The road to Jefferson City and the state track and field championships began last weekend for Class 1 and 2 schools around the area.
Area teams competed in district competition at Southeast Missouri State and Orchard Farm, with the top four finishers advancing to Saturday’s Class 2 sectional championships at Principia. The top four finishers at the sectional meet will earn berths to next weekend’s state championships in Jefferson City on May 22-23.
Maplewood’s boys dominated the District 1 meet at SEMO, winning with 134 points. The Blue Devils were followed by Principia with 119 points. Senior sprinter Fred Taylor won the 100 and 200-meter dashes, finished second in the 400 and anchored the 4×100-meter relay to a district title.
All-around athlete Bryant Allen won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and ran a leg on the Blue Devils’ first-place 4×100, 4×200- and 4×400-meter relay teams. The Blue Devils also got first-place finishes from Eric Liska in the 400, Nick Coulter in the discus and Devin Lindsay in the discus.
On the girls side, Crystal City star Precious Selmon was a four-time winner in the 100, 100-meter high hurdles, 300-meter low hurdles and long jump.
The Metro girls won the championship at the Orchard Farm district with 117 points. The Panthers swept the 4×100-, 4×200, 4×400 relays while finishing third in the 4×800. Wellston’s boys also got a winning performance from Ronald Clower, who finished first in the long jump at 22 feet 2 inches. Teammate Carlton Terry was second at 21-0. The Trojans also won the 4×200 and 4×400.
The big schools take to the track on Saturday with Class 3 and 4 district meets being held around the metropolitan area. Class 3 district meets involving area schools will be held at Affton and MICDS while Class 4 district meets will be held at Parkway Central, McCluer North, Troy and Jefferson City. The top four finishers at each district meet will advance to sectional competition on Saturday, May 23.
*Distance runner Charles Johnson of Hazelwood East enjoyed a huge day at the Suburban North Conference boys meet last week. Johnson swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs while running a leg on the Spartans’ first-place 4×800-meter relay. His most impressive run came in the 800 when he turned in a time of 1 minute 54.0 seconds. The Spartans also won five other events at the Suburban North meet.
*Another impressive time turned in was the 11.6 clocking by sophomore Crystal Harris of Rockwood Summit at the Suburban South Conference meet. Harris also won the 200 in 25.0. At the same meet, Emily Sisson of Parkway Central turned in an incredible time of 10:15.8 in the 3,200-meter run, which is one of the top times in the country.
*Another hot race came at the Suburban East Conference meet when Ladue’s Montenae Roye and McCluer South Berkeley’s Kianna Ruff staged a whopper of a duel in the 200. Roye won the race in a blistering time of 23.9 with Ruff right behind in 24.4. The previous week, the same two had a great race in the 400 at the Victoria Reaves Invitational at Parkway South. Ruff won that race in 54.4 with Roye right behind at 55.8.
*NAIA Championships come to St. Louis
For the second consecutive year, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held in the St. Louis area. The NAIA meet will be held from May 21-23 at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. I am scheduled to emcee the annual Hall of Fame luncheon on May 20, which kicks off the championship week. We will see some great performances at this championship meet. If you are a fan of collegiate track, you will enjoy it.
