JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Two of Missouri’s fastest sprinters proved it when it counted last weekend at the Class 3-4 Missouri Track and Field Championships.
Now Raymond Wingo and Anglerne Annelus will take on some of the best both Missouri and Illinois have to offer at Thursday’s Festival of Miles St. Louis Injury and Rehab All-Star 100-meter dash at St. Louis University High.
Wingo, a junior at SLUH, captured the Class 4 100-meter dash in 10.85, and his PR time of 10.64 came at the Belleville West Invitational in early April.
“I think I got out of the blocks real well; that’s what I think won the race,” Wingo said of his state title. “My start was just awesome today. My start was good so it separated me from everybody.”
Annelus, a sophomore at Grandview, was the Class 3 girls champion in the 100 in 12.21 and the 200 in a PR time of 24.80. Her best 100-meter dash time this spring was her 11.96 to win the sectional meet.
She admitted that changing one little thing in her daily routine had paid big dividends this year.
“I’m kind of disappointed with my 100 time, wish I could’ve run 11 again and PR’d,” Annelus said at the state meet. “But I PR’d in my 200, so I’m happy about that.
“It feels great because I’ve been training hard for it and keeping myself healthy. I stopped drinking pop. Pop is not the best thing for you when you’re an athlete, and I got serious this year and made sure I didn’t drink it anymore.”
Both of Missouri’s Class 2 champions – Cleveland’s Michael Wells and St. Elizabeth’s Aiesha Irvin-Muhammad – are slated to run Thursday. Irvin-Muhammad won her state title with an 11.74, the state’s fastest time this season. Wells captured his Class 2 title with 10.79 after missing a large portion of the season to a hamstring injury, and he was clocked at 10.57 at the sectional meet, which is the state’s second fastest time this year.
The events begin Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the GO! St. Louis Healthy Kids Mile and the high school races begin shortly after 7 p.m.