Competing last Saturday at the Class 4 District 5 track and field meet at Jefferson City High School, Washington’s girls place third and the boys were seventh in the team standings.
The Lady Jays qualified for eight sectional events while the Blue Jays advanced in one event.
The top four finishers in each event qualified for the sectional meet Saturday at West Plains High School starting at noon.
“It’s the time of the year to step up, and we had kids stepping up all day,” said Washington Coach Mike Olszowka. “We design our programs for our kids to be at their best at this time of the season. At the district championships, we had 19 new season-bests, 15 new PRs (personal records) and one new school record.”
Jefferson City cruised to the girls district title with 190 points.
Rock Bridge finished second with 165.5 points followed by Washington (77), Waynesville (66), Hickman (58), Rolla (41.5), Camdenton (41), West Plains (34) and Lebanon (28).
Rock Bridge claimed the boys district title with 176 points.
Jefferson City placed second with 156.5 points followed by Waynesville (118), West Plains (89.5), Rolla (49), Hickman (40), Washington (22.5), Camdenton (21), Lebanon (16) and Smith-Cotton (13.5).
“Our kids brought everything they had. We didn’t sneak anyone through,” Olszowka said. “All seven athletes got through on their best performances against some of the best competition in the state.”
Lady Jays
Washington’s Kirstie Leslie advanced to the sectional meet in all four of her events.
Leslie set a new school record in the triple jump, finishing third with a leap of 38-0.
Leslie also finished second in the high jump, clearing 5-3, second in the long jump at 17-4 1/2 and third in the pole vault, clearing 10-0.
Also advancing in the high jump was Abby Stricker, who cleared 5-2 to place fourth.
Abi Brown and MC Landolt both advanced in two events.
Brown finished second in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:20.39.
Landolt placed third in the 100-meter dash in 12.75.
The Lady Jays’ 800-meter relay team of Brown, Landolt, Emily Stricker and Lauren Brinkmann finished fourth in 1:50.25.
Just missing sectional berths with fifth-place finishes were Brown in the 100-meter high hurdles, the 400-meter relay team of Megan Bauche, Emily Stricker, Landolt and Brinkmann and the 3,200-meter relay team of Anna Bretzke, Ashley Garrard, Erica Diener and Hannah Leslie.
Blue Jays
The lone Blue Jay to advance to the sectional meet was Dillon Quaethem, who finished fourth in the high jump at 5-10.
Just missing sectional berths with fifth-place finishes were Trevor Shockley in the discus and Adam Jones in the 400-meter dash.
The top four sectional finishers in each event advance to the state meet May 25-26 at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
“We were expecting to get two kids through to state, and hopeful to maybe get a third or possibly a fourth,” Olszowka said. “We are very proud of all our kids this season. They show up every day and commit themselves to not only being better track athletes, but better Blue Jays. They are all great representatives of our community.”
