JEFFERSON CITY - Russellville's Jordan Barnhart and Jamestown's Mickayla Strother had strong showings at last weekend's Class 1-2 Missouri High School Activities Association State Track Meet, placing in the top-four in their respective events.
Barnhart placed second in the 100- and 200-meter dash, fourth in the high jump and fourth in the 4x400-meter relay. Also on her relay team was Addie Kirchner, Sydney Robertson and Justice Miller.
"My 100-meters are always my strongest," Barnhart said about the final stretch of her 200-meter dash race. "200 seems too far to sprint for me, I'm just a short distance girl. But I wanted it and just had to push through it. Second feels a lot better in this one."
While Barnhart placed fourth in the high jump, she was disappointed she didn't exceed her high jump performance from last year.
"I expected to jump 5 (foot) 2 (inch), just because I jumped 5-1 last year," Barnhart said. "But I didn't practice like I should of, so I got what I practiced for."
Strother was the only girl to represent Jamestown, qualifying in the 100-meter hurdles. After placing seventh in the preliminaries Friday, she improved her finish to fourth on Saturday in the finals.
"I had a goal that I wanted to get with time, and I had a goal of who I wanted to beat," Strother said. "I was nervous to whole way through. The first hurdle, I had to make sure it went well, otherwise it's just bad from then on."
Strother finished fifth in last year's state track meet. She hopes her back-to-back appearances help Jamestown's program in the future.
"I think it's pretty cool that I made it, but hopefully it makes our track team grow," Strother said.
Russellville freshman Harrison Frank had a successful meet, placing fourth in the 800-meter run. Frank started in the back of the pack, in the inside lanes, but made his way up near the front after the first lap. After falling back again, Frank made one final push.
"The first 200 (meters) was really quick," Frank said. "At about the 300, I started losing them. I knew I had to starting kicking it up a little bit. Right around the second 200 I thought about surging, but it's a good thing I didn't because I wouldn't have had near the surge that I had at the end."
Frank's 4x800-meter relay team also finished in the top-eight, earning All-State. The rest of the relay team is made up of Jamie Porter, Anthony Bertucci and Alex Thompson.
"Today, I wanted to make sure I at least got All-State," Frank said. "I want to be All-State for all my four years. (At the beginning of) this season, I didn't think I would be doing this, that's for sure."
Below are the results for Russellville and Jamestown. Top-eight finishers earned All-State honors. Check the California Democrat website for a photo gallery from the weekend.
BOYS
4x800-meter relay: 6. Russellville (Harrison Frank, Jamie Porter, Anthony Bertucci, Alex Thompson)
4x200-meter relay: 15. Russellville (Keegan Ruppel, Tyler Jowers, Jamie Porter, Zach Voss) 1:43.45.
1,600-meter run: 13. Anthony Bertucci, 4:45.61.
4x100-meter relay: 15. Russellville (Keegan Ruppel, Tyler Jowers, Jamie Porter, Zach Voss) 47.61.
800-meter run: 4. Harrison Frank, 2:01.32.
3,200-meter run: 6. Alex Thompson, 10:19.94. 15. Matthew Fringer, 11:04.65.
4x400-meter relay: 15. Russellville (Jamie Porter, Anthony Bertucci, Zach Voss, Harrison Frank) 3:48.59.
GIRLS
4x800-meter relay: 14. Russellville (Addie Kirchner, Sydney Hiller, Anna Koestner, Sydney Robertson) 11:02.61.
100-meter dash: 2. Jordan Barnhart, 12.35; 10. Justice Miller, 13.04.
400-meter dash: 6. Justice Miller, 1:02.07.
200-meter dash: 2. Jordan Barnhart, 25.82; 11. Justice Miller, 26.85.
4x400-meter relay: 4. Russellville (Jordan Barnhart, Addie Kirchner, Sydney Robertson, Justice Miller) 4:12.89.
High jump: 4. Jordan Barnhart, 5-1.
Shot put: 10. Bethanee Plochberger, 32-5.25.
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BOYS
4x400-meter relay: 12. Jamestown (Trenton Barbour, Trevor Barbour, Garrett Wolfe, Bryan Reno) 3:42.87.
High jump: 9. Trevor Barbour, 5-10.
Triple jump: 13. Trevor Barbour, 39-4.75.
GIRLS
100-meter hurdles: 4. Mickayla Strother, 16.29.