JEFFERSON CITY • MICDS has put itself in a position to compete for a state title at the Class 3 track and field meet at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
“In 17 years of coaching I’ve never had a prelim like this,” MICDS coach Jim Lohr said. “Then again, I’ve never had a team like this.”
Senior Lauren Waterbury made the finals in the 200- and 400-meter races. She also anchored the 800 relay that was the top finisher. The 1,600 relay is also the top seed headed into Saturday.
There are more points to come if all goes well for the Rams. With two pole vaulters and a handful of field events still to go, MICDS is sitting pretty.
But Lohr is taking nothing for granted.
“If all goes well, and I mean if our kids do as well tomorrow as they did today...,” Lohr said. “It’s been an outstanding day.”
Affton entered the meet with hopes of maybe sneaking out with a top-four finish and a state trophy. Those hopes took a hit when junior standout Cheyenne Hoerr failed to qualify for the 300 hurdle finals after she clipped a hurdle and tumbled during the prelims.
Without Hoerr, who was the top seed, the Cougars will need some breaks to go their way, even after junior standout Hali Ford unexpectedly won the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet 5 inches.
The best race of the day was the first race of the day. Festus eked out a victory in the 3,200 relay when senior Sadie Darnell caught and passed Smithville’s Siara Stahl in the last three strides.
Festus led nearly the entire race until Stahl passed Darnell just before the final curve.
Stahl, one of the better 800 runners in her class, looked to be headed to the title, but Darnell put her foot on the accelerator and won the race by a nose.
Festus finished in 9:33.56. Smithville, the defending champion, crossed the line in 9:33.69.
“I didn’t give up,” Darnell said of the photo finish. “I kept fighting until the end.”
Darnell, who took second in the 3,200 later in the day, said the Tigers’ relay team never trailed at any point this season during a race. To be chasing someone down the stretch was a new experience.
“We’re usually in first,” she said with a smile.
And, when it was all said and done, they still were.
