Monroe City girls start, finish final day of state track with medal, trophy haul

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The day started with a spot on the podium and ended with a trophy for the Monroe City girls track and field team.

The Panthers’ quartet of Audri Youngblood, Meghan Hays, Ella Hays and Emmalee Williams took second in the 4×800-meter relay. They finished in 10:10.52, 10 seconds behind Lawson.

That was the first race of the day at the Missouri Class 2 boys and girls state track and field championships, and it happened two hours later than planned after two weather delays. 

That provided a point of emphasis for Monroe City coach Laura Mulvaney. 

“I kept telling them, ‘You’ve got to make sure that you’re keeping the right mindset and everything,’” she said while waiting at the hotel during the delay. “And because we have youngins on that team — we’ve got two freshmen and a sophomore and Em — that was one thing that I was saying. I was like, ‘You’ve got to make sure that you’re in the right mindset that you have to keep reminding yourself that this is Emmalee’s last time around this race.’

“So you get the first delay, then the second. You have young people on your team. You know that’s something where they’re already all excited and everything, and then it’s like they keep going up and down with their emotions.”

The Panthers led the first two laps but fell to fifth the same lap Lawson went from eighth to first. 

Williams ran the final two laps in 2:22.10 to move to the front behind Lawson. 

“I just had to go get them, and I had to do it for my team,” said Williams, who ran the last leg. “They all PR’d, every single one of them. So I knew I had to run a great race.”

The runner-up finish gave the Panthers eight of their 34 points. They finished a point ahead of College Heights Christian, last year’s Class 1 champs, to take fourth. 

Monroe City added points in two more events. Youngblood took seventh in the 300 hurdles.

In the final race of the day, the Panthers got a third-place showing as Abigail Smith, Youngblood, Williams and Carly Younngblood finished the 4×400 relay in 4:16.65. 

The team trophy was the first since also taking fourth in 2013. 

“I mean we only brought six girls down. And when you have a small team, you just never know the outcome and everything,” Mulvaney said. “We don’t sit there and add up points. It was just more of I would like everybody to get a medal and everybody came down got a medal and it just so happens that we ended up with a trophy. That’s pretty much just an added bonus.”

Highland’s 4×200 team of Summer Goings, Alexandria Reed, Ansley Bringer and Morgan Keith took seventh (1:52.79).

The Highland boys were near the top of the standings. The Cougars had 34 points and were sixth.

Highland senior Drew Mallett earned a pair of medals in the sprints. He was third in the 100 (11.12) and later added a runner-up showing in the 200. He finishedin  22.49, behind Lexington’s Evan Gosnell’s time of 22.36. 

Robert Goehl took fifth in the 110 hurdles (15.84) for the Cougars. Mallett, Goehl, Brandon Holder and Cameron Bringer finished eighth in the 4×200-meter relay team. 

Monroe City’s Waylon DeGrave and Highland’s Bringer finished in order in the long jump. DeGrave jumped 6.62 meters to take third and Bringer took fourth at 6.37 meters. 

DeGrave joined Cameron Jones, Josh Talton and Ceaton Pennewell to run 43.97 and place third in the 4×100. 

The best finish for the Monroe City boys came in the final race — one that happened in a downpour. Gage Woolen, DeGrave, Jaylyn Countryman and Josiah Talton moved up to second in the 4×400 in 3:30.16, behind Whitfield.

Monroe City tied for 10th with 26 points.