The track and field season concludes this weekend for small schools at the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1-3 championships at Jefferson City High School.
Many athletes from the St. Louis area will be on hand searching for state championships and all-state medals. The action will begin Friday at 9:30 a.m. for field events and 10:30 a.m. for running events. The meet resumes Saturday, with the championship races beginning at 10:30 a.m.
St. Louis-area athletes competed in sectional competition at Dexter last Saturday. On the boys side, Lutheran North will have one of the top individuals in the meet in senior sprinter Michael Clark. He was a sectional champion in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Cameron Oliver finished second to Clark in the 200 and 400. The Crusaders will also take their 4×200- and 4×400-meter relay teams to the state meet.
Cardinal Ritter will take a strong group of sprinters to the state meet. Senior Manny Ellis qualified by winning a sectional title in the 100-meter dash. He also finished second in the 200. The Lions also won sectional titles in the 4×100 and 4×200 while their 4×400 team finished second to qualify.
College of Medicine and Bioscience will take its talented distance runners and field-event jumpers to the state meet. Owen Garrett was a sectional champion in the 800-meter run and runner-up in the 1,600-meter run. Evan Moll qualified for state in the 1,600 and 3,200. The 4×800-meter relay team also won a sectional championship. In the field events, Max McFarlane finished first in the long jump and second in the triple jump at the sectional meet. Moses Mungeny placed second in both the long jump and triple jump.
St. Mary’s will be led by its field-event standouts, Elijah Stueckel and Gary Johnson. Stueckel qualified in the shot put and discus while Johnson qualified in the high jump. Junior Xavier Clark qualified in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, and the Dragons also qualified in the 4×100 and 4×200.
Gabrielle Campbell of Bayless, who qualified for the state meet in the 200, 400 and 800, is the top local individual performer from St. Louis in the girls Class 3 meet. As a team, Metro qualified athletes in seven events for the state meet. Lucy Luetkemeyer was a sectional champion in the 3,200-meter run and runner-up in the 1,600-meter run. Metro also qualified Lucy Divis and Tessa Link in the shot put, discus and javelin.
Senior Demetrius Thompson of Brentwood qualified for the Class 2 state meet in four events. He was a sectional champion in the triple jump and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. He also finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles and long jump.
Sprinter Genesis Garner of Lutheran North is headed to state in three individual events. She was a sectional champion in the 100 and 200 and a runner-up in the 400. The Crusaders also qualified in the 4×100 and 4×200.
Distance-running standout Kensington Curd of Brentwood was a three-time sectional champion in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Ellen Huniyen of Whitfield was a sectional champion in the 400. The Warriors also won sectional championships in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays. Whitfield also finished second in the 4×800 relay.
Individual district track standouts from last weekend
Bailey Hensgens (Incarnate Word): Finished first in the 200-meter dash, high jump, long jump and triple jump at the Class 4, District 2 meet at Windsor. Her performances in the jumps were phenomenal. She jumped 5 feet 11 inches in the high jump, 19-5 in the long jump and 39-11 1/2 in the triple jump.
Jamel Jennings (McCluer North): Finished first in the 200 and 400 and ran a leg on the Stars’ first-place 4×100-meter relay team at the Class 4, District 3 meet at St. Dominic.
Runiyah Pelly (McCluer): Finished first in the 100 and 200 at the Class 4, District 3 meet at St. Dominic.
Naila Kerr (Cardinal Ritter): Finished first in the 100-meter high hurdles and 300-meter low hurdles at the Class 5, District 2 meet at Ladue.
Adones Smith (St. Charles): Finished first in the 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles at the Class 4, District 3 meet at St. Dominic.
Amelia Ward (Francis Howell): Finished first in the 100-meter high hurdles and 300-meter low hurdles at the Class 5, District 3 meet at St. Dominic.
Catherine Williams (Francis Howell): Finished first in the long jump and triple jump at the Class 5, District 3 meet at St. Dominic.
SLUH had an impressive showing in the distance events at the Class 5, District 1 meet at Hillsboro. The Jr. Bills had all four qualifiers in the 1,600 and 3,200. In the 1,600, Hendrix Fyvie, Benjamin Yoffie, Warnicke Beatty and Jackson Miller took the top four spots. In the 3,200, Miller, Michael Luna, Nicholas Alheim and Yoffie were the top four qualifiers.