Both of the small school boys' championships went down to the last race and ended with ties.
Summit Christian Academy won the 4x400-meter relay and that forged a tie with Charleston for the state title this year with 47 points at the MSHSAA Class 2 finals.
In Class 2, this is the second-ever tie-- the last coming when Sarcoxie and Lexington shared the Class 2A title in 1993. Back then, there were only four classes instead of five.
Summit Christian had 10 or more points in three events -- a feat matched by Charleston.
Andrew Pierce hands off to Marcus Jones in the 4x400.
The Lee's Summit school got the win and got the tie -- a similar fashion as the Class 1 meet where Hermitage got enough points in the final race to forge a tie for the title there as well. Junior Marcus Jones ran 22.02 to win the 200, then in the 4x400, received the baton in 5th as the Summit Christian anchor. Jones blazed a lap around the Licklider Track and Field facility, running a 47.86, 2 seconds faster than the seven other anchors, and giving the Eagles the event title and tying them for the team title.
47.86!!! Marcus Jones anchors Summit Christian from 5th to first to win the 4x400 in 3:24.70 and tie for the team title.
Along with Summit Christian getting 10 points in the 200-meter dash and 4x400 , they scored 14 points in the 400-meter dash with Jones and Marcus Verbrugge going 1-5.while Charleston placed 3rd and 4th to score 11 in the 400-meter -- a total of 31 of it's 47 points in three events.
Summit Christian went 1-5 in the 400-meter dash while Charleston was 3rd and 4th.
CHARLESTON
The trophy for the Blue Jays was the fifth state title overall and the 16th trophy overall, dating back to 1935. Charleston won titles in 1936, 1940, 1941 and 1955 in either Class B or C.
So, the Blue Jays snapped a title skid of 67 years.
Charleston won the 4x200-meter relay ahead of Summit Christian. The Blue Jays featured Zecobyion Ewing, Bernard Betts, Kamirion Wiley and Dwight Williams, running 1:30.07.
Dwight Williams anchored the Blue Jays winning 4x1 and 4x2 relays and was placing 3rd and 6th in the 400 and 200.
Ewing, Betts, Fletravion Stanback and Williams won the 4x100 in 43.76 seconds.
The sprints led to a bulk of the points. Williams and Ewing were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 dash.
Zecobyion Ewing placed 7th in the 200 and was on the winning 4x100 and 4x200 relays.
Williams was third in the 400, with Wiley taking fourth. The Blue Jays also added points in two jumping events.
Stanback was fourth in the high jump with a leap of 1.92 meters (6 feet, 3 1/2 inches) and Zachyran Thomas was third in the long jump with 6.45 meters (21-2).
SUMMIT CHRISTIAN
The championship was not only the first title for Summit Christian, but it was also the first trophy ever for the boys' program and only third ever in track and field. The girls were second in 2016 and fourth in 2019.
The state championship was only the second for any boys program at the school and was the second in a week span after the boys won the Class 2 State golf title on May 16. The track team won on May 20.
The event that helped send the Eagles to the top was the 4x400-meter relay -- seeded fifth heading into the finals. Marcus Verbrugge, Jacob Sutton, Andrew Pierce and Marcus Jones ran 3:24.70 -- a big drop from the 3:32.54 to qualify for the finals. It was the first-ever relay title for the boys program.
Marcus Verbrugge starts to extend the baton to Jacob Sutton in the 4x400.
Jones added individual titles in the 200-meter (22.02) and 400-meter dashes (49.79) -- becoming the first boy to win a title and only the third athlete at the school to win a track and field championship.
Junior Marcus Jones won the 200 in 22.02 and the 400 in 49.79.
In the runner-up finish in the 4x200-meter, Pierce, Sutton, Verbrugge and Jones ran for the Eagles in 1:31.03.
Jacob Sutton ran legs of the 4x200 and 4x400 for the Eagles.
Verbrugge placed fifth in the 400-meter dash and eighth in the 800-meter run. Pierce added a fifth-place finish in the long jump.
Andrew Pierce earned medals in the 4x200, 4x400, and long jump.
