WEST PLAINS — Making the most of a long day.

That is what Owensville High School track and field looked to do Saturday making a three-hour trek to West Plains High School and the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 5 track meet hosted by Willow Springs High School.

After the conclusion of the pole vault, Owensville’s Dutchmen were finally able to celebrate winning a district title topping 11 other schools with 124 points.

“Our guys really stepped it up today,” Candrl said. “We got contributions from virtually every event to help us achieve a district title.”

Stepping up after a season-ending injury to Alan Kopp, Bryce Payne elevated himself into All-State contention with a pair of second-place finished in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles in times of 15.15 and 40.69 respectively.

“Bryce made a major move this weekend from being ranked near the top 10 in the state to being in the top two or three,” Candrl said. “He did a nice job and put himself on another level.”

Helping the Dutchmen top the team standings were district champions in three events.

Senior Jacob Breedlove claimed the 400-meter dash in a time of 51.41 with teammate Tanner Meyer following him with a second-place time of 53.31.

Junior Gabe Soest came into the 800m run ranked third but delivered a district-championship winning time of 2:05.16 with Felix Guerrero also adding a team point with an eighth-place time of 2:14.27.

“He (Gabe Soest) went out there and ran a fabulous race when on paper he wasn’t supposed to win it,” Candrl said.

Ending the meet on the track, the Dutchmen 4x400-meter relay team of Breedlove, Soest, Meyer and Payne claimed a district title with a winning time of 3:31.79 on the track at Zizzer Stadium in West Plains.

Coming out of nowhere in the boys javelin, Dutchmen sophomore Garrett Crosby shocked the field winning a district title with a throw of 45.90 meters.

Adding to his eighth-place finish in the 800m run, Guerrero qualified for sectionals with a fourth-place time of 5:01.87 in the boys 1600-meter run.

Placing second behind St. Clair in the boys 4x200m relay was the Dutchmen foursome of Charlie Whelan, Meyer, Breedlove and Payne in a time of 1:32.00.

Sophomore Blake Elliott advanced to sectionals clearing 1.70m in the boys high jump.

Trenton Million qualified for sectionals as part of a two-way tie for second in the boys pole vault clearing 3.50m.

Whelan also advanced individually to sectionals with a fourth-place leap of 6.04m in the long jump.

Hayden Shoemaker joined the field-event contingency at sectionals with a fourth-place throw of 39.83m.

Topping the district meet for the Dutchgirls was the 4x200m relay team of Saylor Richardson, Emma Daniels, Alexis Kohrmann and Ella Gehlert with a second-place time of 1:49.94.

That time broke the previous school record of 1:50.22 from last year by Kate Angell, Katie Candrl, Kohrmann and Richardson.

Also posting second-place and sectional qualifying times of 52.56, 4:32.35 and 10:45.07 were the Dutchgirls 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m relay teams respectively.

Gehlert also qualified individually in the girls high jump clearing 1.45m to place fourth.

Freshman Jenna Vandegriffe extended her first season of OHS track with a third-place finish in the pole vault clearing 2.45m.

Senior foreign-exchange student Meike Bakker advanced to sectionals in two events placing second in the girls shot put (9.72m) and fourth in the long jump (4.56m).

Adding to her success in cross country, freshman Ilene Limberg qualified for sectionals with second-place times of 5:38.29 and 12:27.26 in the 1600m and 3200m runs respectively.

Daniels placed second in both the 100m (12.89) and 200m dashes (28.81) while Richardson was also third in the 100m dash (13.22) and fourth in the 200m dash (27.59).