Parkway Central moving up
After a pair of runner-up finishes and five total trophies, Parkway Central finally broke through and won a team title.
The Chesterfield-based school was the runner-up last year and in 2009 before that, but easily won the Class 4 title with 78 points. West Plains took second with 52 points.
This marked the third straight season with a trophy for Ryan Banta's squad, after taking third in 2019.
West Plains earned the team's highest finish in track and field, one-upping the third place in 2005, also in Class 4, when it was the largest classification.
Kearney ended a 46-year drought on the trophy stand by taking third with 45 points. The Bulldogs were fourth back in 1976 in Class A, when MSHSAA had only two classes and in only the second year in girls track and field.
Nerinx Hall took fourth with 38 points - 20 of those points coming from wins in distance events (3,200 and 4x800). All of the Markers points came on the track, scoring in each of the long sprints, middle-distance, and distance race and relays: 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 4x400, and 4x800-meter relays.
Read more about the Class 4 girls state track recap on the next page