Summit Christian’s Carlie Queen springs back in pole vault at Missouri track and field state meet
Carlie Queen couldn’t come away with a gold medal on Friday, but she couldn’t go away disappointed, either. Not after what she went through last season.
Queen, a Summit Christian Academy junior, took second place in the Class 2 pole vault during the first day of the Missouri Class 1-2 state track meet at Jefferson City High School. It’s an event Queen qualified in last year along with her specialty, the high jump, but a painful pulled quad muscle made her a late scratch last time around.
“I was just happy I wasn’t in pain,” Queen said. “And I got my personal best, so that’s a win.”
Queen cleared a personal-best 11 feet 3 inches on her third attempt on Friday, but she couldn’t match the 11-6 vault by Bayli Freidel of Father Tolton Catholic of Columbia. Still, Queen was happy not to be a spectator, and pleased considering she hadn’t put much time into the event of late due to another injury.
“I’ve only been practicing it for like three or four weeks,” Queen said. “So I’m pretty happy with what happened.”
That pulled quad didn’t keep Queen from winning the Class 2 girls high jump last year, and she will go for a third consecutive state title Saturday. She also plans to exceed her injury-hampered winning height of 5-6 last season, which was well below her personal best of 5-9.
“Everything’s been feeling really well in the high jump, and I’m hoping for a good day,” Queen said.
Summit Christian ended the first day of the meet second in the Class 2 girls team standings with 18 points. Tolton Catholic was first with 27.
Triple qualified
Lutheran senior Zac Breitkreutz qualified for the finals in the Class 1 100-, 200- and 400-meter races at Friday’s preliminaries. Breitkreutz, a senior, ran the fastest qualifying time in the 100 (11.15 seconds), the 400 (49.88) and the second-best in the 200 (22.95). He is the defending champion in the 100 and placed second in the 200 and 400 last season.
Javelin champ
Peyton O’Connor of Lathrop won the Class 2 boys javelin with a throw of 157 feet, 9 inches. The javelin is an exhibition event this year and isn’t included in the team scores.
Freshman excels
Summit Christian Academy freshman Lenetta Lee qualified in both the Class 2 girls 100 and 200 finals. Lee has the third best 100 time of 12.60 seconds and the second best 200 at 25.81. Lee also placed sixth in the Class 2 long jump.
Tough day
Defending Class 1 girls high jump champion Adia Eberle of Midway could only manage a fifth-place finish on Friday. Eberle, who cleared 5 feet, 9 inches earlier this spring and had the highest qualifying jump, went out at 5-0. Eberle will compete in the Class 1 shot put today.
This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Summit Christian’s Carlie Queen springs back in pole vault at Missouri track and field state meet."