JEFFERSON CITY — Leaving Jefferson City with plenty of state medals.

That was the goal for Matt Candrl’s Owensville High School (OHS) track and field squads during the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3 State Track and Field Championships held over the Memorial Day holiday weekend at Jefferson City High School’s Dennis and Roberta Licklider Track Complex inside of Adkins Stadium.

Stepping up for Alan Kopp who sustained a season-ending injury to his hand in a side-by-side accident, Dutchmen junior Bryce Payne earned the right to have his name put on the gym wall at OHS.

Winning a state championship in the Class 3 Boys 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.89, Payne’s name now sits among the likes of Tanner Waits, Devon Ridenhour, Devon Dowler and Bryan Candrl among others.

“I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and I could not have done without my coaches who believed in me and pushed me,” Payne said. “Next year, I want to help get my team some state hardware and win both hurdle races.”

In addition to his state title in the 110m hurdles, Payne added a second-place medal in the 300-meter hurdles to his medal haul with a finals time of 39.54.

“I’m really proud of Bryce for stepping up when he knew he had to after Alan (Kopp) went down with a season-ending injury,” Candrl said.

Before Payne’s two individual medals Saturday, two OHS athletes earned their own state medals on day one of the state track meet Friday in Jefferson City.

Kicking Owensville’s day off in the Class 3 Boys Pole Vault, sophomore Trenton Million looked to end a four-year medal drought in the event going back to when Bryan Candrl won a state title.

Needing one less attempt to clear 3.65 meters, Million edged out Eldon’s Nicholas Martonfi for the eighth and final spot on the medal stand.

“Once Trenton started making bars, he put himself in autopilot mode,” Candrl said. “It has been awesome seeing him go from not being in the varsity picture last year to on the medal stand and All State as a sophomore.”

While Dutchmen and Dutchgirls were competing in preliminary events Friday, freshman Ilene Limberg took her first of two shots at a state medal in the Class 3 Girls 1600-meter run.

Seeded right in the middle of the 16-person field, Limberg kept herself in medal position sitting in sixth place at the halfway point of the race.

After dropping down to 10th with a lap to go, the Dutchgirl freshman added her name to the likes of Hannah Baehr and Sophia Ashner as athletes to earn All State in both cross country and track as freshmen.

“I felt like I was boxed in early in the race and I had to work my way out of it,” Limberg said. “Once I was able to get free, I was able to find my way back into the top eight.”

Saturday action at state track began with sophomore Garrett Crosby looking to add to his school record during the Class 3 Boys Javelin.

Popping a throw of 51.35 meters in his second attempt of the preliminary portion of the competition, Crosby made it to the finals before finishing fifth and earning a state medal in addition to his new school record mark.

“Garrett hasn’t been throwing the javelin for nearly as long as some of his fellow competitors,” Candrl said. “It was awesome seeing him progress throughout the season and it culminating to a fifth-place finish at state and him setting a new school record.”

Near the end of day two of the state meet Saturday, Limberg looked for her second medal of the weekend competing in the Class 3 Girls 3200-meter run.

Able to stay with a pack of six runners throughout the entire race, Limberg wound up crossing the finish line with a sixth-place time of 11:51.27 dropping eight seconds from her time at Owensville’s Class 3 Sectional Track meet down in Hollister the previous weekend.

“Ilene has done her homework all year and it netted her three state medals between cross country and track,” Candrl said. “As long as she continues to do what she is capable of, the sky is the limit for her over the next three years.”

Picking up state medals as a member of relay teams, a number of Dutchmen and Dutchgirl track athletes also competed individually.

Helping the Dutchgirl 4x200-meter relay team set a new school record, the sprinting duo of junior Saylor Richardson and sophomore Emma Daniels both competed Friday in the Class 3 Girls 100-meter dash.

Placed in the first of two heats, Daniels (13.23) and Richardson (13.63), finished 10th and 15th respectively missing the finals by less than a second.

Daniels also competed later Friday in the girls 200-meter dash running a preliminary time of 26.81 good for 11th place overall and nearly three-tenths of a second out of the top eight and the finals.

Placing ninth in 51.72 and missing the finals by .21 seconds in the Class 3 Girls 4x100-meter relay was the Dutchgirl quartet of Cameron Nowack, Emma Daniels, Ali Daniels and Richardson.

Felix Guerrero was fourth after a lap of the boys 1600-meter run before winding up with a 16th-place time of 4:54.53.

Looking for a third medal to go with the two from his relays, Jacob Breedlove finished 11th in the boys 400-meter dash in 51.25 missing the finals by less than a second.

Soest was also looking for an individual medal to go with his 4x400m relay team medal in the boys 800-meter run.

He placed 13th in a time of 2:05.88 against a fast field.