The St. Louis area was well represented at last weekend’s Missouri Class 4 and 5 State Track and Field Championships at Jefferson City High.
The two most dominant individual performances in the girls Class 4 meet came from juniors Bailey Hensgens of Incarnate Word Academy and Jahmeishia Patterson of Festus. Hensgens lived up to her status as an All-American in the jumping events while Patterson led Festus to its second consecutive state championship.
Hensgens won three individual state championships: the high jump, long jump and triple jump. She won the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet 11 inches, breaking the state record. Hensgens had cleared 6 feet during the season. She also won the long jump with a leap of 19 feet 6 inches and the triple jump with an effort of 40 feet 3 1/4 inches.
Hensgens may already be the best all-around girls’ jumper in Missouri prep track and field history. She also finished second in the 200-meter dash, earning a total of 38 points, which powered the Red Knights to a second-place finish in the team standings behind Festus.
Patterson led the Tigers to their state title with her work in the sprints and hurdles. She finished first in the 200 in 24.48 seconds and the 100-meter hurdles in 14.2 seconds. She also finished second in the 100 and anchored the Tigers’ 4×100-meter relay team to a state championship.
All four of the Tigers’ relay teams placed in the top eight to earn points. The 4×200 relay team finished fourth, the 4×400 team was eighth and the 4×800 team finished third. Jessica Hawkins finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles.
While Hensgens led Incarnate Word to a second-place finish, the Red Knights also got a strong performance from Ava Tobias, who won the 400-meter dash in 56.34. She also finished third in the 200. The two athletes accounted for all of the Red Knights’ 54 points at the state meet.
Ladue and Cardinal Ritter girls take home team trophies in Class 5
Ladue and Cardinal Ritter are no strangers to team success at the state championships. Ladue finished third in the Class 5 meet while Cardinal Ritter finished fourth.
Ladue was led by sprinter Laila Murray, who placed second in the 100, 200 and 400. The Rams also finished fourth in the 4×100, second in the 4×200 and 4×400. Ladue’s one individual state champion was Sabra Fink, who won the discus with a throw of 139 feet 1 inch.
Cardinal Ritter’s lone state champion was Nalia Kerr, who won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.98 seconds. Sasha Redding finished second in the shot put while the Lions finished eighth in the 4×100, sixth in the 4×200 and third in the 4×400.
The top individual performers in the girls Class 5 meet from the St. Louis area were sprinter Justyce Sanders of MICDS and distance runner Brooke Samuelson of Eureka. Sanders won the 200 in 23.94 seconds and the 400 in 54.55 seconds. Samuelson won the 800-meter run in 2:07.43 and the 1,600-meter run in 4:43.27.
Belleville West, Cahokia bring home team trophies at Illinois state meet
The Belleville West Maroons finished second at the IHSA Class 3A state championships at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston last weekend.
The Maroons had a pair of individual state champions in Morquez Bulliner in the 400 and Jalyn Cole in the 110-meter hurdles. Bulliner won the 400 in 47.2 seconds while Cole finished first in 13.53 seconds. West also won the 4×400-meter relay in 3:15.04. The 4×200 relay team also finished second.
Cahokia finished second in the Class 2A team standings. The Comanches’ top performer was Victreze Thomas, who won the triple jump with an effort of 46 feet.
Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East won the Class 3A state title in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles while East St. Louis won the Class 2A state title in the 4×100.