Competing in the state championship track and field meet in a big stadium for the first time can be daunting for an underclassman.
This clearly was not the case for sophomore sprinter Issam Asinga of Principia, who was the individual star of Friday’s Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 state championships at Jefferson City High.
Asinga put on a show of speed and dominance as he swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and set three new Class 2 meet records in addition to his state championships. Asinga scored 30 of his team’s 32 points, which was also good for a sixth-place finish in the Class 2 team standings.
Asinga’s day started off with a victory in the 100-meter dash in a meet record 10.62 seconds. He followed up with a victory in the 400 in a winning time of 48.17 seconds. He concluded his championship triple by cruising to victory in the 200 in a time of 21.64, which tied the Class 2 meet record.
*STEAM Academy girls dominate
The name of the school may be different, but the tradition of excellence in girls’ track and field is still the same at STEAM Academy at McCluer South-Berkeley.
The Bulldogs dominated the rest of the field in winning the Class 2 state championship at the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championships meet in Jefferson City.
Whether it’s Berkeley High, McCluer South-Berkeley or the newly named STEAM Academy at McCluer South-Berkeley, the Bulldogs’ program has been producing state championship teams since 1982. The big crowd of fans gathered at Jefferson City High School was treated to a show of speed and dominance as the oohs and aahs were clearly audible throughout Adkins Stadium with each race that the Bulldogs were participants.
STEAM Academy finished the meet with 90 points, which were 22 more than its nearest competitor. The Bulldogs won eight of the nine races that they entered in while setting a number of Class 2 meet records in the process. The only hiccup came in the 4×100-meter relay when the Bulldogs were disqualified, which only kept the Bulldogs from having a perfect day.
Senior twins Chelby and Cheyenne Melvin along with junior Leah Thames were all double-winners on Friday. Chelby Melvin won the 100-meter high hurdles in 14.49 seconds and the 300-meter low hurdles in a meet record time of 43.23 seconds. Cheyenne Melvin won the 400-meter dash in 56.17 and the 800-meter run in 2 minutes 20.42 seconds. Thames won the 100-meter dash in 12.45 and the 200 in 25.46.
The quartet of Thames, Safiyah Reed and the Melvin twins won the 4×200-meter relay in a Class 2 record time of 1 minute 41.18 seconds. The Melvins also won their fourth gold medals at the end of the meet as they joined Reed and Myah Coleman to win the 4×400-meter relay in a winning time of 4:00.76.
*Lutheran North boys finish fourth
The Lutheran North Crusaders brought home a fourth-place team trophy after scoring 39 points. It was an excellent team effort by the Crusaders as they spread out the points in eight different events.
The one championship performance came in the 4×200-meter relay with the crew of Jordynn Parker, Jonathan Van Hook, Ali Wells and Brian Brown won the race in a time of 1:30.4. The team of Brown, Parker, Wells and Nicholas Bellenger also finished second in the 4×400-meter relay at the end of the day.
Parker also earned two individual medals as he finished third in the 400 and fifth in the 200. Brown finished eighth in the 800-meter run, Bellenger was seventh in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and Bryce Oliver was seventh in the triple jump. The Crusaders also finished third in the 4×100 relay.
