By Chris Parker
Lamar boys track only won one event gold medal at the Class 3 state track meet, but that was enough for the program to claim its first state title since 2014 and first state trophy since 2018.
Sprints were a strength for Lamar.
The one gold medal came from the 800-meter relay featuring Aiden Sheat, Adam Kluhsman, Chase Querry and Ian Ngugi.
That quartet ran strong through the first three legs before handing it off to Ngugi for the anchor.
“Normally my team sets me up pretty good,” Ngugi said. “I am just trying not to get caught and let my team down.”
Ngugi ran away from the competition down the homestretch as the Tigers posted a time of 1:28.10.
That same quartet finished runner-up in the 400-meter relay just a few events later.
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Individually, Ngugi placed third in the 100 with a time of 10.83 and fifth in the 200 with a time of 22.29.
Querry took third in the long jump with a leap of 22’9 on his final attempt to move up from fifth place. Trace Wooldridge was runner-up in the shot put with a throw of 54’7.25 to round out the scoring.
Those places combined for 42 total points, which was enough to beat Eldon’s runner-up total of 37.5.
Strafford also won a trophy on the boys’ side with a third-place finish thanks to a 36-point output. The Indians accomplished their feat with balance by scoring in eight different events.
Sorrell closes career with two gold medals
East Newton senior Chase Sorrell won the 800-meter run while finishing runner-up in the 1600 and third in the 3200 last season as a junior.
As a senior, Sorrell had his eyes squarely set on winning multiple gold medals.
On Saturday, he ran a tactically sound race to come away with a 1600-meter championship in a time of 4:15.42, which was just ahead of Hollister’s Sinry Mendoza who finished runner-up with a time of 4:17.42.
Sorrell sat in second place at the 400- and 800-meter marks. By the 1200-meter mark of the race, Sorrell had slipped to fourth place.
From there, he turned on the jets.
“I was talking it over with my dad and he was telling me ‘you are going to be a kicker’,” Sorrell said. “Just hold, hold, hold and try to outkick the last 100. I was hoping maybe to catch them a little by surprise and kind of sneak up in the last 100 hopefully take it.”
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Sorrell threw down a 59.02 for his final lap to take the victory. No other runner in the race was under 61 seconds for their final lap.
That left the 800 as the last individual event of Sorrell’s high school career.
His strategy for the 800 was a carbon copy of the 1600.
“Same thing. Just going to hold and try to kick the last 150 or 200 (meters),” Sorrell said.
Sorrell again showed off his kick with a 58.19 last lap to run a 1:54.87 and again just beat out Mendoza who ran a 1:56.64. The 58.19 was the fastest final lap of any runner in the field.
He closed out his high school career running anchor leg on East Newton’s sixth-place finishing 1600-meter relay team.
Sharp-MacPherson reaches top of podium for first time
There were few, if any, runners at the state meet who had as much experience at the state track meet than Mountain Grove senior Jozey Sharp-MacPherson.
Entering the final of the 400-meter relay, Sharp-MacPherson had run 21 different races at the state meet including prelims and finals over her four years.
None of those runs had yielded gold. Yet.
Sharp-MacPherson anchored the 400-meter relay featuring Savannah Hellbusch, Raylee Stenzel and Kailyn Wake to a state championship in a time of 49.99.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was tough trying to catch the girl in lane four. It is like a dream. I don’t feel like this is real right now,” Sharp-MacPherson said. “I am just glad I got to do it with my girls.”
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After the race when all four runners saw ‘Mountain Grove’ atop the scoreboard, they all scrambled from around the track to celebrate together.
“I was looking for them. I didn’t know where they were at. I was (thinking) please tell me they are coming (because) I need a hug,” Sharp-MacPherson said.
Sharp-MacPherson, Stenzel and Wake along with Santana Schwertferger finished fifth in the 4×200 meter relay. Sharp-MacPherson picked up two individual all-state finishes placing fourth in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.40 and second in the 200-meter dash in a time of 25.63.
El Dorado Springs girls defend relay titles
The El Dorado Springs girls have proven to be formidable when it comes to team sports.
On the volleyball court, the Bulldogs won 28 matches and a district title. On the basketball court, they also won 28 games and finished runner-up in Class 3.
It should come as no surprise that they also dominate relays on the track.
El Dorado Springs opened up the Class 3 meet on Saturday by defending their 3200-meter relay title from a year ago with a time of 9:46.41, which was just ahead of Chillicothe’s runner-up time of 9:46.93.
El Dorado Springs was in sixth place after one leg, fourth after two and second after three. That was when Neely Schaaf handed off to McKinli Mays to close the race down.
Last year, Mays ran the third leg of the relay. This year it was her turn to bring the championship home.
“I just believed in my teammates,” Mays said. “They put me in a really good position. I never ask for them to get me first. I just ask for them to get me close and I can do what I can do.”
What Mays does is run fast. She ran a time of 2:21.31 on the anchor leg to secure gold. Tatum Quinlan and Audrey Goatley were the first two legs of the relay.
Mays and Schaaf still had more work to do. That duo combined with Lainey Dody and Braylie Steward ran a 4:05.58 in the final race of the Class 1-3 state track meet to win the last gold medal of the day.
Clark goes big on final jump of high school career
Maliya Clark’s track career took a little bit to get going.
The former gymnast didn’t start competing in track and field until her sophomore year of high school. Less than two years later, Clark was committed to Missouri State’s Track and Field program
On Saturday, her triple jump competition got off to a slow start of its own. The favorite to win the state championship sat in third place entering her final jump.
She answered the bell on her final attempt leaping 38’1.5 to go from third place to first place by almost 15 inches.
“I knew that last year coming into state I had a hip injury. I wanted this to be my redemption year. I had been jumping that mark the whole season. I hadn’t been jumping super well, so I just told myself I need to do it,” Clark said. “I was thinking to myself this is my last (high school) jump ever, so I just have to give it my all. I knew I had a little bit more in me.”
Clark also earned an all-state finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.56. That added to her medal haul which started with a third place finish in the long jump on Friday.
