ST. PETERS, Mo. – Everyone knows what Michael Wells can do in the sprints.
Wells, a senior at Cleveland NJROTC, rolled to victories in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. It was the addition of the long jump that proved to be the surprise.
Wells said he hasn’t attempted the long jump since AAU his freshman year. Instead of plugging Wells into a Commanders’ relay, Wells was entered in the long jump and won the event with a jump of 22 feet, ¾ inches.
“It’s something new I’m doing this year,” Wells said. “I only had two days of practice. They say I’ve got good speed so I’ve got a better chance of getting up high. I was nervous and didn’t want to go first, so I was letting everyone else go first. Then the first jump I thought, ‘OK I got this. I can do this.’”
His first long jump has him ranked second on the Class 2 leaderboard, and 11th overall in the state.
His sprint times were not up to his typical elite level, but Wells said the objective was just to advance to next week’s Sectional 1 meet at Principia. Wells won the 100 in 10.73, and he owns the state’s fastest time in the event at 10.49. He won the 200 in 21.88 and the 400 in 50.59.
“Coach told me to cruise and not to try and show out or anything,” Wells said. “I think I’m good right now, but I know I can get my blocks better in the 100 and 200, especially in the 100 because I’m always stumbling out and everything. I think by state it’ll be alright.”
If Wells continues on his current string through the state meet, he’s on pace to finish his high school career with 10 first-place medals.
Wells’ points tally was not enough to vault Cleveland into the team lead. The Commanders finished third with 77 points. Louisiana edged out Maplewood Richmond Heights for the boys Class 2 District 2 title, 128-125.
Louisiana earned the district title with its depth, as the boys won just three field events – Tristan Castiglia in the high jump (6-0) and triple jump (42-8) and Brandon Holland in the shot put (44-8).
Brentwood’s Sophia Rivera showed her prowess in the throws, too.
Rivera, who won the shot put (41-0) and discus (124-4) at state last year as a freshman, swept the two events again at the district meet with little challenge. She won the discus with a throw of 135-7 on her last attempt. She was more than 40 feet further than the runner-up, and she is currently fifth in the state in all classes with a season-best of 136-6.
She added the shot put title with a new PR of 45-0, nearly a foot better than her winning throw last week at Marion Freeman.
“I know personally I used to not throw that far, and then one day it started clicking, so I think that everybody’s competition because you never know when they’re going to have their one good day or good throw,” Rivera said. “It’s kind of muscle memory. It just starts remembering everything you’ve done in practice and all the hard work that you’ve done. You just start doing it every throw.”
Rivera said there is little pressure to repeat at state. She focuses on each meet and each event individually, enjoying the immediate challenge for what it is.
“I don’t really think about places,” Rivera said. “I think about being the best I can be in the ring. I usually try not to think about which event came first and keep them separate. You don’t want anything to get in your head; you don’t want to get overconfident. You want to just focus on what you need to do right then and there.”
