Missouri Class 2 track and field championships notebook: North Platte girls repeat as champs; Charleston and Summit Christian Academy share boys title

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Class 2 boys and girls team titles came down to the last race at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Adkins Stadium.

The 4x400-meter relay — the final race of the two-day meet — saw a pair of Kansas City-area teams claim a title but there were three champions crowned.

North Platte, the reigning Class 2 girls champions, entered the final race with 76 points — one more than Father Tolton. That meant whoever placed higher in the final race would win the title.

North Platte built an early lead from Graci Williams and then Lindsay Ramsey, Kalli Schuster and Olivia Rogers followed.

Rogers, a Missouri State signee, crossed the finish line to give the Panthers a time of 4:03.22 and the state championship to go with the 4x400-meter relay title.

“We put a lot of stock in all of our events, but we put a lot of work in our relays,” North Platte coach Brendan Cary said. “But that is one of our centerpieces. … We felt confident going in our kids did the job all day long and we thought they would do it. They showed out in that race. What a way for it to come down to the finish.”

North Platte finished with 86 points, while Father Tolton’s runner-up finish gave them 83 points.

Tolton had a 14-point lead through 16 of 19 events, but North Platte got a title from Rogers and Ramsey — who won the 400-meter earlier — was fourth in the 200. That gave the Panthers a one-point lead.

The Trailblazers went up thanks to a rare 1-2-3 finish in the 1,600-meter run and then a 1-2 showing in the 800.

In the latter, Elyse Wilmes won the race and Olivia Andrews was second.

Wilmes, Andrews and Makalyin Vest were first through third in the 1,600, a 24-point swing prior to the 18-point swing in the 800.

“Hats off to Tolton, they had big point jumps and we knew that would happen,” Cary said. “Coming down to the last event, that helps make the sport fun for the kids and for the fans. It was a different route for us than last year but Tolton did a heck of a job.”

A few minutes later, Summit Christian Academy from Lee’s Summit, won the 4x400-meter relay with a team of Marcus Verbrugge, Jacob Sutton, Andrew Pierce and Marcus Jones. Those 10 points helped the Eagles finish in a tie for first place with Charleston.

Each team finished with 47 points, but all of the pressure was on Summit Christian. The Southeast Missouri team didn’t have a team in the 4x400 and held a 10-point lead over Summit Christian.

Summit Christian forged the tie — the first since 2014 when Liberty North and Grandview shared the Class 3 boys title. Prior to that, there was a tie in 1974.

Marcus Jones won the 200- and 400-meter dash for the Eagles.

Charleston picked up its 18th state trophy and fifth state championship. However, most of the school's success came decades ago with titles in 1936, 1940, 1941 and 1955.

The Blue Jays won the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relays with Zecobyion Ewing, Bernard Bettes and Dwight Williams on both. Fletravion Stanback was on the 4x100, while Kamirion Wiley was on the 4x200.

Williams (third) and Wiley (fourth) helped the Blue Jays get 11 points in the 400.

West Platte and O’Fallon Christian tied for third on the boys' side. Each team earned points in six events, but Christian got a pair of titles from Austin Ball, who won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.

South Harrison girls were third, while the fourth-place trophy was shared between Lutheran North and Maysville — which got all 29 points from one athlete. Mirabella Redman won the 300-meter hurdles and long jump while earning all-state medals in the pole vault and 100-meter hurdles.

South Harrison — from Bethany — and the St. Louis-based Lutheran North each one a relay title.

Taiylor Carr, Ariel Bolden, Genesis Garner and Eryana Stringfellow gave Lutheran North the crown in the 4x200-meter relay in 1:44.45.

Gabrielle Williams, Kylee Cannon, Abbey Henry and Lillian Wilson ran 49.71 to win the 4x100 and helped the Bulldogs bring home their first-ever state track trophy for the girls’ program.

Missouri signee Hayden Dixon broke the Class 2 record in the shot put on Saturday. The Schuyler County senior had a throw of 64 feet, 9 3/4 inches (19.75 meters) – easily beating the old mark of 63-8 set by Andy Oaker of Steelville in 2006.

Dixon's throw was the fourth-best ever in the event at the state finals regardless of class. He won the discus championship on Friday.

Download the SBLive Sports App

To get live updates on your phone - as well as follow your favorite teams and top games - you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App