MSHSAA State Track: North Platte sprints way to Class 2 gold

May 22—JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For weeks, North Platte junior Olivia Rogers had a feeling her team could contend for a title at the MSHSAA State Track and Field Championships.

According to Rogers, head coach Brendan Cary was "running numbers for weeks and had every possible outcome" to find the Panthers' path to the Class 2 championship. In the end, it wasn't even close as the Panthers earned 71 points, topping Lawson's mark of 48 to top the team standings and lift the Class 2 trophy.

"It's amazing. We came in second last year, and coming in first with all of them is amazing. I'm so proud of everybody," Rogers said. "They predicted it honestly."

The Panthers did all their work on the track, placing in eight different events without a single field point. That included dominating in the sprints, winning gold in the 100, 200, 4x100 relay and 4x200.

The common thread in all four events was Rogers, who ran her way to four gold medals Saturday.

"Olivia Rogers, you have my heart! I love you!," yelled a teammate during her interview.

"I love them so much," Rogers followed up with. "I wouldn't want to run with anyone else."

The meet was originally pushed back three hours Saturday morning due to weather in Jefferson City, making for a rolling schedule with events starting at 1 p.m. It didn't fret Rogers as she won the 100 with a time of 12.40 ahead of South Harrison's Lillian Wilson only to quickly turn around and run the third leg of the 4x200 minutes later, winning by four seconds with a 1:44.95. West Platte placed third and Lathrop sixth.

All that stood between the 4x200 and 4x100 was two boys 1,600-meter races, meaning a quick turnaround for Rogers and the Panthers in their second sprint relay. Rogers ran the second leg as North Platte won with a 50.86 with South Harrison, East Buchanan and Plattsburg finishing 3-4-5, and Rogers said that's when she was finally able to begin recovering and take a drink of water.

"It was tiring, but we have hard practices," said Rogers before joking of the weight around her neck from four gold medals.

Rogers ended her day with a win in the 200, running in 25.95. Lindsey Ramsey added points with a sixth-place finish.

The Panthers also dominated outside of Rogers as Ramsey and Haley Sampson, who joined Rogers and Kalli Schuster in the relay wins, finished second and third in the 400.

Gracie Ramsey added a fifth in the 800, and freshman Brianna DeBord earned seventh in the 3,200.

The Panthers put a bow on the day by placing second in the 4x400 with West Platte in sixth.

Klein ends career with gold

For the second-straight day, East Buchanan senior Emma Klein needed her final leap to earn her desired result. This time, it came in the triple jump, which she was the defending champ in.

With field competitions cut down to finals only with four reps allowed, Klein entered her fourth jump in second after Anna Thomason of Saxony Lutheran jumped her career best with a leap of 36 feet, 7.5 inches.

"She jumped amazing, and I knew I had to come up with a bigger one, and I did," Klein said. "I'm so proud of myself. This is all I could've wanted."

Klein was up to the challenge, jumping 36-8.25 to claim gold in the event for a second-straight year. She took second as a freshman and finishes her jumping career with two golds, three silvers and a sixth-place finish.

"I don't want to ever take (the jersey) off. I'm so proud of my career and everything I've done," Klein said. "I couldn't thank everybody enough for what they've done for me at East Buchanan."

Klein also anchored the Bulldogs' fourth-place finish in the 4x100.

Craig tosses meet record

After leaving Jefferson City with a silver medal in the Class 1 javelin to Brooklyn Miller, a St. Joseph Christian Lion-turned-Nebraska Husker, Stanberry's Lexi Craig knew the goal for her senior year.

"I knew right then and there my main goal was to go get that state record, get a gold medal and be on the podium on that top part," Craig said.

She set a meet record in the event in 2021 only for Miller to break it one hour later. Craig got her wish twice Saturday, breaking the record on her third throw with a toss of 144-2 before following up with a 146-9 in her final throw. East Atchison's Tommi Martin finished second.

Craig, who has only been throwing the javelin since the start of her junior season, now heads up the road to Mizzou where she will throw for the Tigers.

"It's definitely crazy to see how far I've come from last year," Craig said. "You don't see many Class 1's going D-I. Those Class 5 (athletes) are now looking at me. I'm the small man on the totem pole now and ready to work my way back up."

Other notables

Bishop LeBlond's Elliott Murphy earned four medals in para events, winning the 100, 200 and 400 while placing second in the shot put. Hayden Cross finished fifth in the 200 and sixth in the 400. ... Mound City senior Tony Osburn won gold in the pole vault with a mark of 14-3.75. ... Mid-Buchanan senior Lane Leader finished second in the 100, third in the 200 and eighth in the 400. Jordan Thornton placed seventh in the 100. ... East Atchison dominated at distance, winning the 4x800 and 4x400 to place fourth in Class 1. Martin placed fifth in the 800. Elizabeth Schlueter placed fourth in the 300 hurdles behind Pattonsburg's Kelsey Crabtree. ... Nodaway Valley sophomore Riley Blay made it a clean sweep in his sophomore year, following up gold at state cross country with wins in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 over the weekend. Nodaway Valley finished fourth in Class 1 thanks to Dawson Fast's sixth in the 100 and James Herr's javelin bronze. ... Mound City's Ava Barnes and Stanberry's Katlyn James went 2-3 in the pole vault. ... Rock Port's Rylee Jenkins faulted on her first three throws before winning the discus with a final toss of 123-3, winning by 4 feet. She was also part of their third-place 4x800 finish. ... King City won the boys 4x100 and 4x200 with Worth County earning third in the 4x200. Worth County's Aydan Gladstone also finished fourth in the 110 hurdles and third in pole vault, while Alex Rinehart took fourth in javelin. Worth County won the 4x400 and finished second as a team. ... Albany's Abigail Troncin won the long jump, with Pattonsburg's Katelyn Jones and Stanberry's James going fourth and sixth.

All results can be found at https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=5036.

Brandon Zenner can be reached at brandon.zenner@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowZenner.