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Valle sees 9 earn all-state medals at state

BY MICHAEL BOYD JR.

HERALD SPORTS EDITOR

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.  —  For the second straight year, rain was a factor as the Valle Catholic track and field team saw nine members take home all-state medals over the weekend at the two-day MSHSAA Class 2 boys’ and girls’ meet at Pete Adkins Stadium at Jefferson City High.

The Warriors scored 11 points to take 27th overall out of 53 teams represented.

The Lady Warriors scored six total points for 35th place out of 59 schools represented.

Both teams are head coached by Samer Zoughaib.

Sophomore Wil Kuehn and freshman Ava Bauman both captured two all-state medals to lead the way.

For the Warriors, Kuehn took fifth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 1.09 seconds. He also was a part of the 4×800-meter relay race.

The 4×800-meter relay team of Kuehn, senior Josef Flieg, senior Jayce Bales and senior Peter Roth took fifth with a time of 8:24.44.

Senior Joseph Flieg took sixth in the pole vault with a launch of 3.90 meters (12 feet-9.5 inches) for his all-state medal.

Sam Drury (110m hurdles, 300m hurdles), as well as the 4×400 relay team of Joshua Fallert, Bales, Josef Flieg and Kuehn all competed at the state meet but did not place.

Charleston and Summit Christian (Lee’s Summit) both tied for the team state championship with 47 points apiece, while Christian (O’Fallon) and West Platte (Weston) tied for third place with 38 points. East Buchanan (Gower) took fifth overall with 34 points.

For the Lady Warriors, Bauman took fifth in the 800m run (2:24.0) for a medal.

The 4×800 relay team of Buaman, freshman Lydia Brown, sophomore Brooklyn Weibrecht and sophomore Madelyn Griffard took seventh with a time of 10:25.52 for their medals.

Griffard, the cross country district champion back in the fall, also competed in the 1,600m run (ninth) and the 3,200m run (10th) but did not medal. Her 1,600m time of 5:26.55 is the new school record at Valle.

Griffard also anchored an entirely different 4×800 crew at state last year as she was the lone returner in that field.

North Platte (Dearborn) won the girls’ state title with 86 points, followed by Tolton Catholic (Columbia-83) for second, while South Harrison (Bethany-36) was third. Maysville and Lutheran North (St. Louis) both tied for fourth place with 29 points.

MSHSAA gives out all-state medals for the top-eight individuals, and its patented Missouri-shaped team plaques to the top-four teams.