You had to see this one coming - it ended the only way a Cinderella story could.
With Hannah Oberdiek attempting to pull off the most unlikely of comebacks, there was a sense the South Callaway senior wasn't going to be denied a second straight state title in the Class 2 girls long jump.
And after everything Oberdiek went through in the past nine months, Friday's competition was a cakewalk by comparison.
Oberdiek suffered a broken left femur in September, underwent surgery, worked her way through rehab and eventually landed in the same place she was last May - atop the podium at the state meet.
Oberdiek broke her personal record twice in her final three jumps and saved the best for last, winning the event at Lincoln University's Dwight T. Reed Stadium with a mark of 18 feet, 41/2 inches.
If it seems like a storybook ending, that was the point.
"After I broke my leg, my coach said, "Make a story out of it.' So from that day on, I've been thinking about making the best story out of it by being a back-to-back state champion," Oberdiek said.
And what's a story without a little drama?
In the preliminary round, Oberdiek fouled on her first two attempts and was down to one last shot at making the finals where she would get three more attempts.
Needing just a mark slightly better than 16 feet to move on, she uncorked a leap of 17-41/2, the best mark of any competitor at that point.
"I was nervous," she said. "I fouled by like an inch on the first two and they were both good jumps. The last one, I moved it back two feet - I wasn't going to foul again, no matter what. I just had to get one in."
Her experience at last year's state meet came in handy on that jump.
"I was nervous, but I learned how to calm those nerves last year whenever I was down to (Crane's) Emma (Lander) and down to my last jump before winning," she said. "I had been through that already."
The relief of making the finals was evident on her next attempt, as her first jump was a whopping 18-4, breaking the school record she set way back in her freshman year. Now an excited senior, she jumped around the pit in celebration when the distance was announced.
"My best jump was 17-10 my freshman year and I've gotten close to it before, but not over it," Oberdiek said. "So getting in the 18s was exciting for one, and then beating the record I've had since freshman year was awesome, too. I was definitely excited about that."
In her second attempt of the finals, Oberdiek jumped 17-63/4 before unleashing her winning mark on her last try.
It was a long way from Sept. 5, when an accident in P.E. class resulted in the broken femur.
"I was running in P.E. class and tripped on somebody's leg and my left leg took an extra long step and just snapped," she said. "They did calcium deficiency tests and stuff and none of it came back unnatural, so it was just a freak accident that happened."
Oberdiek, who has signed to compete at Truman State University, attacked rehab with a championship effort after having a metal rod inserted in her leg.
"It was absolutely worth it," she said. "The people who didn't think I could do it, the ones who looked at me in September like, "She's done,' the satisfaction of telling them that I did it is awesome."
III
While seeing Oberdiek atop the awards stand was a familiar sight, another area performer made quite a splash in her first appearance at state.
Eugene freshman Jasmine Evers posted a mark of 112-7 on her fifth attempt in the Class 2 girls discus to finish second in her debut at the Missouri State High School Activities Association Track and Field Championships.
"I'm so excited and happy," she said.
Making the performance even more impressive was Evers pulled off the feat despite a critical last-minute change.
"That was my first time ever throwing a metal disc - I've thrown rubber this whole year," she said. "Mine were disqualified because they had little notches in them, and there couldn't be any. So they had to go buy a metal disc."
The grand total of her experience with the new discus before throwing for real? Amazingly, just the practice warmups.
That may have had something to do with her limited expectations for the state meet.
"Nothing, really - I just wanted to place in the top eight," Evers said.
She did better than that, as she topped all the other competitors not named Sophia Rivera. Rivera, who won her third straight state title in the event, topped 150 feet on three different attempts before settling for the winning mark of 154-9.
"She's amazing," Evers said. "I just wanted to do my best. My best is 115-4 and I threw 112-7, so I'm excited."
III
Among Friday's other area competitors in Class 2, South Callaway's Bennett Hager tied for fourth in the pole vault (13-0), Russellville's Harrison Frank was fourth in the 800-meter run (2:01.32), South Callaway's Terry Miles was sixth in the 800-meter run (2:02.01) and the Vienna girls 4x800-meter relay team placed eighth (10:27.50).
Several other competitors advanced out of preliminary races to today's finals, including:
• Russellville's Jordan Barnhart, who qualified second in the girls 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200-meter dash.
• South Callaway's Mason Shoemaker, who qualified seventh in the boys 100-meter dash.
• Russellville's Justice Miller, who qualified eighth in the girls 400-meter dash.
• The South Callaway boys 4x200-meter relay team, which qualified seventh.
• The South Callaway girls 4x100-meter relay team, which qualified third.
• The South Callaway boys 4x400-meter relay team, which set a school record of 3:34.56 while qualifying eighth.
Action gets underway today at 9:30 a.m. with the field events. The first running event is set for 11 a.m.
More coverage:
Five repeat as state champions on first day
Prep Track: Class 1 and 2 state championship results