Area athletes earn medals at state track meet
Published 11:48 pm Friday, May 22, 2026
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Area athletes competed in the first day of the MSHSAA State Track and Field Championships for Classes 1, 2, and 3 on Friday in Jefferson City. Many local athletes claimed All-State honors and punched their tickets to Saturday’s finals.
Alli Hustedde of Bowling Green had one of the most impressive days as she finished fifth in the Class 3 long jump with a leap of 5.26 meters (17’ 3”). That was just the start however. Hustedde would go on to qualify for the finals in three more events on the day.
Paris sophomore Mia Kendrick earned All-State honors in the Class 2 long jump. Kendrick jumped 5.32 meters (17’ 5.5”) on her first jump to be able to make the podium.
North Shelby’s Mallory Griffin placed third in the Class 1 high jump by clearing 1.55 meters. She missed twice at 1.5 before clearing the height on her third attempt. Then missed once on 1.55 before clearing the height.
Those earlier misses cost Griffin second place to Annabelle Gardner of Pattonsburg, but the sophomore still finished her second career All-State honor.
Wyatt DeGrave of Monroe City took fifth place in the triple jump with a leap of 13.18 meters while Lukas Weaver of Clark County jumped 12.73 to capture eighth.
Highland’s Allison Lundberg made the height of 1.55 meters (5’ 1”) to earn sixth place in high jump. And teammate Bailie Crist took fifth place in the javelin with a throw of 38.26 meters (125’ 6”).
Timia Reinberg of Monroe City threw the shot put 11.09 meters (36’ 4”) to earn fifth place in Class 2. Teammate Kate Willingham finished seventh in the Pole Vault clearing a height of 3.05 meters (10’).
Charlee Holland put Scotland County on the podium by claiming fourth place in the long jump with a leap of 5.09 meters (16’ 8.5”).
Deacon Schoonover of Schuyler County threw the discus a distance of 43.43 meters (142’ 5”) to claim seventh place for the Rams.
Full results can be found at https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=9010&en=211-1.
Hustedde will have a busy day on Saturday in the finals of the MSHSAA Track and Field State Championships.
The Bowling Green junior ran 12.56 to finish seventh in the 100. She ran a time of 25.99 in the 200 to finish in eighth place. And in her best event, Hustedde ran a time of 59.14 in the 400 to finish with the second best time in her class.
Palmyra’s Luke Sheppard advanced to the finals in both the 110 Hurdles and 300 Hurdles. Sheppard ran the events in 15.64 for the 110s to land in seventh place and completed the 300s in 41.66 for eighth.
Mason Delaporte of Mark Twain will join him in the finals of the 110 Hurdles as Delaporte finished fourth in a time of 15.31.
Another local hurdler to advance is Amaris Melvin. The Mark Twain junior finished sixth in the 100-Meter Hurdles in a time of 16.32. She also advanced in the 300 Hurdlers by taking third in 46.88.
South Shelby’s Gracynn Lanpher finished fifth in the 300s to also advance in a time of 47.9.
Mia Kendrick of Paris made the finals of the 100-meter dash by placing sixth in 12.48 and also took sixth in the 200 with a time of 25.82.
Louisiana’s 4×100-meter relay team of Karishma Clark, Trinity Chatman, Michela Lesley, and Alaysia Gschwender advanced to the finals on Saturday by finishing seventh in a time of 51.09.
Highland’s and South Shelby’s girls 4×400-meter relay teams advanced to the finals as Highland ran 4:10.05 and placed fifth while South Shelby ran 4:10.60 finish sixth.
Full results can be found at https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=9010&en=211-1.
