The last race of Lucas Kuhn's career for Chamois may have been the closest finish he has encountered.
But he saved the best for last.
Kuhn needed a photo finish to determine he had won the boys 300-meter hurdles Saturday at the Class 1 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.
"There were two people within a hundredth of a second of me," Kuhn said. "It was all really close, neck and neck. That's what makes it really exciting for me."
Kuhn posted a time of 41.49 seconds for the win in lane three. Hardin-Central's Ryan Layman was second in 41.493 seconds in lane six, while Canton's Alexander Jarvis finished third in 41.499 seconds in lane four.
Kuhn said he saved a burst of speed toward the finish to get his fifth state medal and first state title.
"All throughout the season, I get a lot of people on the last hurdle," Kuhn said. "They sprint toward the beginning and then die down toward the end, but I do the complete opposite of that. I sprint at the end, and that's when I get a lot of people."
Kuhn started the day in the 110-meter hurdle finals. After posting the top time in Friday's preliminaries, Kuhn finished third in the finals with a time of 16.02 seconds, edged by Jarvis for second place by less than a hundredth of a second.
"I felt really confident coming in, but everybody's there for one reason, and that's to get first," Kuhn said.
As Chamois' only state qualifier, Kuhn scored 16 points to earn the Pirates a 15th-place finish in the Class 1 team standings.
"At sectionals, I scored 10th as a team out of 26 schools," Kuhn said. "That felt really good, because it's just me. Other schools have 20-30 kids."
III
There was no question who would win the Class 1 girls pole vault title. It was practically a foregone conclusion before the competition even began Saturday.
Instead, the chase was for second place, and St. Elizabeth senior Shanley Kliethermes made sure she won that battle.
Kliethermes became a three-time state medalist in the pole vault, repeating as Class 1 runner-up by clearing 9 feet, 6 inches.
"There are a lot of people that don't even make it (to state)," Kliethermes said. "To finish behind the best girl vaulter in the state is pretty awesome."
Khristen Bryant of Columbia Independent didn't even attempt her first vault until 10-3, which she cleared on her first try to seal the win. Bryant, who signed a letter of intent earlier this school year with Kansas, went on to break not only her Class 1 record set last year, but also the all-class Missouri record of 12-10.5 by clearing 13-0.
"Nobody can really compete with her," Kliethermes said. "She's so good. My goal today was to just compete against myself.
"Thirteen feet for a girl? Most guys can't do that."
Although she didn't quite reach her personal-best mark, Kliethermes graduates with the St. Elizabeth girls pole vault record of 10-0.
As St. Elizabeth's only state qualifier, the eight points Kliethermes scored in the pole vault put the Lady Hornets in a tie for 29th place in the team standings.
Two other Class 1 records were broken Saturday, both in the javelin. Midway's Peyton Richardson set the boys record with a throw of 167-9 on his way to a state title, while Kate Ruediger of New Haven set the new mark for the girls at 127-6 with her win.
III
With only one event at state, Jamestown's Trenton Barbour could narrow his focus this weekend.
That's why he wasn't worried when he ran in Friday's boys 200-meter dash preliminaries, finishing fifth to advance to the finals.
"At sectionals and districts, I had to run three events before (the 200)," Barbour said. "So I really wasn't worried about it this weekend."
On Saturday, his time dropped a few tenths of a second, but Barbour still finished in sixth place in the finals with a time of 23.58 seconds.
Barbour said he hyper-extended his knee at sectionals, but he was able to overcome that injury heading into state.
"I felt good today," Barbour said. " This was my third time being here and I was really wanting to get on the podium. My brother was here three times before too and he got on the podium once. I really wanted to follow in his footsteps."
Jamestown finished tied for 37th in the Class 1 boys standings with six points.