Heading into the Class 3 state meet, the Fatima girls track and field team knew the margin for error was going to be pretty slim if the Lady Comets hoped to take home a team trophy for a top-four finish.
And then before things even got started, Fatima suffered a costly injury, making the task even tougher.
The Lady Comets overcame all that by executing the game plan perfectly, performing better than their seeds to rack up the maximum number of points.
So by the time the two-day event at Lincoln University's Dwight T. Reed Stadium wrapped up, the Lady Comets found themselves in possession of a trophy when they tied for fourth place.
John Burroughs scored 51.5 points to nip McCluer South-Berkeley, which was second with 50. Then came a crush of teams, as East Newtwon had 34 to finish third, while Fatima and Lawson scored 31 points apiece. Dexter, made up solely of one-woman show Makayla Waldner, was nipping at their heels with 30 points.
"I felt like we had an opportunity to finish in the top seven or so, so top four is nice," Fatima coach Marcus Bridges said.
The result was even more impressive following some bad luck.
"We lost one of our runners to an injury when Michelle Barnhart sprained an ankle Thursday night warming up here," Bridges said. "So we had to pull her out of our 4x8 relay and the open 8. At that point, we kind of thought we had missed our chance.
"The other girls really stepped up big, our sprint relays came through. They finished higher than they were projected to finish and ran really well."
The 4x200-meter relay team of Hailey Buscher, Katie Eichholz, Leah Kesel and Grace Brune got things started by finishing third in a time of 1:47.75. The only ones faster were two St. Louis schools - Cardinal Ritter (1:45.36) and Lutheran North (1:47.52).
The same group then finished second in the 4x100-meter relay (50.93), this time trailing another St. Louis school, North Technical (50.73).
Those efforts provided enough points to win a trophy when combined with Friday's efforts of Brianna Haller winning the 3,200-meter run, Katie Eichholz finishing sixth in the long jump and the 4x800 relay team of Madison Day, Brittany Meyer, Grace Eisterhold and Haller finishing fifth.
"The 4x8 girls on Friday, without Michelle, did a really good job, just running the best they could and getting a fifth-place finish," Bridges said. "And Brianna Haller with her first-place finish in the two-mile was big.
"It was kind of a team effort. We just do what we can do and the points start adding up. We're definitely excited to be in that top four."
Additional coverage of Saturday's competition:
Lady Jays' Roberson returns to the podium
Helias' Frank has success in her favorite race
Jays' Schwartz takes fourth in 3,200
Squires' title seals trophy for California
Pair of overall marks fall on final day of state track
Prep Track: Class 3-5 state championship results
Additional coverage from Friday's competition:
Records fall at track and field championships
Roberson claims Class 5 shot put crown
Blair Oaks scores in two events
California's Pickering beats nerves to win title
Southern Boone's Crow advances in two events