Going into Saturday’s Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 2, Sectional 2 track meet at South Callaway High School in Mokane, Tony Terry Jr.’s Hermann High School (HHS) track and field athletes were eying top-four finishes in their respective events to advance to this weekend’s MSHSAA Track and Field Championships at the Dennis and Roberta Licklider Track and Field Complex inside Jefferson City High School’s Atkins Stadium.

After results from the final event were recorded, a total of three athletes in four events booked passage to state competition.

Emerging as the last field-event athlete standing for the Lady Bearcats was senior Faith Gabathuler who placed second in the shot put with a throw of 11.45 meters.

Alaina Powers also ended her junior season of HHS track and field with a sixth-place mark of 32.24m in the girls discus.

Ashlyn Hughes just missed another week of practice taking fifth place in the girls javelin with a throw of 33.53m after placing second in districts the previous weekend ending an outstanding HHS athletic career that included multiple All-State honors in volleyball.

Jillian Frederick also ended her HHS track and field career clearing 1.47m in the girls high jump placing her sixth.

Two Bearcats competed in the boys high jump with senior Ashton Rucker clearing 1.77m to place sixth while junior Tayven Hopkins cleared 1.72m to place seventh.

Junior Colin Nunnally also took fifth place in the boys triple jump posting a leap of 12.71m.

Junior Ryker Ash had two shots to get to state track competing in the boys 200m and 400m dashes.

Punching his ticket to state with a third-place time of 50.90 in the boys 400m dash, Ash came within half-second of state in the boys 200m dash with a seventh-place time of 23.72.

Sophomore Morgan Penning saw her season end in the girls 400m dash following a seventh-place time of 1:07.12.

Senior Nolan Kopp had three chances to extend his HHS Track and Field carrer by another week competing in the bos 800m, 1600m and 3200m runs.

Starting the distance trifecta with a state-clinching second-place time of 4:27.08 in the boys 1600m run, Kopp placed seventh in the boys 800m run in a time of 2:05.50.

Now shifting his focus to the boys 3200m run, Kopp paced his way to a sectional title with a winning time of 10:15.23.

A complete recap from Jefferson City will be in the June 3 edition of The Republican due to early print deadlines with the Memorial Day holiday.