It was a successful run for the Waynesville High track team at the Missouri Class 5 Track and Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday, May 24-25 at Adkins Stadium on the campus of Jefferson City High School.
Seven WHS athletes in five events got to the podium to earn all-state honors.
Leading the charge was senior Jayzen Blake, who finished second in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles with a time of :14.25. Also for the Tiger boys, senior Jonathan Hedrick was a two-event all-stater, taking sixth place in the triple jump at 45 feet, two ½ inches and eighth in the long jump at 22 feet, five inches while junior Brandon Howard was seventh in the 100-meter dash at :10.82.
For the Lady Tigers the 4x100-meter relay team of junior Lenayah Thomas, sophomore A’Nyyah Tollison, sophomore Lexi Bigelow and junior Madison Roberts finished in sixth place with a time of :49.31.
Also competing for the Tiger boys was senior Tyrell Phinn, who finished 10th in the 800-meter run at 1:56.15, and for the Lady Tigers freshman Nalyjah Madison placed 15th in the 400-meter dash at :59.52. Setting a blazing start, Phinn led the 800-meter field for one and a half laps before falling back in the pack.
In the team standings the Waynesville boys tied for 17th with 14 points. Lee’s Summit North won the boys’ Class 5 team crown with 63 points while Kirkwood was second with 52 points and Columbia Rock Bridge third with 50.
In the girls’ standings Cardinal Ritter won with 95 points while Blue Springs was second with 65 points and Columbia Hickman third with 40. Waynesville tied for 40th with three points.
Blake set his personal record (PR) during Friday’s preliminary race at 14:42, then set it again in Saturday’s finals. He was ranked fifth entering the state meet.
It was the fourth year that Blake made it to state in hurdle events. He placed fifth last year and sixth as a sophomore.
“I’m very happy about it, but I’m not a braggart,” Blake said of his senior performance. “This medal, it just shows my work.
“I pushed (in the finals). And at the last hurdle I screamed ‘run faster!’ I’m thankful that I made it to Day 2. I knew what I had to do.”
Hedrick finishes his Tiger career with three all-state medals. Next school year he will be competing in NCAA Division II track at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo.
And as a senior he got on the all-state podium twice.
“I was very confident,” he said of the triple jump competition. “I was seeded second. (Sixth place) was not what I wanted. But at state it turns up a notch. It is so different.
“(In the long jump competition) I started off good, then kind of declined. I came in feeling good. I had 6.83 meters to get to the finals, then 6.6 meters in the finals.”
He said the two state medals as a senior is special.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Last year I was injured and didn’t make finals. I worked so hard. I used to high jump, but quit to focus on triple jump and long jump.”
Now he’ll begin to prepare for college track.
“I’ll take probably two weeks off then get back into it,” Hedrick said. “Go hard and maybe do a couple meets.”
Howard was very pleased with his weekend performance.
“It was a fun weekend,” Howard said. “I could have done better. Actually, the race (Saturday) felt better. But out of the blocks I was bad.”
Howard is hoping this year’s all-state finish is a start for even better things as a senior next year.
“The goal next year is to go (to state) in the 4x1 (relay), the 200 and the 100,” he said. “Last year I didn’t do summer track. But this year I want to.”
The girls’ 4x100-meter relay squad was excited with their performance and with all four returning, even more excited about the prospects for next season.
“I’m very proud of everybody on the team,” Thomas said. “It’s been years since Waynesville has been there in a sprint relay.”
“We have been through a lot together,” Roberts said. “We have had a lot of ups and downs and (Saturday’s final) was really special.”
“We just wouldn’t be where we are without each other,” Tollison said. “We’re really a close group.”
“We push each other,” Bigelow said. “We did everything as a team. And we’re all coming back next year.”
Missouri Class 5
Track and Field
Championships, May 24-25
Adkins Stadium
Jefferson City H.S.
Boys
Top-10 Team Standings: 1. Lee’s Summit North 63, 2. Kirkwood 52, 3. Columbia Rock Bridge 50, 4. Rockhurst 49, 5. Nixa 43, 5. Columbia Hickman 43, 7. Staley 28, 7. Park Hill 28, 9. Liberty North 27, 10. Blue Springs 22, 10. Liberty 22; t-17. Waynesville 14.
Event winners; Waynesville results:
100-meter dash: 1. Langston Thomas, Hickman, :10.37. Waynesville: 7. Brandon Howard :10.82.*
200-meter dash: 1. Robert Collins, Staley, :21.23.
400-meter dash: 1. Leo Faulkner, Rockhurst, :47.59.
800-meter run: 1. Andrew Davis, Rockhurst, 1:52.38. Waynesville: 10. Tyrell Phinn 1:56.15.
1,600-meter run: 1. Henry Acorn, Rockhurst, 4:06.31.
3,200-metr run: 1. Levi Rowan, Kirkwood, 9:09.35.
110-meter hurdles: 1. Devan Mathis, Lee’s Summit, :14.13. Waynesville: 2. Jayzen Blake :14.25.*
300-meter hurdles: 1. Mathis, Lee’s Summit, :37.24.
4x100-meter relay: 1. Hickman, :41.59.
4x200-meter relay: 1. Lee’s Summit North, 1:25.56.
4x400-meter relay: 1. Lee’s Summit North, 3:17.76.
4x800-meter relay: 1. Rockhurst, 7:42.06.
High jump: 1. Darius Graham, Poplar Bluff, 7-1.
Pole vault: 1. Mpawenayo Danford, Rock Bridge, 15-5.
Long jump: 1. Vernell Holt, Col. Battle, 24-5 ½. Waynesville: 8. Jonathan Hedrick 22-5.*
Triple jump: 1. Joseph Anderson, Westminster, 49-9. Waynesville: 6. Hedrick, 45-2 ½.*
Shot put: 1. Jackson Cantwell, Nixa, 71-11.
Discus: 1. Cantwell, Nixa, 203-3.
Javelin: 1. Jordan Smith, Park Hill, 183-6.
*Waynesville All-State
Girls
Top-10 Team Standings: 1. Cardinal Ritter 95, 2. Blue Springs 65, 3. Hickman 40, 4. Liberty 36, 4. Lafayette Wildwood 36, 6. Blue Springs South 31, 7. Pattonville 28, 8. Liberty North 25, 9. Truman 21, 10. Willard 20, 10. Republic 20, 10. Raymore-Peculiar 20; t-40 Waynesville 3.
Event winners; Waynesville results:
100-meter dash: 1. Aniyah Brown, Cardinal Ritter, :11.60.
200-meter dash: 1. A’laji Bradley, Pattonville, :23.51.
400-meter dash: 1. Bradley, Pattonville, :54.51. Waynesville: 15. Nalyjah Madison :59.52.
800-meter run: 1. Paige Stuart, Blue Springs, 2:08.11.
1,600-meter run: 1. Natalie Barnard, Lafayette, 4:49.40.
3,200-meter run: 1. Barnard, Lafayette, 10:32.66.
100-meter hurdles: 1. Kyndall Spain, Cardinal Ritter, :13.64.
300-meter hurdles: 1. Spain, Cardinal Ritter, :42.53.
4x100-meter relay: 1. Cardinal Ritter, :47.71; 6. Waynesville (Lenayah Thomas, A’Nyyah Tollison, Amalexia Bigelow, Madison Roberts), :49.31.*
4x200-meter relay: 1. Cardinal Ritter, 1:40.25.
4x400-meter relay: 1. Blue Springs, 3:48.79.
4x800-meter relay: 1. Blue Springs, 9:12.18.
High jump: 1. D’marihanna Newton, North Kansas, 5-8 ½.
Pole vault: 1. Anna Ferguson, Battle, 12-1 ½.
Long jump: 1. Jasmine Ross, Blue Springs, 20-3 ½.
Triple jump: 1. Hannah Wallace, Cardinal Ritter, 39-10 ¾.
Shot put: 1. Alyssah Price, Liberty, 42-6 ¼.
Discus: 1. Katy Taylor, Staley, 149-10.
Javelin: 1. Addison Throckmorton, Hickman, 148-11.
*-Waynesville All-State
