Relay favorites finish in first

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The favorites in the girls 3,200-meter relay did not disappoint at the Class 3-4 Track & Field Championships Friday at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.

Ste. Genevieve flirted with the Class 3 record with its 9:25.45. Festus set the class record of 9:24.44 in 2009.

“There’s no disappointment; we raced our hearts out today,” said freshman Mallory Koller, who ran the third leg. “It would’ve been cool to get the record, but we ran to our fullest potential, and that’s all we could ask for.”

Koller moved the relay team from fourth place into the lead heading into the anchor leg of freshman Taylor Werner, who has proven to be one of the best distance runners in the state. Koller said she’s not used to coming from behind, but she was confident in Werner’s ability to close out the race.

   “It was a lot tougher, especially on the last 200 with the wind against me, but I pushed through it and got the baton in first,” Koller said. “We’re best friends and handing off the stick (to Werner) makes it that much more awesome.”

Eureka had to battle from behind twice as defending champion St. Theresa’s Academy was not going to give up its Class 4 relay crown easily.

Eureka senior Angie Sumner moved the team into first on the second leg, and then Hannah Long finished off the anchor leg with a 2:09 split to secure the victory in 9:12.01.

Sumner recently moved from the first leg to the second, but she said the near identical times both her and Eilish Overby have been running made it a moot point.

“I was just focused on catching up to No. 1, and then I wanted to open the gap as much as I could to help out my team and get a good time,” Sumner said. “I knew (St. Theresa’s) were really good, and I knew we had a chance so I tried to close it.”

St. Theresa’s finished second in 9:15.67.