A beautiful day greeted participants at the Class 3 Sectional 4 track meet in Holden on Saturday, and that day got even better when the Wildcats qualified 4 athletes for the 2024 MSHSAA State Track Championships to be held this Friday and Saturday in Jefferson City.
Nate Banfield advanced to the state competition in the Javelin after throwing for a distance of 42.54m, a distance good enough for a second place finish.
He wasn't the only qualifier in the event though as Dylan Elmer also qualified for the next round with a fourth place finish after throwing a distance of 40.82m.
In the 400m, Kaleb Ragle moved on to state with a fourth place finish after running a 52.38, also setting a new school record along the way.
Fisher Love qualified for the 2024 championships in two different events when he used an 11.20 to finish fourth in the 100m and then lept 6.38m in the long jump for another qualifying fourth place finish.
Incidentally, Love fell just short of qualifying in three events when his 12.44m leap left him just outside the top 4 in the triple jump.
Though they did not qualify for the state championships this weekend, the 4x400m Relay team comprised of Ragle, Banfield, Noah Siebert and Mason Anderson finished sixth, but set a new school record with a 3:34.49, breaking the previous record set in 2021.
On the girl's side, Warsaw's Naomi Yoder came up just short when she ran a 60.94 in the 400m, good enough for a 5th place finish. However, Yoder's mark broke the prior school record held by Andrea Kiser since 2008.
