JEFFERSON CITY — Seeing his Owensville Dutchmen and Dutchgirl track teams post multiple sixth-place team finishes over the last several years, head coach Matt Candrl and his staff dreamed that this would be the year to end a 29-year state hardware drought going back to when Randy Crowe’s Owensville Dutchmen track team placed second as a team in Class 3A back in the spring of 1996.

“Something had always gone wrong the previous times we had chances to bring home team hardware,” Candrl said. “This weekend, things just kept going right and we finally were able to finish the job that we came so close doing previously.”

Entering day two of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Track and Field Championships in fourth place with 15 points in the Class 3 Girls team standings, the Dutchgirls were in position to give Coach Candrl his first piece of state hardware at the Dennis and Roberta Licklider Track Complex inside Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium.

Friday’s 15 points came via a state championship from senior Ilene Limberg in the Class 3 Girls 3200-meter run and a fourth-place finish from the Dutchgirls in the Class 3 Girls 4x800m relay.

Getting 18 more points from Limberg, two from junior hurdler Emma-lee Wehmeyer and four more from Cameron Nowack, Owensville wound up with 37 team points placing them third in the Class 3 Girls team standings behind Central’s (New Madrid County)  61 points and El Dorado Springs’ 38 points.

“The goal was to be the best Owensville High School (OHS) girls track team to ever walk the halls,” Candrl said.

The weekend started off with the Class 3 Girls 4x800-meter relay.

Leading the event at the midway point, Owensville was among four teams to finish in under 10 minutes with a fourth-place time of 9:57.02 by the team of Hannah Gehlert, Brynn Wright, Abbie Gibson and Limberg.

“The 4x800m relay girls started us off Friday morning having a great day,” Candrl said. “There were four teams that had the ability to win it and the girls had a good day with three seniors getting on the medal stand.”

Emma-lee Wehmeyer was next to represent the orange and black in the Class 3 Girls 100m hurdles.

Placing third in her preliminary heat with a time of 15.86, that was good enough to reach the finals Saturday with the sixth-fastest time.

Able to improve on her Friday time, Wehmeyer picked up two valuable Dutchgirl team points and a state medal with a seventh-place time of 15.72.

“Emma-lee had a hiccup during her race but powered through it to earn us a couple of valuable team points,” Candrl said.

Over six hours after helping her teammates on to the medal stand in the Class 3 Girls 4x800m relay, Limberg finally got to compete individually in the Class 3 Girls 3200m run.

Staying within eyesight of the lead pack throughout the majority of the race, Limberg passed St. Charles West’s Brianna Krueger with around 300m left in the race before going on to smash her own school record with a state championship winning time of 10:54.00.

“Ilene has put herself on another level with her work ethic,” Candrl said. “We didn’t want to put too much pressure on her this weekend because we knew she would simply go out and do her thing.”

Day one also saw a pair of Dutchmen look to secure top-eight times and All-State honors during their respective races.

Senior Landen Losch posted an 11th-place time of 15.89 ending his OHS track and field career as a state qualifier.

Sophomore Zach Holtmeyer looked to add a state medal in the Class 3 Boys 1600m run to his medal from last fall at the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships in Columbia.

In the middle of the pack at the halfway point of the race, Holtmeyer wound up finishing with an 11th-place time of 4:29.21.

Kicking off day two for the orange and black was senior Eli Graham in the Class 3 Boys Discus.

Posting a throw of 38.51m in his first of three preliminary throws, Graham popped a mark of 47.01m on his second attempt to secure his spot in the nine-man finals.

Even though he fouled all three of his attempts in the finals, Graham held on for a sixth-place medal in the Class 3 Boys Discus.

Graham leaves OHS as the current record holder in the discus after breaking John Brune’s old record as a junior.

Limberg’s gold rush continued Saturday halfway past the noon hour in the Class 3 Girls 1600m run.

Fifth after the first lap, Limberg and Krueger broke away from the field once again.

Able to hold off Krueger for three laps, Limberg captured her second state championship of the weekend with a winning time 5:06.02 breaking her own school record from the sectional meet the previous weekend at Montgomery County High School.

“I could not have done any of this without the awesome coaches, teammates and fans that have supported me all year,” Limberg said.

Two hours later, Limberg’s final race as an Owensville Dutchgirl arrived in the Class 3 Girls 800m run.

Boxed in at the start of the race, Limberg charged ahead during the second lap before posting a third-place time of 2:20.23.

“Although I got boxed in at the start of the race, I’m happy with how my high school career ended,” Limberg said.

Cameron Nowack’s  fifth-place jump of 5.38 meters (17 feet, eight inches) set a new school record in the event previously held by Angie Spurgeon back in 2000.