COLUMBIA, Mo. - Winning a state trophy is always on the list of goals for the Jefferson City track and field teams.
In 2016, the girls won their first trophy since the 2008 Class 4 state championship.
It was the boys' turn to end a long drought Saturday.
The Jays compiled 44 points to take fourth at the Class 5 state track and field championships at Battle High School, their first state trophy since 2005.
"I've said for years that they had potential and I was hoping this year they would live up to what we thought they would do," Jefferson City coach Melvin Myers said, "and it's nice that they did."
Leading the way were throwers Devin Roberson and Corey Suttle, who combined to score 30 points in the discus and shot put.
"When you have two beasts like that in the throws, you ride them and get as many points as you can out of them," Myers said.
Suttle won a pair of medals Saturday, placing third in the discus with a throw of 174 feet, six inches and third in the shot put with a mark of 55-8.75.
"I wanted to get second but it didn't happen," Suttle said of the discus. "I got close to my PR so that's all that matters. I got close and got third, more points for the team."
Suttle was hoping for second in the shot put too, but Roberson held that spot behind North Kansas City's Adetomiwa Adebawo, who broke the Class 5 record with a mark of 62-7.75.
"He's real strong," Suttle said. "That's all I'm going to say."
Suttle and Roberson were aiming high, hoping to claim the top twp spots in both events like they did much of the season.
"This season was fun," Suttle said. "We had fun this season because we'd just go to meets and get 1 and 2."
Suttle finishes his high school career with four state medals.
"I'm really proud of that dude," Roberson said. "He's been ducking his head and working really hard the past few weeks and it's just been awesome for him. And I think me having him in practice definitely upped my game a little bit because he's not a slouch thrower at all."
The results for Roberson and Suttle racked up the points, but that alone wasn't going to get the Jays a trophy.
Andrew Dyer and Brendan Rozier each scored five points and the 4x800-meter relay team accounted for the remaining four.
"They just kind of did it as a team and that's what we we're looking for," Myers said.
Dyer, who was making his second state meet appearance, finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.74 seconds to place fourth.
"Overwhelming overall," Dyer said of competing at state, "but I think it was a really good experience for me because now I know I can prepare myself in time for next year."
It's Dyer's first state medal after coming up short with a ninth-place finish in the 300 hurdles last season.
It was clear someone in the crowd was proud to see Dyer with that medal around his neck.
"That was my mom," Dyer said. "She's energetic. She's with me every step of the way. She prepares me mentally, physically, she gets me in my mindset."
The next step?
"I want to achieve to be a state champion in the 110 and 300," Dyer said.
Rozier, a junior, made his first appearance at the state meet.
Rozier was in line to take seventh in the javelin before letting it loose for a throw of 171-11 to move up to fourth.
"I guess I was just really nervous and then my last throw I already had a spot on the podium, so I just kind of relaxed," Rozier said.
It's been an up and down journey for Rozier this season.
He threw 155-6 in March but came well short of that until a 162-0 won him a district title.
Entering the postseason, Rozier knew something had to change.
He needed a way to keep his javelin lower to the ground.
"At the beginning of the year I wasn't throwing too well," Rozier said. "And then once districts came around I switched my grip and that's whenever I really started to increase my PR. It just feels really good to be able to end my season on such a high note."
The 4x800 relay team of Thomas Nield, Deaken Walker, Landon Dunlap and Ben Krause also finished the season on a high note with a fifth-place finish in a school-record time of 7:53.
III
The Jefferson City Lady Jays had a pair of athletes win two medals Saturday.
Kiara Strayhorn placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.20 seconds for her first career state medal.
Strayhorn also placed seventh in the high jump by clearing 5-2.
In her first event of the day, Strayhorn finished 15th in the long jump at 16-3 after being seeded first at 18-7.
"Like I told her, she's all-state in two events," Myers said. "That's an excellent job for a freshman.
"She has a long future ahead of her. If she keeps her head up and keeps working, she'll be alright."
Dijonay Dawson qualified in four events, but sat out the 200-meter dash because of the tight schedule.
Dawson placed seventh in the 100-meter dash in 12.75 seconds.
She also anchored the 4x200-meter relay, finishing seventh in 1:43.47 along with Zaliah Dunbar, Lashawna Chambers and Rhakala Blackmon.
Dunbar is a freshman and Blackmon and Dawson are sophomores.
"I think they'll have a strong team next year," Myers said of the Lady Jays.