In 2025, Festus' Jahmeshia Patterson recorded one singular shot put result before the Class 4 District 1 meet. It was not an event she would contest in the state series, nor one she had ever contested before or since. But it was enough to qualify her for the state series competition after an apparent injury held her out of the entire regular season
She would go on to finish fifth in the 100 meter dash, fourth in the 200 meter dash, third in the 4x100 meter relay, fifth in the 4x200 meter relay, and, all in all, help her squad finish as the Class 4 State champions for the first time since 1985. She closed out the 2025 season with only one personal best, though: the 8.98m shot put mark.
Patterson broke through as a freshman, as many of us expected based on her impressive middle school resume, after moving to Festus from Hayti in southeast Missouri before 8th grade. Very busy throughout the 2024 regular season and summer, Patterson ran 11.75 for 100 meters, 24.29 for 200 meters, 14.46 in the 100 meter hurdles, 45.49 in the 300 meter hurdles, and long jumped 5.49m (18-0.25). How she would respond in her sophomore season was highly anticipated.
Even though the hip injury from winter derailed her March and April, and kept her running the hurdles and long jumping all year, Patterson would go on to run 12.08 in the 100 and 24.77 in the 200, and anchored the Festus' 4x100 and 4x200 to third and fifth at state, highlighting just how prolific an athlete she really is.
The junior kicked off season number 3 two Saturdays ago at the Herky Quad on March 20th with 12.38 and 26.02 marks in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. At Saturday's McCullough-Douglass Invitational, Patterson scored 28 points on her own with victories in the 200 meter dash and 100 meter hurdles, as well as fourth place finishes in the 100 meter dash and long jump. The 100 meter hurdles mark (14.35) was particularly noteworthy as it was a Festus school record and MO No. 1 performance in the event.
After the meet, Chris Auckley caught up with Patterson for an in-depth interview, gathering all the information on how Patterson is feeling and what she is looking forward to in the 2026 season. With the departure of Helias Catholic and graduation of many top athletes from the Class of 2025, it is realistic that Patterson will be leading her team to state glory once again in 2026.
Quotable
Well, I wasn't really expecting to run a 14.35, considering that it's my first time in a race running the 100-meter hurdles, since a year and a half ago, after I hurt my hip, an injury, and I was out and couldn't long jump or run hurdles. So, (last year) I was running. I was just sprinting and running relays. So I didn't, I haven't been able to jump and hurdle in a while. So today was my first day back officially, and it felt good. I wasn't expecting to run the 14.35. I was really expecting to run a 14.6, 14.7, one of the two. I wasn't really expecting that, so I shocked myself, if anything.
First meet back, running all four of my events. I feel like I did really well. I feel like today was a really good meet day and a really good running day. It's just so exciting to be out here running on the track. I'm just really appreciative that I'm able to run this year.Last year, I was stuck in the concession stands working because I didn't want to talk to any reporters about my injuries or anything. It was just really emotional. But I'm so grateful for what I'm able to do now, that's all I can say. I am grateful for that, and hopefully from here on out, I just get better and better and better. I'm still working on a few things. Still got a little few things to work on, but I'm trying. I was trying really hard. Today was great. The team did great. All the girls did great. Some of the girls were down, but it's okay. We all have those days, but today was just a great meet day. Everyone did awesome. I'm proud of all my girls.
