WARDSVILLE, Mo. - After what can only be described as an aberration, the Blair Oaks girls track and field team is back in familiar territory.
Last season, injuries decimated the team and the Lady Falcons had no qualifiers for the state meet.
It's a different story this time around, as Blair Oaks has a relay team, four different throwers and a sprinter who will be taking part in the Class 3 Missouri State High School Activities Association Track and Field Championships that start at 9:30 a.m. today at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
"That was sort of a shock last year," Blair Oaks girls coach Marc Keys said. "Things happen, and that's how it goes. It's exciting to have a lot there this time.
"And we've got different types of events - we've got the distance, we've got some sprinters, we've got some throwers."
It's an interesting story in the throwing events, as Blair Oaks claimed two of the 16 qualifying spots in both the shot put and discus, with no overlap. The Lady Falcons will be represented by Cassie Twehus and Cassidy Prenger in the shot put, while Veronica Wiebold and Robyn Schroeder will take part in the discus.
"I think (throws) coach Dan Raithel has done an excellent job," Keys said. "I can't remember any time we've had four different people in shot and discus at state. That's pretty amazing.
"A lot of times you might have one person do well in shot and discus, so there's someone in both, but to have four different people is a testament to their hard work and talent, plus good coaching."
Twehus and Prenger will compete in the shot put at 4 p.m. today, while the discus will take place at noon Saturday.
The first Lady Falcons to compete will be the 4x800-meter relay team of Taylor Scott, Jolie Duffner, Kristina Wortmann and Rachel Isenberg. They'll be in the very first running event of the day, a finals-only race at 10:30 a.m.
"It will be nice for the 4x8 to start things off and not have to wait," Keys said. "Sometimes if you don't have anything to do on Friday at state, you use a lot of nervous energy just wandering around.
"So I think that will be helpful for them, and if they do well, I think we can build off of that."
The 4x800 team has been peaking as of late.
"We ran our best time (at sectionals) by about 10 seconds, so we've been improving," Keys said. "And we have had opportunities to run against some of the better teams in the state in our district and sectionals, so that's telling."
Competing in a preliminary race today will be Abby Eskens in the 100-meter dash.
"It's nice for Abby to be there, because she was injured last year and wasn't able to compete," Keys said. "She's been quite focused and running the best she's ever run.
"She may not look good in times and seeding, but she was running into headwinds the last two weekends (at districts and sectionals), but she's been beating quality people. ... It would be exciting for her to make the final and I think she's going to do that."
Keys said there is the potential for good results in all four events.
"Pretty much everyone on the girls side has an opportunity to be all-state (with a top-eight finish)," he said. "It's going to take one of their best performances of the year or maybe a personal record, but that's what you hope for at state. It doesn't always go that way, but everyone is going to be competitive."
On the boys side, Blair Oaks has even higher goals for its three relay teams and one individual competitor.
"Our goal is to be top five in the state," Blair Oaks boys coach Nathan Holtmeyer said. "We don't want to be standing on grass (for the medals ceremony), we want to be standing on the podium. Anything less than that I think will be a little disappointing."
The Falcons will be competing in the 4x200-, 4x400- and 4x800-meter relays, bringing to fruition a plan that was formulated months ago.
"We sat down early on in the season as a coaching staff and realized that we were going to focus on relays," Holtmeyer said. "... I was pretty pleased with reaching our goals. We were hoping to get a few more individuals in, but it just comes down to injuries, and that was a big thing for us. So we were pretty pleased with what we did."
The bulk of the relay runners are juniors and seniors.
"We have an experienced group of guys, so I really think we're going to hit on it (at state)," Holtmeyer said. "If you look, we really started to head up at the start of May and then we've plateaued the last two or three meets. So we've changed a few things up and we really expect to see some times drop.
"... We're ranked toward the bottom of the pack right now, but when you start getting up there (in the postseason), everyone is running fast. So you're going to have to run fast. We know what we have to do, and this group of boys is very competitive, so I believe that we're going to go see some huge drops."
There is a little bit of overlap between the teams. The 4x200-meter relay is made up of Peyton Wilde, Thomas Barker, Caleb Bischoff and Chase Duren, while the 4x400 is Bischoff, C.J. Closser, Chance Cumpton and Nick Yaeger. Those two events will have preliminary races today. For the 4x800, which is a finals-only event at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, it's Yaeger, Sam LePage, Jason Otto and Closser.
"Off the top of my head, I want to say that everybody competing has state experience at least once, if not multiple times," Holtmeyer said. "We've got multiple all-staters on the team, so I think that will be a big help."
Yaeger is the lone individual competitor for the boys, as he'll take part in the finals-only 800-meter run at 3:40 p.m. today. He's a good example of how the boys stay involved with their team members throughout each meet.
"You have that overlap, so they're always cheering for one another," Holtmeyer said. "And Nick is in three of the events, plus he's holding blocks for the 4x2, so he's involved with everything. That's been a big help for us."