Over the past two weekends during the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Track and Field Championships for Classes 1-5, yours truly made plenty of memories seeing athletes from mid-Missouri and from my native northeast Missouri win state titles.

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, several state title were won by athletes from the middle and northeast parts of Missouri.

Starting in Class 1, North Shelby’s Raiders won the Class 1 Boys team title while Knox County’s Eagles claimed third-place hardware.

Spending the first half of my life in Lewis County up in northeast Missouri, Knox County is immediately west of Lewis County while Shelby County is southwest of Lewis County.

Knox County senior Cooper Clair placed second in the boys Class 1 100-meter dash before turning the corner to win a state championship in the boys Class 1 200m dash.

Clair also anchored both the Eagle 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams chasing down half of the field to capture state-championship plaques in both events to take back to Edina.

Hometown to former University of Missouri-Columbia men’s basketball coach Norm Stewart, Shelbyville had plenty to celebrate during Memorial Day weekend at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships held at the Dennis and Roberta Licklider Track Complex inside Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium.

Senior Drake Prange won a state championship in the Class 1 Boys Shot Put to go with a second-place finish in the Class 1 Boys Discus helping the Raiders bring Class 1 Boys team championship hardware back to northeast Missouri with 49 points.

Shifting back to mid-Missouri, Vienna High School (VHS) track and field had a pair of athletes win state titles in their respective field events.

Sophomore Kevin Russell leaped his way to a state championship in the Class 1 Boys Long Jump with a mark of 6.89m that was good enough to beat the Class 2 champion (6.86m), Class 3 champion (6.84m) and Class 4 champion (6.84m).

Only the Class 5 Boys Long Jump state champion in Rockhurst senior Jack Meyer out jumped Russell with a winning leap of 7.19m.

VHS senior Aubrey Schwartze also ended her Lady Eagle track and field career winning a state championship in the Class 1 Girls Shot Put with a throw of 11.28m on her final attempt.

Moving up to Class 2, Hermann senior Nolan Kopp raced against a state champion in Paris High School (PHS) senior Landen Chapman.

During the Class 2 Boys 1600m run, Chapman won a state title with a winning time of 4:15.43 while Kopp placed seventh in 4:27.89.

In the Class 2 Boys 3200m run, Kopp posted a fourth-place time of 9:31.86 finishing just ahead of Chapman’s fifth-place time of 9:31.86.

Going well under two minutes in the Class 2 Boys 800m run, Chapman captured a second state championship with a winning time of 1:53.95.

Russell and Schwartze were not the only Maries County track and field athletes to claim a gold medal in the shape of the State of Missouri.

Belle High School (BHS) senior Aubrey Rehmert captured her second consecutive state title in the Class 2 Girls Javelin with a winning throw of 42.81m.

Rehmert will trade her track spikes in for softball cleats during the upcoming 2026-27 academic year as a member of the Lincoln University Lady Blue Tiger softball team in Jefferson City.

In Class 3, Fatima junior Brie Massman claimed her second consecutive state title winning the Class 3 Girls 800m run in a time of 2:14.55 after holding off former Owensville Dutchgirl Ilene Limberg last spring.

Dutchgirl senior Emma-Lee Wehmeyer nearly added her name to the list of area state champions with a second-place time of 15.13 in the Class 3 Girls 100m hurdles.

That time gave her a share of the school record along with former Dutchgirl track standout Katie Candrl who just recently graduated from Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) in Joplin with her undergraduate and master’s degrees.

Over the previous weekend during the MSHSAA State Track and Field Championships for Classes 4 and 5, Two Four Rivers Conference (FRC) athletes left Jefferson City with state titles after the vast majority of the meet was reduced to one day.

On the track, Union High School (UHS) senior Viola Johanson passed Nerinx Hall junior Grace Murphy during the final 50 meters of the Class 4 Girls 3200m run on her way to capturing a state title in a winning time of 10:56.58.

Injured for half of her senior season, Johanson closed her UHS track and field career on a memorable not.

She will continue her running days next year in Joplin as a member of the MSSU Lady Lion Track and Field program.

Also ending her high school career with a state title was Pacific High School (PHS) senior McKenna Lay claiming the Class 4 Girls Javelin crown with a winning throw of 49.32m.

That throw was a state meet record for all classes.

In Class 5, the daughter of a former Owensville Dutchgirl track and field standout helped Helias’ Lady Crusaders win the Class 5 Girls team title.

Isla Alfultis, daughter of Tammy (Wenkel) and Bryan Alfultis of Jefferson City and the granddaughter of Marian and the late Gary Wenkel of Jefferson City.

Due to Mother Nature’s latest round of heavy rain during the day Friday, action at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships this past weekend was reduced to one day with all track events ran against time.

Racking up 30 points by herself, Alfultis helped her Lady Crusader track team top the Class 5 Girls Team Standings with 84.5 points.

Alfultis started her day with a second-place time of 11.78 in the girls 100m dash followed by another silver medal in the girls 100m hurdles with a second-place time of 14.23.

Later in the meet, Alfultis was on her way to winning a state championship in the Class 5 Girls 300m hurdles before falling on the last hurdle.

She collected herself and crossed the finish line with another second-place time of 43.05.

In her final event of the meet, she earned a bronze medal for her third-place time of 24.28 in the Class 5 Girls 200m dash.

Over the last two weekends, plenty of memories were made and here’s to athletes doing what they need to do in the summer months to have a successful 2026-27 school year.