Boys 400 Meter Dash
The Boys 400 should feature a tantalizing fastest two sections as 15 boys head into the race with a personal best under 52 seconds.
The Reagan brothers from Jackson, Barrett and Blayne, are the top seeds with their respective 48.66 and 48.94 marks from 2024. Barrett was the hard-luck 9th place finisher at last year's Class 5 State Championships, even with a 48.82 performance in prelims. He opened up his season on Tuesday with an 11.01 personal best in the 100. Blayne, a year younger but just as strong, opened his season just ahead of his brother in the 100 with a 10.97 personal best. He was 11th at last year's State meet though he was also under 49 seconds.
Three others head into the meet under 50 seconds: Matthew Waltman (Jefferson Festus), Brennan Scott (Rock Bridge), and Rowan Jackson (Rockwood Summit). Waltman ran 49.37 just a few weeks ago at New Balance Nationals Indoor, capping off an awesome indoor season, but has run 49.31 outdoors in his career. Scott has already taken a big step forward in the quarter mile in 2025, dropping his personal best from 52.98 all the way to 49.68 at the COMO Kickoff. This will be a major development for a Rock Bridge team looking to reclaim the Class 5 crown this year if he can continue to drop time this year. Jackson took a leap forward in his own right last year, going from 54.59 as a freshman to 49.80 as a sophomore and 6th on the Class 4 podium. Saturday will be his 2025 debut.
Other notable athletes listed in the 400 are Webster Groves's Colton Richardson, who has run 50.06 in his career and ran 51.36 this winter, Ladue's Chase Storman and his 50.17 lifetime best, and Poplar Bluff's Landen Deaton, who appears to be hinting at a junior year breakout on the sprints side similar to what another Deaton, Jaden, had a few years ago on the distance side. Landen, in his first official high school meet, ran 22.92 in the 200 and 50.28 in the 400 on Tuesday.