Schwartz takes second in 1,600-meter run for Jays

Naomi Kerkula of Jefferson City leans at the finish line of the 100-meter dash Friday in the state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.
Naomi Kerkula of Jefferson City leans at the finish line of the 100-meter dash Friday in the state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.

Jackson Schwartz wasn't feeling his best - at least physically - after the 1,600-meter run Friday at the Class 5 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium. But mentally, he couldn't have felt better.

The Jefferson City senior made his move on the final lap, making a pass for third with about 300 meters left and sprinted to a second-place finish in the final 100 meters.

"It was a tough race," Schwartz said. "I didn't realize how hard it was until 50 meters to go."

His kick at the end held up, leading to a personal record time of 4:18.44, nearly seven seconds faster than his previous mark.

"I had the plan (to run that time)," Schwartz said. "I don't think anybody else was really thinking that, but our training has shown that I could do it so I had to prove it to myself. I was pretty confident."

Schwartz rode in fourth place behind John Luder of Rockhurst for much of the race, while Austin Hindman of Lafayette and Victor Mugeche of Blue Springs paced the field comfortably.

"My race plan was to stay in fourth or fifth for three laps and then in my last lap just close like the devil," Schwartz said. "I've been training all year to have those fast finishes. I've been having really good workouts, so I knew with 200 to go I saw (Mugeche) start to fade and I was putting a gap on everyone else."

Mugeche took third at 4:19.49 with Luder in fourth at 4:19.52. Hindman edged the Class 5 record time of 4:10.97 with a 4:09.69.

"Hindman is in a class of his own, but I truly believe I was second best today and I came out and I showed it," Schwartz said.

Hindman and Mugeche created a gap between them and Luder and Schwartz. Hindman kept the pace and Mugeche fell back enough for Schwartz to make the pass at the end.

"I didn't expect Hindman to take it out the way he did because he has another race today," Schwartz said. "So when him and Mugeche took off I was a little worried. Then Luder went ahead and led for me, which I really enjoyed and appreciated. That was the race I was looking for so I just sat on his back and I felt relaxed and I was ready to go."

There are two more races left for Schwartz in his high school career: The 4x800-meter relay at 10:30 a.m. today and the 3,200 at 2:45 p.m. today.

"I feel like our team has a good chance to win the state championship tomorrow in the 4x800," Schwartz said.

Schwartz, Thomas Nield, Ben Krause and Brendan Bena are seeded eighth with a time of 8:04,03, but this group has run 8:01.43 this season.

Schwartz is seeded fifth in the 3,200, the same seed he had in the 1,600.

"It's my last race in high school, so I'm just going to go out there and run and try to get in the top three again," Schwartz said.

Hindman will be in that race as well. He's recorded a time of 8:43.40 this season, about 14 seconds faster than the all-class state record set in 2000.

"I think he might take off again, but I'm just going to run my race and have another good finish," Schwartz said.

III

The Jefferson City Lady Jays had two relays advance to today's finals. The 4x200 team of Niya Sluaghter, Naomi Kerkula, Jacquelyn Walker and Caitlin Anderson took third in Friday's preliminaries in 1:41.78. They'll run in the finals at 11:45 a.m. today.

Hazelwood Central had the top time of 1:37.85 with Lee's Summit West second at 1:41.50.

The same four runners also had the fourth best time in the 4x100 prelims (48.47) to advance to today's finals, which are at 12:35 p.m.

McCluer North was fastest at 47.74 with Lee's Summit West (48.67) and Hazelwood West (48.38) taking the top three spots.

Other Jefferson City athletes that will compete today:

Devin Roberson, discus. Roberson is the top seed with a throw of 166 feet, 5 inches. The event is at 9 a.m.

Jessica Rhoads, shot put. Rhoads enters the competition as the No. 7 seed with a toss of 39-10. The event is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. start.

Chuck Cooper, triple jump. Cooper will be the last Jefferson City athlete in action with a 3:30 p.m. start time. He's seeded 12th with a jump of 43-9.5.

III

There were five Class 5 records broken and one all-class record broken Friday, including the aforementioned boys 3,200 record.

Makayla Kelby of Lee's Summit West won the girls discus with a throw of 163-9, breaking her own Class 5 record of 153-3.

Kamryn Babb of C.B.C. is now the record holder in the long jump at 23-4.5. The previous record was 23-0.25 from last year.

In the high jump, Caleb Furnell of Lee's Summit West cleared 6-8 to break last year's mark of 6-6.

Jordan Garr of St. Joseph Central threw 61-4 to break the 2015 shot put mark of 60-5.75.

Dylan Cowling of Blue Springs threw the javelin 188-2 to surpass last' year's all-class mark of 181-7.