The road to the Missouri State Track and Field Championships began with small school district meet competitions last weekend.
St. Louis area schools were in action at the Class 2, District 2 meet, which was held at New Haven. The top four finishers at the meet advanced to Saturday’s upcoming sectional meet, which will also be held at New Haven.
On the girls’ side, Lutheran North had a productive day as it produced five district champions and qualified athletes in 10 events for the sectionals. Freshman Genesis Garner won district titles in the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Senior Taiylor Carr also finished first in the 100-meter dash. The Crusaders also finished first in the 4×200- and 4×400-meter relays.
Lutheran North’s other sectional qualifiers included Eryana Stringfellow, who finished third in the 400 and Catharyn Ryder, who finished second in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. Sylvia Johnson finished fourth in the discus and third in the shot put while the 4×100-meter relay team finished in second place.
Freshman Kensington Curd of Brentwood was a double-winner as she finished first in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Eagles’ teammate Nija Hayes finished first in the triple jump with an effort of 34 feet 4 inches.
Principia will also be taking a group of sprinters to Saturday’s sectional meet. Junior Sana Udoekong finished second in the 200 and Lily Dow finished second in the 400. The Panthers also qualified all three sprint relays as they finished third in the 4×100 and 4×200 and third in the 4×400.
On the boys’ side, Bishop DuBourg, Christian and Duchesne will be taking a good group of athletes to the sectional meet. DuBourg had a productive day in the sprints and field events as they qualified athletes in six events with a pair of district champions. Keenan Thomas won the 100-meter dash and anchored the Cavaliers 4×100-meter relay to a first-place finish and the 4×200 relay team a second-place finish. He also finished second in the long jump. In the shot put, Davion Sides finished in second place and Owen Willens finished third while Kaden Harvie finished fourth in the 800-meter run.
 Senior Austin Ball of Christian was a double winner on Saturday as he finished first in the 110-meter-high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Sophomore Judah Schorer finished first in the 400-meter dash and Isaac States finished second in the 300-meter hurdles. Christian also qualified in the 4×400 relay with a third-place finish. Duchesne’s Robert Jones qualified in two events as he finished first in the 200 and third in the 100.
 The top four finishers at this weekend’s sectional meet will qualify for the state championships, which will be held on May 19-20 in Jefferson City.
*Large School Districts on Tap
The Missouri schools in Classes 3,4 and 5 will take center stage with district meets, which will be held on Saturday around the state. St. Louis area schools in Class 5 will be competing at SLUH, Parkway Central and Timberland. Area Class 4 schools will be competing at Cape Girardeau Central, Ladue, Parkway Central, North Point and Washington. Area Class 3 schools will be in action at Cape Girardeau Central, Herculaneum, Timberland, and North Point. The top four finishers at each district will qualify for sectional competition on Saturday, May 20.
*Collinsville Invitational Highlights
The Collinsville Invitational featured some of the best boys’ talent in the metro east area with East St. Louis, Cahokia and Edwardsville leading the way. East St. Louis dominated the sprints as Kenneth Buchanon finished first in the 100 and David Montgomery finished first in the 200 and 400. The Flyers also won the 4×400 relay in a time of 3 minutes 19.61 seconds. Buchanan was third in the 200 while the Flyers also finished second in the 4×200 and third in the 4×100.
Edwardsville got first place finishes from Kellen Brefre in the long jump and Ethan Stukenburg in the pole vault. The Tigers also finished first in the 4×100 in a time of 41.75 seconds and the 4×200 in 1:27.11. They also finished second in the 4×400 and third in the 4×800.
Cahokia enjoyed a very productive day in the field events as standout Caleb Deloach won the triple jump with an effort of 47 feet 9 inches. He also finished second in the long jump and high jump. Jo’Viano Howard won the high jump with a clearance of 6 feet 6 3/4 inches. He also finished fourth in the long jump. Vectrez Thomas finished third in the triple jump while Chase Crawford was second in the shot put. On the track, Keshawn Lyons finished first in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and second in the 110-meter-high hurdles.
