The road to the state championships in Jefferson City begins this weekend for Missouri small schools as district competition begins at the Class 1 and 2 levels.
Area Class 2 teams will be competing at the District 2 meet at Lutheran St. Peters in St. Charles. The top finishers at the district meet will advance to the Sectional meet on Saturday, May 17 at Principia. The Class 1 Sectional meet will also be held at Principia on May 17. Class 2 area schools include Barat, Brentwood, Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC, Lutheran St. Charles, Maplewood, Metro, and Principia.
Among the top athletes at the Class 2, District 2 meet are defending state champions Mike Wells of Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC and sophomore Sophie Rivera of Brentwood. Wells is the top small-school sprinter in the state while Rivera is a top thrower. Wells won four gold medals at last year’s state championships in the 100-, 200-meter dashes and both sprint relays. Rivera won the shot put and discus last year.
Tremendous performancesÂ
The Marion Freeman Clayton Invitational featured some tremendous performances as it always done. None were more spectacular than the show that Cardinal Ritter’s Charles Jones put on in the 800-meter run. The senior middle distance star turned in a winning time of 1 minute 50.19 seconds to break his own meet record of 1:51.43. It is also the top mark in the nation to date as well. Jones has his sights on breaking the 1:50 mark as a senior as well as the overall state record, which was set by Springfield Parkview’s Billy Rainey in 1987.
Mike Wells of Cleveland finished first in the 200-meter dash with a winning time of 21.58 seconds.
 Lutheran South girls’ standout Maya Cody took home the sprint triple as she won the 100 in 12.19 seconds, the 200 in 25.27 and the 400 in 59.57. She also anchored the Lancers’ 4×100-meter relay to a second-place finish. Teammate Cecilya Johnson won the discus with a throw of 138 feet. South’s Letetor Menah won the long jump with an effort of 17 feet 5 1.4 inches.
Cahokia edged Kansas City area power Blue Springs for the Orange Division title. Sophomore Ja’Mari Ward won the long jump and triple jump and senior Gary Hickman won the 100-meter high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles to lead the Comanches to the team title.
Putting on a showÂ
Cahokia High junior Raynesha Lewis put on a show in winning three events at last week’s St. Clair County Meet at East St. Louis. Lewis won the long jump with a leap of 17-9 and the triple jump with an effort of 38-0. Lewis also won the 100-meter high hurdles as she edged Belleville West standout Jasmine Berry to take the victory. Lewis’ teammate, Mariya Hudson, won the 400 in 57.5 seconds.
Host East St. Louis won the team championship behind the performances of middle distance performers Jamella McGraw (first in 800-meter run) and Jada Marshall (first in 1,600-meter run).
Conference meets on tapÂ
Several conference meets will be on tap this week. The Suburban North Conference meet will be held on Thursday at McCluer North. The Suburban West girls meet will be held on Thursday at Fox. The Southwestern Conference meet was held on Wednesday at O’Fallon.
