Medal haul: Cougars win 4×200 relay state title, finish on podium in five other events

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A four-medal day at the state track and field championships is a harbinger of great things to come.

Chevie Sharpe knows it.

“Harder than ever,” the Highland sophomore runner said of the motivation to work hard after Saturday’s showing at Adkins Stadium. “I’d love to get up there (at the top of the podium).”

It’s where she and her teammates in the 4×200 relay stood. The quartet of Alexandria Reed, Hannah Ritterbusch, Addy Abell and Sharpe won the Class 2 state championship in 1 minute, 47.15 second, more than half a second faster than Plattsburg. 

“We all just came together, prayed and let God take the wheel,” Sharpe said. “I can’t say much about that. We all ran our hardest, and that’s all we can do.”

Crossing the finish first was the ultimate experience.

“Unreal,” Sharpe said. “I never thought I’d get to experience that. It was super cool, too.”

That was the case the entire day for the Cougars.

Sharpe finished third in the 400 dash in a time of 58.41 seconds. North Platte’s Lindsay Ramsey set a meet record with her winning time of 55.03 seconds.

“She’s been running like that all year,” Sharpe said.

The Cougars also finished in the six in two other relays. In the 4×800 relay, the team of Kaycie Stahl, Eva Logsdon, Reed and Sharpe finished fourth in 10:09.16. In the 4×400 relay, Reed, Ritterbusch, Abell and Sharpe took sixth in 4:14.85.

“It was a great experience,” Sharpe said. “It’s not something everyone gets to experience, so it was definitely super cool.”

After running four races in 88-degree heat — the hottest day of 2024 so far — the celebration was subtle.

“Just relax after that,” Sharpe said. “That’s a long day.”

The Cougars finished eighth in the team standings as Bailie Crist took sixth in javelin with a throw of 116 feet, 11 inches on Friday and Dailis Dare finished eighth in the discus on Saturday with a toss of 104 feet, 2 inches.