TROY, Mo. – The sprints were on full display Saturday at the Class 3-4 sectional meets at Troy Buchanan High School.
Francis Howell Central senior Tre Curry made an early splash with a blistering new PR of 10.63 in the 100-meter dash, moving him to fourth in the state rankings. It was a half-step ahead of teammate Kendall Morris, who finished second in 10.75.
“We did a lot of block work and I got comfortable coming out of the blocks. That and some new spikes,” Curry said. “I didn’t know how big of a deal spikes were, so I had like three missing and I didn’t really worry about it. That’s how I ran all season. They got me some fresh pair of spikes, and that made a difference too. I just felt a lot lighter.”
Curry nearly rallied Howell Central to a victory in the 400-meter relay, but McCluer held him off at the line, 42.22 to 42.23.
Berkeley rode its sprints and relays to Class 3 sectional boys and girls titles. The Berkeley girls qualified three in the 100 behind Octavia Cato’s 11.98 victory. Kamira Franklin led another trio to the top three spots in the 200 with a 24.61. A mix of all those sprinters led to victories in the 400- and 800-meter relays, with the 400 relay time of 48.27 now atop the state rankings.
Franklin, who anchored the winning relays, said she tries to lead by example for her mostly sophomore and freshmen teammates, and she’s aware of the tradition the Berkeley track team is trying to continue.
“Me being the junior, I have to show I can do this without giving up,” said Franklin, who had to sit out last season as a transfer. “That gives them confidence to go and say, ‘Hey we’re all a team. Let’s go and win.’
“This has been a challenging year for me. I’m learning more and more each meet. It’s really hard to live up to the (Berkeley) name. We get told every day, ‘Look at your future. Look at your past. Learn the history of your school and see what they did and try to use that for what you’re trying to do.’”
The Berkeley boys qualified in all four relays, including victories in the 400- and 800-meter relays. They also doubled up with two state qualifiers in the 400-meter dash.
Curry was also a force in the field events, winning the long jump (22 feet, 5 ¼ inches) and the triple jump (47-0). He said he only had completed two attempts in the long jump when he had to head over to the 100-meter dash. His victory there had a positive impact when he returned to the long jump runway, helping spur his winning jump.
“It just gave me more confidence overall and you’re warmer,” Curry said. “It’s easier to hit your marks when you’re warm. It’s a little tiring but you’ll get over it. The adrenaline kind of takes over.”
Parkway Central senior Khalen Saunders had his own sweep, taking the Class 4 shot put (57-0 ½) and the discus (156-9), an event he recently expressed some dislike.
“In discus, I actually PR’d, so that was exciting,” Saunders said. “I was saying that I didn’t like the event, but my coach saw it in me, and he made me do it, and I’m appreciative that he did.
“Winning my sectional in both events, it makes me feel like I can do it now. I just have to go out and perform. It’s really not about technique at this point. It’s about repetition. Go out there and get warmed up and throw a million times if you can. That way the technique will fall into place if you keep working at it.”
Saunders teammate, junior Michael Slater, injured his hip flexor on the second discus throw but still managed to capture second place in the event (155-4). He powered through the injury for third place in the shot put (52-9 ½).
SLUH, which tied Hazelwood Central for the boys’ title, got 10 points out of pole vaulter Alex Peraud who tied his PR with a winning vault of 14-6, and he just missed clearing 14-9 on his third attempt. Peraud said he’s also adjusting on when he enters the competition so he doesn’t spend too many jumps early and create fatigue by the end of the event. He admitted that he was starting to tire a little on his final attempts after beginning Saturday at 12-6.
“I have to focus on delaying my trail leg when I swing up and ringing the bell at the top, working on the pull and turn,” Peraud said. “That’s the thing you have to work on, whether it’s worth waiting on the higher height or coming in lower and getting used to the pole.”