A talented group of sprinters from St. Louis burned up the track at last weekend’s Missouri Class 1-2 State Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City.
Senior Aiehsa Irvin-Muhammad of St. Elizabeth and junior Michael Wells of Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC turned in brilliant individual performances in winning multiple gold medals in the Class 2 state meet.
Irvin-Muhammad swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes and set two state records in the process. She won the 100 in a Class 2 record time of 11.74 seconds. She also won the 200 in a time of 24.4 seconds after setting a new Class 2 record of 24.34 in Friday’s preliminaries.
Wells took home four gold medals after winning the 100, 200 and anchoring the Commanders’ 4×100- and 4×200-meter relay teams to state championships. Wells turned in winning times of 10.79 in the 100 and 22.02 in the 200. He was joined on the winning relays by Diamond Hodge, Lonnie Orr and Devonte Kazze. The Commanders finished second in the team standings with 40 points, following up on last year’s state championship.
Maplewood’s Essence Brewer was the Class 2 girls state champion in the 400-meter dash. Brewer’s winning time was 58.81. Brewer also finished third in the 200 and fourth in the 400.
McKinley Classical Leadership’s Anthony Williams was the Class 1 boys state champion in the 400 in a time of 50.34. Williams also staged a dramatic comeback on the anchor leg to give McKinley the state title in the 4×400-meter relay. Joining Williams on the relay were Benjamin Clark, Deandre Mitchell and Authority Anue. Williams also finished fourth in the 200.
The area’s lone team champion was the Lutheran St. Charles girls, who won the Class 2 title with 64 points. Lutheran won on the strength of its relays, winning the 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 while finishing fourth in the 4×100. Courtney Rogers was also the state champion in the 1,600-meter run.
Herculaneum senior Kaitlyn Fischer concluded her brilliant career by winning the 3,200-meter run for the fourth consecutive year. She also finished second in the 1,600.
Brentwood freshman Sophie Rivera was a double-winner in the Class 2 shot put and discus. Her winning throws were 41 feet in the shot put and 124-4 in the discus. Austin Cooling of Principia was the Class 2 boys state champion in the pole vault while Lawrence Hogue of Maplewood finished second in the Class 2 boys long jump. The girls of McKinley finished second in the Class 1 4×100.Â
Illinois sideÂ
On the Illinois side, Edwardsville’s girls brought home a second place trophy from the IHSA Class 3 girls state championships in Charleston. Senior Emmonnie Henderson concluded her stellar career by winning the shot put and discus for the fourth consecutive year. Henderson set a new state record in the shot put with a throw of 50 feet 9 ½ inches. Senior Lauren White was second in the long jump and fourth in the high jump while junior Aaliyah Covington was second in the shot put.
Senior Markita Rush of East St. Louis finished her career as a state champion as she won the Class 2 300-meter low hurdles. Rush set a new state record of 42.14 in winning her second state title.
