On Saturday, South Callaway High School in Mokane hosted the Class 1 and Class 2 sectional track meet. On a normal day where just two or three teams compete, track meets can look like organized chaos to the untrained eye. With parts of almost 50 teams competing, the “organized” part of that phrase might as well be thrown out the window. Watching athletes scramble to get to their next event sometimes is entertainment in itself. Three local teams, Fayette and Harrisburg in the Class 2 division, along with New Franklin in the Class 1 division, traveled to South Callaway’s athletic facility with a berth in the state championship meet next Saturday on the line. 

In the girl’s Class 2 division, Harrisburg junior Elisa Arrighi punched her ticket to Friday’s Missouri State Activities Association state final in Jefferson City by placing fourth in the long jump with a leap of 5.02 meters.

Arrighi will be competing in two events in the state meet. She also finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.93 seconds.

The Harrisburg girls’ relay teams excelled on Saturday as they finished fourth or higher in four of the relays. In the 4x800-meter relay, the team of senior Baylie Combs, freshmen Alexis Maiden, Emma Fischer and her sister, senior Olivia Fischer, took fourth with a time of 10:54.79.

In the 4x400-meter relay, seniors Jessica Gardiner, Baylie Combs, and Olivia Gardiner, along with junior Brecca Thornhill, grabbed second place by running their race in 4:25.43.

Harrisburg freshman Kaydence Timbrook, senior Jessica Gardiner, sophomore Brecca Thornhill, and senior Isabella McMahan ran 1:53.37 seconds to take fourth in the 4x200-meter relay.

In the 4x100, Harrisburg ran freshman Kaydence Timbrook, seniors Jessica Gardiner and Hailey Emanuel, and Isabella McMahan to finish second with a time of 53:09 finishing just .62 seconds behind Malden High School.

Fayette’s Breanna Estes finished just out of the running for state in the shot put by finishing fifth.

On the boys’ side in Class 2, the Fayette boys came away with 77 points to edge out New Bloomfield as the first-place team. 

Fayette Senior Dillan Lembke took second place in the pole vault with a vault of 3.81 meters, just .22 meters behind the winner from Malden High school.

Fayette Senior Zach Henderson qualified for state by throwing the javelin 45.17 meters. That throw was good enough for third place.

Senior Josh Henderson, also from Fayette took first in the discus throw with a toss of 48.72 meters. Later in the day, he would take third in the shot put with a throw of 15.31 finishing just behind Harrisburg junior Brayton Stephenson in second at 15.72.

Harrisburg posted a strong showing and will send several athletes to state this weekend. Senior Dayton Samuels took third in the high jump clearing 1.74 meters. Senior Wyatt Robinson took fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.66 meters. And junior Travis Gardiner qualified with a fourth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.39 seconds.

Fayette sophomore Chase Allen-Jackman took both the 100- and 200-meter dashes with times of 11.15 seconds and 23.15, respectively. Zach Henderson placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.62 seconds.

Fayette and Harrisburg took two of the four available spots in the state meet for the 4x100 meter relay. Fayette took the first-place honors with senior Kaden Polson, junior Garren Vroman, senior Zach Henderson, and sophomore Chase Allen-Jackman running the distance in a time of 44.74 seconds. Harrisburg’s team of juniors Brayton Stephenson, Jace Carr, Travis Gardiner, and sophomore Austin Darwent finished fourth with a time of 46.11.

The team of Polson, Vroman, Henderson, and Allen-Jackman did not miss a beat when moving to the 4x200-meter relay, taking first with a time of 1:32.77.

Class 1 division athletes were also competing to advance to the site meet in Jefferson City this Saturday.

In the girls’ shot put, New Franklin sophomore finished fourth with a toss of 9.47 meters.

New Franklin junior Dakota Clark qualified in the high jump with a jump of 1.43 meters. Clark’s height was the same as the second and third-place finishers but had more misses, thus finishing fourth.

Senior Kayce Hundley of New Franklin took third in the girls’ discus throw with a distance of 25.65 meters.

The New Franklin girls finished 11th overall with 18 points behind Valle Catholic High School with 93 points.

On the boy’s side, New Franklin finished 10th overall with 21 points. The Valle Catholic boys also took top honors with 170 points.

In the boys’ 400-meter dash, New Franklin junior Douglass Creason took fourth with a time of 54.34 seconds.

The 4x400-meter relay found the New Franklin team of freshman Drake Clark, junior Douglass Creason, senior Tysen Dowell, and freshman Jacob Marshall, finishing third with a time of 3:46.49.

Competing together as a team for only the second time all season, New Franklin’s 4x200-meter relay team of junior Douglas Creason, freshman Drake Clark, senior Tysen Dowell, and freshman Jacob Marshall took first in the 4x200-meter relay with a time of 1:36.56.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1 meet will occur on Saturday at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The Class 2 meet will be held on Friday.