Here a some highlights from last weekend’s MSHSAA Class 3-4 State Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City.
*Daily Doubles: Lutheran South senior Rickael Roach successfully defended her state title in the girls shot put on Friday with a winning throw of 45 feet 7 ½ inches. On Saturday, Roach added the discus title and a state record to her resume with an effort of 152 feet 9 inches. The talented Roach is headed to Southern Illinois University.
Senior Bryson Banks of MICDS led the Rams to a second-place finish in the Class 3 boys team standings with a pair of victories. Banks won the long jump and triple jump. His winning effort in the triple jump was 47-3.
Junior Paris Daniels of Normandy won the Class 4 girls 200- and 400-meter dashes. Her winning time in the 200 was 24.55 while her time in the 400 was 56.10.
*Relay Madness: Several St. Louis area teams came home with state-championship relays. Hazelwood Central’s 4×200-meter relay team of Ahmad Vincent, Jeremy Thomas, Eric Rogers and Gerren Hendricks blazed to a new state record with a winning time of 1 minute 25.62 seconds. Following close behind was McCluer North, which turned in a 1:25.74 in what was the most exciting race of the day. McCluer North’s 4×200 team of Damonte Bell, Marvin Hill, Quartize Jackson and Norris Johnson also came back to win the 4×100 in a state-record time of 41.55.
In the Class 3 boys’ 4×200, the McCluer South-Berkeley team of Mike London, Brice Bowers, Anthony Smith and Martez Jackson won the state title in 1:28.42. Jennings won the boys Class 3 4×100 as the team of Darryl Grady, Chris Williams, Marcus Bennett and Al Carlisle circled the track in 42.56. The University City girls’ 4×100 team of Jaquelle Spencer, Airell Wright, Tiffany Baldwin and Jasmine Jones won the Class 3 title and set a state record of 48.11 in the process. Their state record was set in Friday’s prelims.
*Field Event Excellence: Wentzville Holt’s Terrance Hawkins won the boys Class 4 triple jump with an effort of 48 feet 9 inches. James Coleman of Rockwod Marquette won the Class 4 boys’ discus with a throw of 178 feet 3 inches. Jelanie Kelly of Hazelwood Central was a surprise winner in the Class 4 girls discus with a throw of 134-6. Jasmine Boyer of Fort Zumwalt West won the Class 4 girls shot put with a heave of 42-6 ¼.
*Normandy High junior Darwin Price had a productive weekend. Price won the state title in the 800-meter run in a time of 1 minute 54.x seconds. He also finished second in the 1,600-meter run to Fort Zumwalt South senior Kyle Rood.
*The Hazelwood East girls took home a second-place team trophy in the Class 4 girls standings after scoring 54 points. The Spartans did most of their damage in the hurdles events. Tiera Jones won the 300-meter low hurdles. She was followed by Alana Gray, who was second and Jantelle McNeal, who finished fourth. Gray and McNeal were second and third in the 100-meter high hurdles, respectively. Gray also finished third in the long jump while Ashley Holmes was sixth in the shot put.
Kirkwood’s girls finished fourth in the Class 4 team standings to take home a trophy. Junior Devonna Smith finished second in the high jump with a personal best of 5-6 while Diona Graves finished fourth in the 100 and third in the 200.
Senior Andre Thomas of Fort Zumwalt South took home three medals to help the Bulldogs to a second-place finish in the Class 4 boys race. Thomas finished second in the 400, fifth in the 200 and seventh in the 100. Teammate Kyle Rood won the 1,600, finished second in the 800 and anchored the 4×800 relay to a state title.
*Ladue continued its success by bringing home two teams trophies. The girls finished in third place while the boys finished in fourth in the Class 3 meet. Since 2000, the Ladue program has brought home 10 team trophies, including a state title for each the boys and the girls. Junior Danisha Bennett won the 300-meter low hurdles title. She becomes the third consecutive athlete from Ladue to win the state title in that race. Last year, her older sister Danielle Oliver won the 300-meter low hurdles. Sophomore Lauren Atkinson displayed great moxie in running on Ladue’s three All-State sprint relay teams with a broken toe on her left foot.
*Central Visual & Performing Arts standout LaJada Baldwin concluded a stellar career by finishing second in the Class 3 girls 100, 200 and 400. Baldwin posted excellent times of 12.06 (100), 24.64 (200) and 55.26 (400). Baldwin finished her career with eight individual All-State medals. She would have been a household name in Missouri prep track, but she happened to be in the same races as McCluer South-Berkeley superstar Alishea Usery. Still, Baldwin will make a heck of a catch for somebody’s college program.
*Villa Duchesne’s girls quietly had a productive weekend at the state meet. Junior Cydney Ross finished second in the 800 and sixth in the 1,600. Sophomore Lauren Hollingsworth finished third in the 100 and 200 while sophomore Brianna Isom-Brummer finished eighth in the 300-meter low hurdles.
*Hazelwood Central senior Danielle Parrish displayed great courage in the finals of the Class 4 girls 100. The defending state champion in the event, Parrish qualified for the final, but later pulled a hamstring while running her leg of the 4×100, knocking her out of the 100-meter final. The next day, the heavily taped Parrish took her place in the blocks and walked down the track to earn her All-State medal. The crowd gave her a standing ovation as she walked down the track, crying along the way. It was a great gesture by the fans.
