If it wasn't for an ankle injury, Trenton Barbour may have never won a state medal in the triple jump.
The Jamestown senior had to adjust his jumping style and the result was a pleasant surprise.
"In the second track meet of the year I hurt my right ankle really bad and we just kept trying to fight through it and fight through it, and I never quit," Barbour said. "I switched from going right, right, left, to going left, left, right the week of districts and it made by triple jump almost two feet further than it really was.
"So my coach was like, 'We should have tried this a long time ago.' But we worked at it really hard. My coach, (Michelle) Sumner, she's just been a big helping hand."
Barbour won districts with a jump of 41 feet, 2 inches, was first at sectionals with a mark of 41-9.5 and leaped 41-7 on Saturday to finish fourth in the Class 1 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.
After Barbour completed his second jump, he mentioned to his coaches the ankle was bothering him a bit. But his first jump of 40-0 was good enough to make the finals and his best mark came on his second-to-last attempt.
"I was hoping to jump 43 or 44, but I was just glad to be here," Barbour said.
Barbour also ran the 4x200-meter relay with Garrett Wolfe, Ian Sumner and Cole Higgins. They placed eighth in 1:38.46 after dropping the baton.
"I was a little disappointed but we've got nothing to hang our heads about," Barbour said. "We still got to the finals."
Wolfe had a busy couple of days, running in the prelims and playing in the Class 1 District 11 baseball tournament semifinals Friday in Pilot Grove. He also graduated that night.
On Saturday, Wolfe was back at Adkins Stadium for the finals and made it to Boonville for the district championship game, which the Eagles won 9-2 against Pilot Grove.
"He's a three-sport stud at everything he does," Barbour said of Wolfe. "Anything he does, his athletic ability carries him far. He rests up good and we were smart about it."
Barbour finished his high school career with three state medals while Wolfe earned his first Saturday.
As a team, Jamestown finished tied for 37th with six points.