Some great results took place at the Missouri State T&F Championships Friday. Two handfuls of athletes led the way with national level performances, some of which rank U.S. top ten currently. Perhaps the best race of the day came in the girls 3A 800m dash in which 3 girls went under the state record of 2:15.67. Cydney Ross (Villa Duchesne, MO) beat Kianna Ruff (McCluer S-B, MO) 2:09.88-2:09.89, outleaning Ruff at the line. Coming in third was junior Alyssa Allison (Festus, MO) in 2:12.85. Earlier in the day Ross placed second in the 1600m run to Alyssa Allison (Festus, MO) 4:51.70-4:55.23 with both girls running under the record time of 4:56.61.
Ruff's teammates at McCluer S-B (MO) ran incredibly well too. Alishea Usery (McCluer S-B) led the team's sprint crew to three top seeded relays heading into Saturday's finals, while Usery earned the top seed in the 100m dash (12.09), second in the 200m dash (25.12) and top seed in the 400m dash (56.80).
Another top sprint performance came from all-American Maurice Mitchell (Raytown South, MO). Mitchell earned top marks in all three open sprint events, running 10.84 for 100m, 21.82 for 200m and 48.15 for 400m. Mitchell also led his squad's 4x100m relay, which ranked #1in the days prelims. Mitchell's teammate Derek Blevins (Raytown South, MO) won the boys 4A long jump with the top mark in 24.00.25, one of the top field event performances of the day.
The other top boys field event performance came from Andre' McDonald (Park Hill, MO), who won the boys high jump in 6-10, while also running the top 110m hurdle mark in 14.36, setting himself up well for Saturday's final in the event. The best mark of the day came in the class 3 shot put with junior hurler Corey Jones (Booneville, MO) smashing the old record of 63-08.50 with his throw of 66-03.75.
More top results came in the girls 4A competition. Lauren Borduin (Rock Bridge, MO) ran away from both fields in the 800m dash and 1600m run. Borduin ran 2:12.92 to win the 800m race, after winning the longer race earlier in the day in 4:56.68. Jade Nalls (Raytown South, MO) and Jasmine Boyer (Ft. Zumawalt West, MO) impressed in the field events. Nalls won the triple jump with the top mark in the state by leaping 39-03.50. Meanwhile, Boyer won the shot put with a terrific toss of 46-09.25.
Dominating performances dotted the results on Saturday at the Missouri State T&F Championships. The top performances came from senior sprint stars Maurice Mtichell (Raytown South, MO) and Alishea Usery (McCluer S-B). Each won their individual events, while helping their relay squads win as well. Mitchell won the boys 4A 100m dash in 10.88, 200m dash in 21.40 and 400m dash in 47.67, while his team's 4x100m relay used his excellent anchor leg to run 41.47. Meanwhile, Usery won the girls 3A 100m dash in 11.78, 200m dash in 24.43 and 400m dash in 54.53, while guiding her squad's 4x400m relay team to victory in a U.S. top twenty time of 3:47.49.
Elsewhere, Tiffani McReynolds (Pembroke Hill, MO) won both girls 3A hurdle events, taking home the gold in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.67 and the 300m hurdles in 43.47. On the boys side Kerwin Stricker (Washington, MO) won the boys 4A 300m hurdles in a great junior time of 37.71. Olivia Lewis (Gateway, MO) also did well in the girls 4A sprints, winning the girls 200m dash in 24.55.
On the distance side senior Darwin Prince (Normandy, MO) did the unthinkable, becoming the 1st class 4 boy to win the vaunted Distance Triple Crown. After winning the 3200m on Friday over senior Rick Elliot (Kickapoo, MO), 9:15.27-9:16.22, Darwin came back on Saturday barely holding off Elliot once again in the 1600m run to win 4:12.66-4:12.86. Later in the day he put the final point on the crown winning the 800m run in 1:54.39. On the girls side Alyssa Allison (Festus, MO) backed up her record breaking run in the 1600m on Friday with a 3200m win in 10:48.58.
In the field events, junior jumper Derek Blevins (Raytown South, MO) won the 4A boys triple jump in 48-00 helping Maurice guide his team to the team championship. Brittany Borman (Fesuts, MO) finished up her stellar career by winning the girls shot put in 42.08. In the relays, McCluer South-B. (MO) won the girls 3A 4x400m relay in 3:47.49 and 4x200m relay in 1:41.95. On the girls 4A side, Parkway Central (MO) won the girls 4x200m relay in 1:42.61 and won the 4x400m relay in 3:54.80. The top boys performance came from Hazelwood East (MO) as they won the boys 4A 4x200m relay in 1:26.92, then coming back later in the day to win the 4x400m relay in 3:16.29.