For freshmen, the state track and field championships can be overwhelming.
But for Fatima freshman Alyssa Struemph, who's used to the open feel of cross country, the confines of Adkins Stadium for the Class 3 state meet weren't overwhelming for her. In fact, she described it as "really fun."
"It's exciting," she said. "I didn't think I would make it here."
She did make it, and took the medal stand after just her first year of running track.
"It's different than cross country, but I like it," she said.
Struemph hovered around third place for much of the 1,600-meter run Friday, ending sixth in 5:22.35.
"The girls behind me have some pretty good kick," Struemph said.
At the beginning of the season, Struemph was at about 5:40 in the 1,600 and 12:00 in the 3,200, but by May she improved to 5:27 and 11:51, respectively.
Now at the end of May, her 1,600 time is about two seconds off the school record.
"That kind of made a difference going back and forth (between the 1,600 and 3,200)," Struemph said. "I want to break the record eventually, hopefully. Hopefully next year I just improve."
The Fatima boys 4x800-meter relay team matched its seed, finishing sixth.
Logan Borland, Cody Huhn, Alex Krieg and Caleb Schroeder clocked in at 8:14.38, less than two seconds from fourth place.
The handoff between Cody Huhn and Alex Krieg slowed the Comets down as Huhn fell while Krieg grabbed the baton.
The Comets were fifth as the final leg began, but fell to sixth in a close battle for positions third-sixth with Lamar, John Burroughs and Stockton.
Friday went well for a pair of School of the Osage Indians, as Charles Kempf (discus) and Jason Edwards (pole vault) earned state medals.
Losing by nearly 14 feet in the boys discus isn't usually the best day, but it certainly wasn't too bad Friday with the champion breaking the class record by nearly two feet.
Kempf finished runner-up for the second straight year to Hogan Prep's William Bradley-King, who launched a throw of 188-4 to break the record of 186-5, which was set in 2009.
Kempf threw a personal record 174-6.
"It feels good to get another state medal," Kempf said. "Wished I could have got first, but I'm pretty happy with what I threw. I PR'd by 19 feet from last year. I'm pretty excited about that."
Kempf tossed a 169-3 in the preliminaries while Bradley-King broke the record.
"I was shooting for the 170s and then he popped off that 188," Kempf said. " It pushed me a lot because I threw a 169 right off the bat and then he threw 188 and everyone else was in between the middle there."
The magic number for fellow Osage Indian Edwards has been 13-9. Of course, 14 would've been sweeter.
At last year's Class 3 state meet, Edwards cleared a personal best 13-9 in the pole vault to take fourth. This year was no different.
Edwards cleared the bar at 13-9 on Friday, good enough to earn him another state medal, this time it placed him fifth on the stand.
"I was hoping to clear 14, only cleared 13-9," Edwards said. "Could've had a better day."
The 14-0 mark eluded him, failing to clear the bar on all three attempts.
"I didn't get my hips up," Edwards said. "I just couldn't get the final touches to get over the bar."
The junior has already made plans for next year to attempt to clear 14-6, which would break the school record.
To accomplish that feat, Edwards said he may use a longer pole next year.
"It's pretty tough, it takes a lot of practice on the new pole, breaking it in," he said.
Blair Oaks thrower Cassie Twehus and California thrower Audrey Pickering started competition in the shot put, which will finish up today because of Friday's weather.
Pickering's toss of 43-4 topped the prelims.
Levi Shinn and Zachary Schaeffer of Eldon both advanced to today's 110-meter hurdles final, placing third (15.08) and fourth (15.15), respectively.
Shinn's 39.18 was the fastest time in the 300-meter hurdle prelims, advancing him to today's final.
For Southern Boone, Brooke Trammell placed fifth in the long jump (16-10.5). Freshman Cassey Poole ended up eighth in the 800-meter run (2:26.07).
Clinton leads the boys standings with 13 points after just four completed events.
Osage and Hogan Prep are tied for second with 12 points.
John Burroughs (11) is fourth while Cardinal Ritter, Springfield Catholic and Hallsville are tied for fifth with 10 points.
After just three completed events for the girls, St. James leads with 28 points. Lincoln College Prep is second with 16 points.
East Newton (10) and John Burroughs are third and fourth, respectively. Whitfield, Mountain Grove and Fredericktown are tied for fifth with six points.