It was a big weekend for some area small schools in the Missouri Class 1 and 2 State Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City.
Principia dominated the field to win the Class 1 state championship, while Whitfield and Lutheran North finished in second and third place, respectively, at the Class 2 state meet.
Principia won the Class 1 state title by scoring 73 points, 26 more than its nearest competitor. Junior sprinter Issam Asigna put on a show by winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes and setting new meet records in the process.
In the 100, Asinga recorded a sizzling time of 10.41 seconds in the prelims on Friday, which set a new overall state record. He came back on Saturday to win the finals in a time of 10.69. He set another meet record in the 200 prelims on Friday with a time of 21.25 seconds. In the finals, he cruised to victory in a time of 21.95.
The Panthers also got individual state championship performances from Rex Heath, who won the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs, and Sam Omwere who finished second in the 800-meter run. The Panthers also finished second in the 4×200- and 4×800-meter relays and third in the 4×100.
Whitfield finished second in the Class 2 state meet with 48 points, narrowly behind state-champion Lawson’s 48.5 points. Much of the Warriors’ production came in five middle-distance events where it scored all points. The Warriors scored big in the 400 with James Milgie finishing first in 48.71 and Charles Bobo taking second in 49.47.Â
The Warriors also won state titles in the 4×400- and 4×800-meter relays. The team of Milgie, Bobo, Jacob Hutchison, and Musa Butler won the 4×400. Milgie, Bobo, Hutchison and Jackson Brungart won the 4×800. The Warriors also got a fourth-place finish from Hutchison in the 800, a seventh-place finish from Brungart in the 3,200 and a seventh-place finish from Jackson Courtney in the pole vault.
Lutheran North’s third-place finish was powered by three first-place finishes on Saturday. Julian Juszczyk won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 39.4 seconds. The Crusaders’ also won state championships in the 4×100- and 4×200-meter relays. The team of Jaylin Carson, Jonathan Van Hook, Karvon Jefferson and Keith Bass won the 4×100 while the crew of Bass, Van Hook, Jordan Carter, and Juszczyk won the 4×200. Jordan Carter also finished sixth in the long jump and the 4×400-meter relay team finished third.
Other area all-state performers included Austin Ball of Christian, who finished third in the 110-meter-high hurdles and fourth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Duchesne finished third in the 4×200 while Christian finished in sixth place. In the boys’ Class 1 long jump, teammates Kanden Bolton and Camden Mayes finished in second and third place, respectively.
On the girls’ side in Class 2, Hadley Wilkins of Whitfield finished sixth in the 800, Keyao Song of Whitfield finished seventh in the high jump and Elizabeth Rothweiler of Duchesne finished third in the pole vault. Lutheran North also finished seventh in the 4×400.
*ESL state of events
 The East St. Louis Flyers will bring a busload of talent to this weekend’s IHSA Class 2 State Track and Field Championships, which will be held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. The prelims for the Class 2A meet will be held on Friday with the championships set to begin on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Flyers will be taking athletes in 11 individual events and all four relays to the state meet. East Side won seven events at last weekend’s sectional meet at Triad High.
The Flyers are led by sprinter Kenneth Buchanan and hurdler Dermarlynn Taylor, who were double winners at the sectional meet at Triad. Buchanan won the 100- and 200-meter dashes while Taylor was a sectional champion in the 110-meter-high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
Other sectional champions from East St. Louis included Timothy Cross in the 400-meter dash, Thomas Hills in the triple jump and the 4×200-meter relay. The Flyers have also qualified athletes in the 800, shot put, discus, high jump, long jump and the 4×100-, 4×400 and 4×800-meter relays.
Large and in charge
The bigger schools in the state of Missouri will convene in Jefferson City this weekend for the MSHSAA Class 3,4 and 5 State Track and Field Championships. The field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the running events taking place at 10:30 a.m. on both days.
Johnson named Parkway Schools A.D.
Congratulations to Corey Johnson, who was recently named director of athletics of the Parkway School District. Johnson, currently the athletic director at Parkway North where he has been for the past three years, is a former standout athlete at Sumner High in football and track and field. Johnson has enjoyed a career in education for 26 years. Before coming over to Parkway North, he was the head football coach and athletic director at Hazelwood East.
