The championship season is upon us as spring sports begin to wind down. The Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1 and 2 State Track and Field meet will take place this weekend while the quarterfinals are set for the Missouri State Volleyball tournament after district play this past week. District action is also taking place on the soccer field as many area teams have moved on to the state quarterfinal round.
Let’s get caught up on all the action in this week’s edition of the Friday Fast Break sponsored by Triad Bank.
Things will get kicked off at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City as the Class 1 and 2 athletes will compete starting Friday at 9:30 a.m. with the finals in many field events and a few running events while the prelims in most of the running events will take place.
In Class 2, Christian High School out of O’Fallon will lead many of the local boys’ teams down in the Capital City as they placed third in the team race at the sectional this past weekend. Jefferson R7 finished right behind the Eagles in fourth place while Bishop DuBourg earned a 10th-place finish.
Keenan Thomas of Bishop DuBourg will compete in the 100-meter dash after winning the sectional with a time of 11.08 and he will also compete in the Long Jump after a fourth-place finish at the sectional. David Sides will join his teammate as he earned a fourth-place finish in the Shot Put with a toss of 13.11m. Ronan Hardwicke of Christian will take part in a pair of events as he earned a second-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:02.09 and then he grabbed third in the 1600-meter run with a mark of 4:35.00. The Eagles will also see Austin Ball in two events as he won both the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles with times of 14.97 and 43.11 respectfully. Konner Armstrong will lead the efforts for Jefferson R7 as he also won a pair of events at the sectionals. Armstrong won the Shot Put with a throw of 15.20m and then he took home the discus title with a toss of 44.05m.
On the girls’ side in Class 2, Jefferson R7 placed second at the sectional while Lutheran North earned the third spot and St. Pius X finished fourth in the team battle. Brentwood and Duchesne rounded out the top 10 by finishing ninth and 10th in the team standings. Margaret Wrigley will pace the Jefferson R7 squad as she placed second in two events at the sectionals as she ran the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.52 and then clocked a time of 25.64 in the 200-meter dash. The Lancers had two athletes win events as Payten Krodinger won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.08 while Rachel Eimer won the sectional title with a mark of 5:36.15. Eimer will also compete in the 800-meter run after a third-place finish with a time of 2:31.25.
The quarterfinals of the Missouri Boys Volleyball State Tournament will take place starting Friday evening as the top seeds in both Classes as De Smet won their district in Class 3 while Howell Central took the district crown in Class 4.
The Spartans will open quarterfinal play Friday at 4:30 p.m. as they will take on Saxony Lutheran at Webster Groves. In the other quarterfinal at Webster, Whitfield will play St. Michael the Archangel out of Kansas City at 6:30 p.m. In the second set of Class 3 quarterfinals, Fort Zumwalt South will take on St. Dominic at 11 a.m. at Howell North while Webster Groves will matchup against Affton Saturday at noon at St. Louis University High School.
Howell Central will start quarterfinal play on Class 4 Friday evening against Vianney at 6:15 p.m. at Lafayette while the host Lancers will face Marquette in the opener at Lafayette stated to start at 4:15 p.m. Rockhurst out of Kansas City will make the trip east to play Parkway South at 1 p.m. at Howell North while the Jr. Bills will play host to Chaminade in the final quarterfinal match starting at 2 p.m.
District play in girls’ soccer is in full swing as many of the top teams are still vying for a spot in the state quarterfinals next week.
In Class 1, Metro continued their outstanding season by defeating Maplewood-Richmond Heights 1-0 in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals. They will join Borgia in the next round as the Knights defeated Crocker 5-1 to win their district. A pair of district finals will take place Friday as Saxony Lutheran will face Gateway Science Charter while Villa Duchesne will take on Elsberry/Silex Friday as well.
In Class 2, St. Pius X out of Festus will move on after defeating top-seeded Perryville 1-0 while Orchard Farm advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 win over Duchesne. In the other district finals, Clayton advanced with a 5-0 win over St. Charles while Whitfield continued their quest to return to the final four with a 2-1 win over Westminster.
While in Class 3 action, defeating Class 3 state champions Fort Zumwalt South moved on to the quarterfinals with a 6-1 win over district rival Fort Zumwalt East 6-1. In the other district finals in Class 3, the top school in Class 3 Bombers of John Burroughs will face Incarnate Word Friday at 5 p.m. while Webster Groves, who knocked off top-seeded Visitation 3-1 will face Ursuline who dispatched Cor Jesu 2-0.
The Class 4 district finals did not disappoint as Jackson defeated Oakville 2-1 to claim a district title while in a battle of top teams in the area, Nerinx Hall defeated St. Joseph’s Academy for the second time this season 3-1 to take home the title. In the third district final on this side of the state, Lafayette knocked off top-seeded Marquette 1-0. In the final district championship, Howell Central will take on Liberty Friday evening at 6 p.m.
Jim Powers has been covering prep sports in the St. Louis area for 15+ years and a part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championship Broadcasts for the past 11 years. Powers is also a part of the Fox 2 Verlo Mattress Prep Zone Friday nights at 10:10 during the football and basketball seasons. If you have a prep sports story, please contact Jim at japowers2421@yahoo.com. Follow Jim at @hssportscaravan
