Five things to watch at Missouri Class 1, 2 track and field state meet

The Missouri Class 1 and 2 track and field state meet will take place Friday and Saturday at Lincoln University’s Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City. Here are five things to watch in the two meets:

1. Multi-event challenger

A busy two days await Orrick senior Samantha Fulte — and that’s certainly not a bad thing.

Fulte is a Missouri Class 1 state championship contender in four events. She won the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter hurdles at the Missouri Class 1, Sectional 3 meet last weekend.

They weren’t her first victories, either.

She has dominated all three events this season — and she’s been competitive in the 300-meter hurdles, too, an event in which she placed second at the sectional meet.

Fulte is the defending state champion in the long jump, and after winning last spring, she cited her ability to throw aside her nerves at a big meet. “I just went for it,” she said.

2. Accomplished high jumpers

A pair of Kansas City area high jumpers didn’t take long to make their respective imprints at the Missouri state championship track and field meets.

Summit Christian Academy’s Carlie Queen took home the Class 2 high jump title last spring, and Midway’s Adia Eberle captured the Class 1 state title.

They were both freshmen.

A year later, they’re in line for repeats.

Queen notched a jump of 5 feet, 9.75 inches earlier this season — the best of her life, she says. She set the Class 2 state-meet record last season (5 feet, 7.75 inches).

Eberle will bring some momentum into the meet, too. She won the Class 1, Sectional 3 event over the weekend when she cleared the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches — two inches better than the mark that earned her a state title last spring. Her top jump of the spring is 5-9.

3. A sprinter’s delight

Lutheran junior Zac Breitkreutz was the fastest man last weekend in Clinton, Mo., where he captured the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash gold medals at the Class 1, Sectional 3 meet.

Can he do it all over again at the state championships this weekend in Jefferson City?

Breitkreutz’s times this season suggest he has an opportunity to at least make it interesting. His 200-meter dash time of 22.85 seconds, for example, matches the state-winning time from last spring.

4. Vaulting up the leaderboard

Two of the widest-margin victories of the Class 1, Sectional 3 meet over the weekend came in the two pole vault competitions.

Both winners came from Midway.

Senior Laine Mills won the girls pole vault by a full foot when she vaulted an even 9 feet. A similar performance would almost certainly place her on the medal stand at the state meet.

In the boys competition, Jake Lambertz cleared the bar at 12 feet, 3 inches at the sectional meet and is seeking a top-five finish in Jefferson City.

5. Best of the rest

The Class 2 state meet will include a healthy contingent of local athletes who are coming off Class 2, Sectional 4 championships.

Four of them hail from Lone Jack High School — Drake Hammack (3,200-meter run), Kelsey Herring (300-meter hurdles), Justin Moore (400-meter dash) and Joseph Brandon (800-meter run).

Other contenders are Summit Christian Academy’s Shuce Wang (200 dash, triple jump), SCA’s Elizabeth Stratton (1,600 meters), University Academy’s Kent Crockett (300 hurdles) and Barstow’s Jeff Hollis (high jump).

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Five things to watch at Missouri Class 1, 2 track and field state meet."