Eldon junior Zoe Martonfi will be busy the next two days in the Class 3 track and field state championships at Adkins Stadium.
And she’s hoping everyone else will be busy chasing her.
Martonfi qualified for state in four events to lead the Lady Mustangs. The six-time state medalist is seeded No. 1 in three of those events.
Martonfi starts the state championships in the girls triple jump -- in which she is seeded third -- at 9 a.m. today. Her other event on Day 1 is the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries at 3:15 p.m., and she holds the top seed with a time of 45.49 seconds from last Saturday’s sectionals.
In Saturday’s finals-only events, Martonfi is the top seed in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:12.30 and is also the No. 1 seed by more than a full second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.30. The 1,600 is at 12:35 p.m. Saturday and the 800 is at 2:40 p.m.
Martonfi is searching for her first state title. In her first two seasons, she has three state runner-up finishes, as well as third-, fourth- and sixth-place finishes in five different events.
Other state qualifiers for the Lady Mustangs are Delaney McGhay and Corin Davis in the discus and Leandra Wilson-Sanchez in the shot put.
McGhay is seeded 11th and Davis is seeded 15th in the discus, which is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. today. Wilson-Sanchez is the No. 12 seed in the shot put, which starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Martonfi isn’t the only top-seeded athlete heading to state for Eldon.
Jasper DeGraffenreid, a senior, had the top throw from all four Class 3 boys sectionals last weekend in the shot put with a toss of 51-10. The boys shot put is slated to begin at 4 p.m. today.
Eldon’s Will Richardson was one of six state qualifiers to clear 6-2¾ in the boys high jump at sectionals, which was the best height at any of the four sites. He will compete in the high jump at 3:30 p.m. today.
Also for the Mustangs, Andrew Beanland is seeded sixth in the 100-meter dash preliminaries, which are at 12:15 p.m. today, and Nathan Reynolds is also seeded sixth in the 1,600, which is at 1:15 p.m. today. Austin Rush is the No. 11 seed in the discus, which is at noon Saturday.
Eldon qualified for state in two relay events.
Dakota Sieling, Beanland, Jalen Beckmann and Richardson ran last weekend in the boys 4x100-meter relay and is seeded seventh in today’s preliminaries at 2:10 p.m. today.
On the girls side, Heather Bradfield, Mikala Huckabee, Karmen McNeil and AnMarie Dillon are seeded seventh in the 4x400-meter relay preliminaries, which are at 5:45 p.m. today.
The Eldon girls had a state runner-up finish last season in Class 3 with 47 points. Westminster Christian, which won the state title, moved up to Class 5 this season due to the MSHSAA championship factor.
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Southern Boone senior Connor Burns has a state title to defend in the boys 3,200-meter run.
Burns enters the 3,200 as the No. 2 seed, trailing on Buffalo’s Sean Walker. That race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Burns, a five-time state medalist, is the top seed in the boys 1,600-meter run, clocking a time of 4:23.60 at last weekend’s sectional meet. He’ll run in that event at 1:15 p.m. today.
Burns also helped the Eagles to a sectional title in the 4x800-meter relay, joined by Brian Burns, Landon Rehg and Noah Ottinger. Southern Boone is the top seed with a sectional time of 8:11.13 and will run that relay at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Eagles also qualified for state in the 4x200-meter relay. Luke Amelunke, Braidan Jackson, Marc White and Ottinger are the No. 15 seed and will run at 12:50 p.m. today.
In field events, Aiden McDaniel is seeded 15th in the boys shot put and will compete at 4 p.m. today, while Justin Post is seeded 12th in the boys discus and will compete at noon Saturday.
The lone state qualifier for the Southern Boone Lady Eagles is Taylor Germann, who will run in the girls 400-meter dash preliminaries as the No. 10 seed at 2:30 p.m. today.
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Kylee Richey of Versailles will have three chances to get her first track and field state medal this weekend.
Richey, who took 11th place in the girls high jump last season as a freshman, is seeded first in the triple jump, second in the high jump and third in the long jump entering the state meet.
Richey will start with the triple jump -- she jumped 37-1¾ at sectionals -- at 10 a.m. today. Her remaining two events are Saturday, with the long jump starting at 12:30 p.m. and the high jump to follow at 3 p.m.
Versailles’ other state qualifier is Joseph Bland, who moved on to state in a pair of throwing events.
Bland is the No. 3 seed in the boys shot put, which is at 4 p.m. today. Then he’ll compete as the No. 10 seed in the discus at noon Saturday.
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The School of the Osage Indians and Lady Indians qualified for state in a combined 11 events.
Osage will run in three relay events.
• Bayley Johnson, Katherine Wolf, Anderson Job and Macey Kessler will start with the girls 4x800-meter relay at 10:30 a.m. today. They come to state as the No. 7 seed.
• Drake Williams, Konner Vaughn, Derek Bradley and Noah Northrip are the No. 4 seed in the boys 4x200-meter relay preliminaries, which are slated to start at 12:50 p.m. today.
• Drake Williams, Vaughn, Adian Williams and Northrip will then run in the boys 4x100-meter relay preliminaries at 2:10 p.m. today. They are the No. 6 seed.
Vaughn qualified for state in four events, adding two individual events to his two relays.
Vaughn is the No. 5 seed in the boys javelin, scheduled for 10 a.m. today. He is also the No. 6 seed in the long jump at 1 p.m. today.
Northrip is also a four-event state qualifier for the Indians. In addition to the 4x100 and 4x200 relays, he will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
Northrip is the No. 4 seed in the 100 preliminaries, which are at 12:15 p.m. today, and he is the No. 11 seed in the 200 preliminaries, which are at 4:45 p.m. today.
Drake Williams is also the No. 10 seed in the high jump, which is at 3:30 p.m. today.
The remaining state qualifiers for the Osage boys are Andrew Groos and Landon Childs. Groos is the No. 10 seed in the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries, which are at 3:35 p.m. today, while Childs is the No. 5 seed in the pole vault, which is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Along with the girls 4x800, the only other state qualifier for the Lady Indians is Madison Kessler. She is the No. 5 seed in the girls pole vault, which starts at 10 a.m. today.
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The California Pintos and Lady Pintos are sending seven qualifiers to the Class 3 track and field state meet.
Ayden Bryant is the only qualifier for the Pintos. He is the No. 7 seed in the boys long jump, which will be held at 1 p.m. today.
The Lady Pintos are in three state events.
The only Day 1 event for the California girls is the 4x400-meter relay preliminaries, which are at 5:45 p.m. today. Allie Heather, Tayte Higgins, Kierstyn Lawson and Hailey Rademan enter state as the No. 11 seed.
In Saturday’s events, Kenzleigh Goans is the No. 10 seed in the girls 800-meter run, which is at 2:40 p.m., while Emma Braby is the No. 11 seed in the girls shot put, which is at 3:30 p.m.
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Fatima qualified one boy and one girl for the Class 3 track and field state championships.
Tyler Kloeppel is the No. 3 seed for the Comets in the boys 800-meter run, which is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. today.
Caleigh Huot is seeded 14th for the Lady Comets in the girls 200-meter dash preliminaries, which will take place at 4:25 p.m. today.