Through the first day of the Class 3 state track and field championships, the Blair Oaks girls kept their streak alive.
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UCA Homecoming
The festivities included a parade and tailgating before the game at First Security Stadium October 11.
The Lady Falcons finished in the top eight in two events Friday at Adkins Stadium and qualified for the finals in a third. Last year, the Blair Oaks girls went 4-for-4 in all-state finishes. So far this weekend, they are 2-for-2 with three more to go.
"I feel pretty good, and I know we've all got a good chance," Blair Oaks senior Emily Yaeger said of her team's chances to go 5-for-5 on podium finishes. " I think we can get it."
Yaeger led Blair Oaks on the opening day with a fourth-place finish in the girls 800-meter run.
"I knew it was going to be a hard race," Yaeger said. "There were a lot of girls who were really close, and that last 200 was a little sketchy, but that's OK."
Yaeger kept near the front of the pack for the first 400 meters of the race. She started to make her move with about 300 to go - a move she said she almost made too soon - and summoned enough energy to maintain her pace and finish the race in 2:20.50, breaking the school record.
"The school record was my whole goal this year," Yaeger said. "It was a little nerve-racking, saving it for the last race, but I'm so glad I got it."
Yaeger took advantage of her starting position, beginning the race as the second closest competitor to the inside rail.
"My whole goal is staying in lane 1 on the inside," Yaeger said. "I normally don't like starting that close in, but it was nice and worked out great."
Eldon's Lauren Imler also made the podium, finishing eighth in 2:25.02.
Blair Oaks' other medal came in the girls 1,600-meter run. Grace Scott took eighth place with a time of 5:23.71.
Scott opened the race in 14th place out of 16 runners through the first lap, but she worked her way up, moving into 13th place after two laps and then 10th place after three laps.
The Lady Falcons also qualified for the final in the 4x400-meter relay. Emily Sporleder, Natalie Heckman, Kayla Jones and Yaeger posted a seventh-place time of 4:10.04 in Friday's preliminary.
The Blair Oaks girls will medal in the 4x400, and they hope to finish off the all-state run in the 4x800-meter relay - the first track race of the day at 10:30 a.m. today - and with Annette Peterson in the discus at noon. The 4x400 will be the final track event, scheduled to start at 4:40 p.m.
Fatima senior Brianna Haller started her final appearance at the state championships with a third-place finish in the girls 1,600, clocking a time of 5:14.43.
Haller led at the halfway point of the race (2:33) and continued to lead with 400 meters to go (3:58). But O'Fallon Christian's Mercedes Schroer and John Burroughs' Kyle Goldfarb passed her with less than 200 meters to go and finished five seconds ahead of Haller.
"I knew if it would come down to it, they would beat me sprinting," said Haller, who was the defending champion in the 1,600. "I'm not a sprinter, I'm a two-miler."
By the time she stepped off the podium, Haller already had her focus shifted to today's events: the 4x800 and the 3,200-meter run.
The Lady Comets are seeded fourth in the 4x800, and they have boasted the top-four finishers in the 3,200 at both districts and sectionals.
"When you think about it, 25 percent of the girls that run in the two-mile is going to be from Fatima," said Haller, who is the No. 1 seed entering that event. "Hopefully we'll do good. We have high hopes."
Fatima finished fourth as a team last season in Class 3 with 36 points. To get a state trophy in back-to-back seasons, the Lady Comets may need another 1-2-3-4 finish in the 3,200 for a third straight weekend.
"We get most of our points from our distance team," Haller said. "We're not as well-rounded as some of the other teams."
School of the Osage junior Kerrigan Gamm broke the state record in the girls javelin, but her throw of 123 feet, 1 inch only landed her a third-place finish Friday.
Trinity's Sydney Juszczyk shattered the previous record of 120-10, set last year by Lamar's Cassidy Beem. Juszczyk threw 142-3 on her first attempt to win the title.
"You often see kids that peak at the wrong time and just fall short," said Gamm, who broke the school record as well at state. "This is the perfect time to peak. I'm satisfied with (my throw)."
California's Quinn Albertson finished eighth in the javelin with a throw of 115-11.
Eldon senior Macie Halderman also earned an all-state medal Friday. She finished sixth in the girls long jump with a leap of 16-11.
The Versailles girls advanced to the finals in three track events during Friday's prelims. Keely Gustafson helped the Lady Tigers in all three.
The Versailles sophomore took sixth place in the 400-meter dash, placing in the top eight to make it to the final. She also helped the Lady Tigers' 4x200-meter relay to a sixth-place time and the 4x400 to a third-place time.
Gustafson missed a chance for four state medals, coming up short of the cut in the 200-meter dash by less than two-tenths of a second with a ninth-place finish.
Osage's Cecilia Verslues moved onto the final in the 100-meter dash with a sixth-place finish in Friday's prelims.
The Eldon girls missed the cut for the final in the 4x400 with a ninth-place finish, but they broke the school record in the prelims with a time of 4:13.31.
For the Blair Oaks boys, Marcus Edler finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdle prelims with a time of 40.26 seconds to reach the final. He will compete in today's race at 2:15 p.m., while Josh Henson will compete in the javelin at 9:30 a.m.
The Falcons placed ninth in the 4x800 and finished 12th in the 4x400 prelims Friday.
III
Class 3
BOYS
Team scores (through five events): 1. Lamar, 18; 2. Herculaneum, 17; 3. (tie) Principia and Owensville, 16; 5. (tie) Maryville and Stockton, 14; 7. Father Tolton, 12; 8. Springfield Catholic, 11; 9. Cardinal Ritter, 10; 10. (tie) Clinton and Chillicothe, 8; 12. (tie) Odessa and Hogan Prep, 6; 14. (tie) Richmond and Salem, 5; 16. (tie) Trinity, El Dorado Springs and Reeds Spring, 4; 19. (tie) Lutheran: St. Charles and Montgomery County, 3; 21. (tie) Buffalo, Kennett, Whitfield and O'Fallon Christian, 2; 25. (tie) North Technical, Central Academy of Excellence and McCluer South-Berkeley, 1.
4x800-meter relay: 1. Principia, 7;59.40; 2. Stockton, 8:01.67; 3. Herculaneum, 8:05.20; 4. Lamar, 8:07.70; 5. Maryville, 8:14.32; 6. Springfield Catholic, 8:15.67; 7. O'Fallon Christian, 8:16.91; 8. North Technical, 8:21.68.
3,200-meter run: 1. Caleb Feuerbacher, Maryville, 9:35.21; 2. Stephen Kielhofner, Springfield Catholic, 9:37.34; 3. Simon Karega, Principia, 9:39.01; 4. Jonathon Coffman, Herculaneum, 9:42.07; 5. 5. Loki Cortner, Herculaneum, 9:48.14; 6. Mark Venable, Lamar, 9:50.85; 7. Trenton Wells, Buffalo, 9:52.18; 8. Bryson Coulter, Stockton, 9:57.02.
Pole vault: 1. Bryan Candrl, Owensville, 14-9; 2. Jake Freidel, Father Tolton, 14-6; 3. Jacob Luther, Owensville, 14-3; 4. Morgan Thomas, Stockton, 13-6; 5. Jack Loy, Father Tolton, 13-3; 6. Brayden Housh, El Dorado Springs, 13-3; 7. James Moloney, Herculaneum, 13-0; 8. Ethan Parshall, El Dorado Springs, 13-0.
Triple jump: 1. Rasheed Ricketts, Cardinal Ritter, 47-4.5; 2. Trey Miller, Clinton, 46-8.75; 3. Anthony Barner, Hogan Prep, 45-11; 4. Andre Pritchett, Richmond, 44-6.5; 5. Isaiah Williams, Trinity, 43-5; 6. Chris Harrison, Montgomery County, 42-11; 7. Miles Elkins, Whitfield, 42-10; 8. Rejuan Campbell, Central Academy of Excellence, 42-3.5.
Discus: 1. Cooper Lucas, Lamar, 176-2; 2. Walker Graves, Chillicothe, 173-6; 3. Justin Dannar, Odessa, 167-3; 4. JD Bowling, Salem, 151-6; 5. Asa Baker, Reeds Spring, 150-10; 6. Anthony Heard, Lutheran: St. Charles, 150-9; 7. Trevon Lemons, Kennett, 146-1; 8. Jordan Jenkins, McCluer South-Berkeley, 145-8.
GIRLS
Team scores (through six events): 1. John Burroughs, 30; 2. (tie) Odessa and O'Fallon Christian, 18; 4. Lamar, 12; 5. Trinity, 11; 6. (tie) Lincoln College Prep and Strafford, 10; 8. Holden, 9; 9. (tie) Cardinal Ritter and Maryville, 8; 11. Bowling Green, 7; 12. (tie) Fatima, Buffalo, School of the Osage, East Newton, Montgomery County and Blair Oaks, 6; 18. (tie) Willow Springs, Ava, Lutheran North and Salem, 5; 22. (tie) Seneca, Cassville, Eldon and Pembroke Hill, 4; 26. (tie) McCluer South-Berkeley, Clinton, El Dorado Springs and Trenton, 3; 30. (tie) Herculaneum, Palmyra and Summit Christian Academy, 2; 33. (tie) California, Centralia and Mount Vernon, 1.
1,600-meter run: 1. Mercedes Schroer, O'Fallon Christian, 5:09.15; 2. Kylie Goldfarb, John Burroughs, 5:09.88; 3. Brianna Haller, Fatima, 5:14.43; 4. Kate Klott, Bowling Green, 5:21.71; 5. Julia Rosher, Pembroke Hill, 5:21.75; 6. Ashley Knoll, El Dorado Springs, 5;23.60; 7. Arianna Latuda, John Burroughs, 5:23.63; 8. Grace Scott, Blair Oaks, 5:23.71.
800-meter run: 1. Kylie Goldfarb, John Burroughs, 2:17.25; 2. Mercedes Schroer, O'Fallon Christian, 2:18.54; 3. Kinsey Sorrell, East Newton, 2:19.58; 4. Emily Yaeger, Blair Oaks, 2:20.50; 5. Tara Hillebrand, Montgomery County, 2:21.46; 6. Kinadie Jones, Holden, 2:23.95; 7. Emily Fischer, Herculaneum, 2:24.26; 8. Lauren Imler, Eldon, 2:25.02.
High jump: 1. Madison Bowles, Strafford, 5-4; 2. Serena Sundell, Maryville, 5-3; 3. Delaney Miller, Buffalo, 5-2; 4. Sydney Miller, Willow Springs, 5-2; 5. Katelyn Mooney, Lamar, 5-2; 6. Sadie Vernon, Clinton, 5-1; 7. Renee Finke, Montgomery County, 5-1; 8. Samantha Sieve, Trinity, 5-0.
Long jump: 1. Bria Ward, John Burroughs, 17-11.5; 2. Sydney Mitchell, Cardinal Ritter, 17-10.75; 3. Maggie Klover, Holden, 17-3.75; 4. Jordyn White, Lutheran North, 17-1.75; 5. Taylor Mailes, Seneca, 17-1.5; 6. Macie Halderman, Eldon, 16-11; 7. Lenetta Lee, Summit Christian Academy, 16-9.75; 8. Sadie Heisner, Mount Vernon, 16-6.
Shot put: 1. Mikayla Deshazer, Lincoln College Prep, 45-8.5; 2. Kloe Hilbrenner, Odessa, 42-8.5; 3. Rebekah Stucker, Odessa, 40-8; 4. Baylee Bilyeu, Salem, 40-6; 5. Kyren Postlewait, Cassville, 40-2.75; 6. Brianna Brock, McCluer South-Berkeley, 39-10; 7. Brooke Wilson, Palmyra, 38-10.5; 8. Lacey Pavlak, Centralia, 38-9.5.
Javelin: 1. Sydney Juszczyk, Trinity, 142-3; 2. Katelyn Mooney, Lamar, 128-4; 3. Kerrigan Gamm, School of the Osage, 123-1; 4. Eden Little, Ava, 120-1; 5. Camryn Ramsey, Odessa, 118-10; 6. Salem Croy, Trenton, 118-6; 7. Katelynn Charlton, Bowling Green, 116-0; 8. Quinn Albertson, California, 115-11.