until my freshman year and my mom told me, ‘You’re doing a sport, by golly,’” Griffard said while competing for the Jefferson County Jets at the AAU Region 15 qualifier at Hillsboro June 20-23. “She said, ‘You don’t want to play volleyball, OK, you’re doing cross country,’ and I found out I was good at it.”
Griffard was one of 34 Jets trying to qualify for the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas July 22-28. Dozens of teams and hundreds of athletes ages 8 to 19 competed over the four days at Hillsboro.
As the only 17-19 girl in the 3,000-meter run June 21, Griffard won by default in 11:18.32. The next day, she did have competition in the 1,500 and won by 11 seconds in 5:05.65.
At the Class 2 state track and field championships in Jefferson City in May, Griffard was second in the 1,600 in 5:16.90 and fifth in the 3,200 in 12:03.62.
“I didn’t know what to expect (in the 1,500),” she said. “I’m used to knowing my competition on the high school level, but coming here I didn’t. So I just wanted to show up, hunt down some girls and see what happens. I felt good, but I kept pushing it.”
The Jets have produced world-class talent like two-time Olympian Brittany Borman of Festus, who competed in the javelin throw. This year’s team is full of athletes like Griffard who’ve won state medals in track and cross country.
Jahmeshia Patterson, another standout from Festus, just concluded one of the most electrifying freshman seasons seen in years locally. At the Class 4 state meet, Patterson was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.40, third in the 100 in 11.94, fourth in the 200 in 24.58 and anchored the Tiger 4x100 relay to a state title in 47.91.
Patterson’s sprinting and jumping exploits are spreading far beyond Jefferson County. She competed for the Jets earlier this summer at Albuquerque against some of the top athletes from the southwestern U.S.
On the final day of the AAU meet Sunday, Patterson won the 100 hurdles (ages 15-16) in 14.96 and the 100-meter dash in 12.29.
Patterson said she plans to play volleyball and basketball as a sophomore, leading up to track season next spring, and has committed to the school’s weightlifting program overseen by Tiger head football coach AJ Ofodile.
“It will help me with my speed and pushouts from the blocks,” Patterson said.
Samantha Dowd, a sophomore at McDonald County High, has joined the Jets after dueling with Patterson at the state meet in both the 100 (fourth in 11.99) and 200 (second in 24.05). Dowd was second in the 100 at the AAU meet in 12.45.
Kinzie Kerr qualified for state in the triple jump her freshman year at Festus. Competing for the Jets at Hillsboro, Kerr won the heptathlon 100 hurdles (ages 15-16) in 16.56.
One of the reasons Dowd, Patterson and Griffard decided to join the Jets was because of the influence of veteran coach Vince Bingham, who’s tutored countless county athletes.
“He said by the time I’m done jumping for the Jets, I’m going to be (long) jumping 20 feet,” Patterson said. “I just jumped 19 the other day.”
Kanden Bolton and Camden Mayes competed for the football and track and field teams all four years at Crystal City. Bolton won the Class 1 state championship in 2023 in the long jump in 6.70 meters, with Mayes second in 6.68. This spring, the Hornets moved up to Class 2, and Bolton placed third in the high jump in 1.97 meters, flew to a state record of 7.48 to win the long jump (Mayes was sixth in 6.56) and took third in the triple jump in 13.59.
Bolton will continue his track career at Maryville University under the tutelage of Bingham. Mayes is headed to Mineral Area College in Park Hills to compete for head coach Steve Davis, the father of Herculaneum cross country and track and field coach Kyle Davis.
At the AAU meet, Curtis Bownes of the East St. Louis Greyhounds won the age 17-19 high jump in 1.89, with Bolton fourth in 1.74. Mayes finished second in the 110 hurdles in 15.67, behind Jets teammate Asher Buggs-Tipton’s 14.90. Tipton capped his senior year at Green City High with Class 1 state medals in the 100 and 200.
“They’re trying to fine-tune and get ready for the next level, where you have to do things on your own,” Bingham said of Bolton and Mayes. “They were babies and now they’re men. They have been unbelievable. Now they’re helping other kids.”
As an example of the tough competition the Jets faced at Hillsboro, among the teams there were the Blues Track Club of Greater St. Louis, featuring athletes from four-time girls Class 5 state champion Cardinal Ritter, and The Yard Athletics, which had Ritter hurdle champ Kyndall Spain in uniform.
“This (meet) is a who’s who of track and field,” Bingham said.