The Track season will continue for Festus as both the Boys and Girls Varsity teams advanced several athletes to the next round… the final stage, the State Track Meet.
The Boys had an outstanding performance as a team, scoring 123 points, tying with Hillsboro for first place out of 15 teams. The Girls team also did extremely well, scoring 50 points, good enough for eight place out of 17 teams.
In the Boys results, Reece Johnson took fourth place in the 100m Dash with a time of 11.25. He also finished fourth in the 200m Dash with a time of 23.01. Johnson commented, “I was just closing my eyes thinking about driving for as long as I can, and then come up and stay tall and keep my speed which resulted in two personal records. On the 200 I just worked on running curve more aggressively which also resulted in another personal record.”
In the 800m Run, Cullen Krieg and Jacob Meyers finished third and fourth respectively, with times of 2:01.02, and 2:01.56. Krieg noted, “I believe that this year is going to one of the most exciting meets mainly because of how many teams are so close to being the State champs. I just know that my team and I are going to give everything we have to try and take home the first place trophy.”
Winning the 1600m Run was Ian Schram with a time of 4:25.75. Just behind him was Krieg finishing third with a time of 4:28.81.
Schram also finished third in the 3200m Run, posting a time of 10:02.54. This time with Meyers right behind him in fourth, with a time of 10:11.86. Schram said, “Before the 3200m Run I was just planning on trying to make it out because the 3200m is a race that will tire you out quite a lot, so I wanted to save energy for the 4x800m Relay and 1600m Run. In those races I found myself in good position and I felt like I could put some more effort in them and it wouldn’t hurt me.”
Kaian Roberts-Day took third in the 110m Hurdles with a time of 16.04.
In the relay events, the 4x200m Relay team finished fifth with a time of 1:33.06. The 4x800m Relay team won the event with a time of 8:12.58.
On the field, the Tigers also dominated. Arhmad Branch took sixth in the Long Jump clearing 6.17m. He also won the Triple Jump leaping 13.21m. Branch commented on his mental preparation, and said, “I was just thinking to myself, Coach and I didn’t put all this work in for no reason. I was trying to make my family, coaches and my friends proud.”
In the Pole Vault, Aidan Grant came in first clearing 3.96m, with Austin Johnson placing fifth with a vault of 3.51m. Grant stated, “I was really just trying to save my energy considering I was in the hot sun for more than seven hours. I was hoping to get back to 14 plus vaults that meet but I just didn’t have anything left in me.”
Luke Greenstreet threw the Discus 38.16m for fifth place.
Austin Anderson won the Javelin event with a throw of 50.75m.
In the Shot Put, Lucas Smith and Anderson finished in second and third place respectively with throws of 13.9m and 13.62m.
In the Girls results, Kinsey Benack took fifth in the 100m Dash with a time of 13.28.
Alexis Biehle took sixth in the 200m Dash with a time of 27.29.
Ella Shy finished third in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 16.92. Shy commented on her season, and said, “My goal this year was to make it to State so before my events I kept reminding myself that this is what I have been working for so I needed to perform my best so I could advance!”
The Relays went well for the Tigers. The 4x100m Relay team finished sixth with a time of 51.07. The 4x200m Relay team came in third with at time of 1:48.86. The 4x800m Relay team took seventh with a time of 10:53.33.
Head Coach Wesley Armbruster commented, “An early season goal for the Tigers was to advance a sprint relay to the state meet and Saturday the team of My’Kaila Batee, Angela Bloodworth, Gabbi Burkard and Biehle achieved that goal and put the Tigers in position to compete for All-State honors this Friday.”
In the Long Jump, Sophie Nolen took seventh with a jump of 4.78m.
Shy and Nolen finished second and fifth respectively in the Pole Vault with vaults of 2.9m and 2.75m.
Armbruster commented on Shy’s day, and said, “Shy’s superb season continued Saturday as she advanced to the state meet in two events. Ella brought home the Silver Medal in the Pole Vault and Bronze Medal in the 100m Hurdles. While she was just ‘shy’ of personal records in both events, she is well positioned to be very competitive at this Friday’s state meet.”
In the Javelin, Ciara McDonald took seventh with a throw of 29.67m.
Lastly, in the Shot Put, Kayla Roberts-Day took first place with a throw of 11.08m. Coach Armbruster was excited, and added, “Kayla’s toss of 11.08m was a new personal record in the event. This converts to over 36 feet! That alone is impressive, but through the first three meets of the year, her best was 8.36m. Kayla’s growth in the event has been impressive to say the least.”
Congratulations to the Tigers, many of which will now advance to the final round, the State Meet. The Class 4 State Meet will be hosted at Jefferson City High School on Friday, May 28th. Each event will feature 16 qualifiers with the top 8 finishers earning All-State honors.
