JEFFERSON CITY - Despite the fact that nearly half the teams at this past weekend's Class 1 and 2 state track meet were dressed in some shade of blue, Russellville boys distance runners Harrison Frank and Anthony Bertucci were always easy to spot.
All you had to do was look for the two runners in shades.
"It's our new tradition, we just started this year," Frank said of the pair's sunglasses.
In posting four top-six finishes between the two of them this weekend, clearly the duo's tradition is now one worth carrying on.
After running together on Russellville's third-place 4 x 800 Meter Relay team on Friday morning, Frank and Bertucci were pitted against each other on Saturday in both the 1,600 Meter Run and the 800.
Bertucci took fourth in the 1,600 with a 4:38.58 to edge out Frank's 11th-place finish. Less than two hours later, Frank finished second in the 800 with a 1:59.18, while Bertucci was 10th with a 2:03.99.
"We practice together all the time, just pushing each other to go faster and faster," Frank said. "It benefits us a lot. I'm so grateful to have him on my team. It just makes both of us better athletes."
Bertucci, who competed in four events over the weekend, took sixth in the 3,200 with a 10:10.83 on Friday afternoon to round out the podium finishes for the Russellville boys team. After being in the back half of the pack for much of the race, Bertucci mowed down five runners in the final half-mile stretch to claim sixth.
"Usually my strategy is to come out a little slow and then toward the end start to pick it up for the last three laps," Bertucci said. "So I tried to save my energy for those last laps."
Frank and Bertucci weren't the only busy members of the Indians 4 x 8 that finished third with an 8:18.60. Senior Damian Miller and sophomore Beau Bryant also ran on the team's 4 x 4 team in the prelims. Miller was also a state-qualifier in the Pole Vault.
"This is my first year (at state)," Miller said. "I didn't make it the first three years and then this year I made it for three events. It's overwhelming at first, but it feels so good to come out here and run and see all these people cheering for you. It's just something unreal that you can't ever experience."
On the Russellville girls side, senior Jordan Barnhart was the Indians' top individual finisher with a second-place height of 5-04 in the High Jump. Russellville freshman Mackenzie Schwartz also made the podium, taking sixth in the 300 Meter Hurdles with a time of 49.66.
Senior Russellville thrower Bethanee Plochberger also competed in a pair of events this weekend, taking 14th in Discus and 15th in Shot Put. The Indians' girls 4 x 8 team also ran on Saturday morning, taking 16th with a time of 11:02.30. Meanwhile, sophomore Tristin Little competed in the boys 110 Meter Hurdles on Friday, coming in 12th with a time of 16.97.
In Class 1 action, Jamestown represented the area with a pair of athletes on the podium. On Friday, Lucas Knierim took sixth in Shot Put with a mark of 43-05.25. Though it was his first time at the state meet, the experience of it didn't seem to phase the junior.
"The enviornment is completely different," Knierim said. "Usually you have small crowds and now you have close to a thousand more people here just watching you do everything and congratulating you and clapping for you. It feels great."
Sophomore Trenton Barbour was the other state competitor for the Jamestown boys team, taking 12th in the Long Jump with a mark of 18-10.
Mickayla and Mackenzie Strother were the two individual qualifiers for the Jamestown girls team. After Mackenzie took 11th in the 800 on Friday with a 2:32.48, Mickayla competed in the 100 Meter Hurdles on Saturday, taking seventh with a time of 16.61. The pair also ran together on the Eagles' 10th-place 4 x 2 relay team.
"It feels pretty awesome, knowing that I went out with a bang I guess," Mickayla Strother said. "I made the 4 x 2 team with my sister, so that was probably the coolest thing, that I got to run with her. It'll be something that we can always remember."