Jefferson City combines for just nine points Saturday

The final day of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 4 Track and Field Championships came and went without much ado for the Jefferson City Jays and Lady Jays.

The teams combined for just nine team points - seven for the boys and two for the girls - on Saturday at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.

The best result for the day came from Thomas LePage, who finished sixth in the 400-meter dash to earn three team points. The senior finished the event in 50.05 seconds, just back of the winning time of 48.88 put up by Hazelwood Central's Marcus Davis.

"Thomas had a great race," Jefferson City coach Dan Ridgeway said. "He's strong and you could tell his weightlifting has paid off for him. To be all-state (Saturday) in two events in his senior year - he ran great in the 4x2 and the 400 - is great. We'll choose to dwell on the positives and not the negatives."

The 4x200-meter relay team LePage was a pair of, with Elijah Livingston, Joel Ridenhour and Elijah Sherwood, placed seventh in 1:30.02. Hazelwood Central won in 1:27.38.

In the 4x100-meter relay, Ridenhour, Sherwood and Livingston teamed with Mervyn John to take seventh in 43.29. Rockhurst took the title with a time of 42.30.

The 4x800-meter relay team of Noah Livingston, Jack Gamble, Mark Smith and Lucas Theroff did not earn any points after finishing 14th in 8:09.99. Rockhurst won in 7:49.24.

On the girls side, Jefferson City's only points came when Haley Watson finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles. Her time of 46.27 trailed the winning time of 43.72 put up by Raymore-Peculiar's Morgan Smith.

"Haley Watson did a great job in the 300 hurdles as a freshman," Ridgeway said.

In the only other final event for the Lady Jays, Kezia Martin placed 13th in the triple jump after coming in as the top seed. She jumped just 35-81⁄2 after putting up a mark of 40-8 at sectionals the previous week. Holt's Nataliyah Friar won the title with a leap of 39-11⁄2.

"Obviously we're disappointed with Kezia's performance in the triple jump, as she is," Ridgeway said. "It's hard to explain. She's as fresh as she's been all year, she's not injured. She jumped 40 feet last week and a week later, she goes 35 feet. That's track and field."

In the team standings, the Jays were 14th with 15 points. Hazelwood Central won the title with 62 points.

On the girls side, the Lady Jays tied for 27th with 10 points. Hazelwood Central made it a sweep of the state titles, winning the crown with 49 to top Blue Springs by a single point.

Ridgeway said the teams had ups and downs during the event.

"That's the beauty of the state track meet - it's not what you're seeded, it's what you do the day you're here," he said. "We overperformed some seeds and some seeds we underperformed. We didn't have a great meet by any stretch of the imagination.

"But we had a good season. We were undefeated in duals, we only lost one meet on the boys side and one meet on the girls side all year. We just didn't perform when we got here. Hats off to all the people who did, we've just got to come back and work in the offseason and get ready for next year."

Additional coverage:

Saturday's MSHSAA Track & Field Championship Results

Helias' McCurren wins state title in Class 3 400-meter dash

California's Deeken wins long jump

Blair Oaks has four all-staters in first season in Class 3

Earlier coverage:

Friday's MSHSAA Track & Field Championship Results

Burkett, Martin take second for Jefferson City

Rhine makes it 2-for-2 in the high jump

Blair Oaks has several key events Saturday

Southern Boone's Bartel wins Class 3 high jump

Helias' Will Fife wins shot put state title

California's Deeken wins triple jump