The St. James High School track team had two all-state performances at the Missouri Class 3 Track and Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday, May 23-24 at Adkins Stadium on the campus of Jefferson City High School.
STJ sent eight athletes in nine events to the Class 3 State meet. The top eight finishers in each event earned all-state honors.
St. James all-staters were sophomore Payge Kemnitzer, who finished third in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, and senior Ariana Jones, who was sixth in the girls’ pole vault.
Kemnitzer broke her own school record in the 100-hurdles both in Friday’s prelims and in Saturday’s finals. After finishing fourth in her preliminary heat Friday with a time of :15.61, Kemnitzer was third in Saturday’s final with a time of :15.46, behind only Boonville’s Effie Morris and Winfield’s Jersy Nelke.
“It was definitely exciting,” P. Kemnitzer said. “Because I was ranked last going into it.”
Kemnitzer was also a state-qualifier in the 100 hurdles as a freshman, finishing ninth.
“Probably my speed and technique,” she said about the improvements that made her an all-stater this year. “My arm kept me down the most. I have a torn labrum that causes me a lot of pain.”
She said she will have surgery this summer on the labrum, which she injured while playing basketball.”
Kemnitzer also competed in the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles, but just missed getting to the finals by one place, finishing ninth in the prelims. Probably costly her a spot in Saturday’s finals was when she stumbled midway through her prelim race.
“I hit a hurdle and almost fell in the middle of the race,” she said. “I was one-tenth of a second from eighth.”
Getting to the all-state podium in the 300 hurdles will be a main goal next year.
“Coach (Joe) Campbell tells me he thinks the 300 is my race,” Kemnitzer said. “I’m two seconds from that school record.”
For the second straight year Jones made it to state in the pole vault, finishing 11th in 2024.
However, this season Jones got off to a strong start to get into the finals. And her vault of 3.04 meters (nine feet, 11 ¾ inches), stood for sixth place and a trip to the all-state podium Friday.
“I’m just beyond excited,” Jones said. “All the work paid off.”
Jones said she did not have an official vaulting coach until this year, when she began working with Zac Weber.
“My speed last year became better,” Jones said. “And this year was just putting it together. And I was better able to overcome anxiety. Anxiety has been really bad this year. But God and family pushed me through it.”
Jones also felt her state experience the previous year played a role in her all-state improvement this year.
“I definitely felt more comfortable (Friday),” she said. “It was not my first rodeo this year, so that helped.”
Also for the Lady Tigers, sophomore Adalee Richardson finished 11th in the 100-meter dash and 12th in the 200-meter dash; the 4x100-meter relay squad of P. Kemnitzer, junior Avery Campbell, junior Alex Hughes and Richardson was 11th at :51.32, and the 4x200-meter relay squad of P. Kemnitzer, Campbell, senior Lydia Kemnitzer and Richardson was 13th at 1:49.51.
For the St. James boys, both juniors Aiden Boone and Jonathan Bell competed in the triple jump, with Boone finishing 11th at 41-9 ¼ meters and Bell 14th at 41-3 ¾.
May 23-24
At Jefferson City
Class 3 State Meet
Boys
Top-10 Team Standings: 1. St. Francis Borgia 52, 2. El Dorado Springs 42, 3. Lift for Life 38, 4. Blair Oaks 32, 5. Centralia 31.5, 6. Lamar 31, 7. Eldon 30.5, 8. Cape Notre Dame 30, 9. John Burroughs 29, 10. Hollister 28.
Event winners and St. James results:
100-meter dash: 1. Justin Brown, El Dorado, :10.51.
200-meter dash: 1. Harry Mitchell, St. Francis, :21.33.
400-meter dash: 1. Mitchell, St. Francis, :48.53.
800-meter run: 1. Chris Tao, John Burroughs, 1:53.08.
1,600-meter run: 1. Sinry Mendoza, Hollister, 4:13.42.
3,200-meter run: 1. Mendoza, Hollister, 9:14.50.
110-meter hurdles: 1. Jackson Hensley, California, :14.40.
300-meter hurdles: 1. Jaxon Engelbrecht, Blair Oaks, :38.13.
4x100-meter relay: 1. Lift for Life, :42.01.
4x200-meter relay: 1. Lift for Life, 1:26.70.
4x400-meter relay: 1. Lutheran North, 3:23.50.
4x800-meter relay: 1. John Burroughs, 8:03.86.
High jump: 1. Brady Ripp, Strafford, 6-7.
Pole vault: 1. Caelan Harland, Macon, 15-10.
Long jump: 1. Fisher Love, Warsaw, 22-11.
Triple jump: 1. Jacob Johnson, Richmond, 46-10. St. James: 11. Aiden Boone 41-9 ¼, 14. Jonathan Bell 41-3 ¾.
Shot put: 1. Paul Taylor, Ste. Genevieve, 57-9 ¾.
Discus: 1. Terren Williams, Lamar, 166-3.
Javelin: 1. Daeden Hopkins, Hermann, 188-3.
Girls
Top 10 Team Standings: 1. New Madrid Central 48, 2. El Dorado Springs 38, 3. Owensville 37, 4. Lawson 32, 4. Ste. Genevieve 32, 4. Maryville 32, 7. Boonville 27.5, 8. Centralia 27, 9. Holden 26, 10. St. Charles West 24, 10. St. Michael the Archangel 24. T-27. St. James 9.
Event winners and St. James results:
100-meter dash: 1. Alexis Kinney, Ewing Marion, :12.07. St. James: 11. Adalee Richardson :13.129.
200-meter dash: 1. Amya Bills, New Madrid Central, :24.80. St. James: 12. Richardson :26.50.
400-meter dash: 1. Ava Lane, Strafford, :57.87.
800-meter run: 1. Brie Massman, Fatima, 2:19.39.
1,600-meter run: 1. Ilene Limberg, Owensville, 5:06.02.
3,200-meter run: 1. Limberg, Owensville, 10:54.00.
100-meter hurdles: 1. Effie Morris, Boonville, :14.58. St. James: 3. Payge Kemnitzer, :15.46*.
300-meter hurdles: 1. Morris, Boonville, :44.30. St. James: 9. P. Kemnitzer :47.58.
4x100-meter relay: 1. New Madrid Central, :48.58; 11. St. James :51.32.
4x200-meter relay: 1. Maryville, 1:44.95; 13. St. James 1:49.51.
4x400-meter relay: 1. El Dorado Springs, 4:03.52.
4x800-meter relay: 1. El Dorado Springs, 9:41.80.
High jump: 1. Grace Prange, Lutheran South, 5-4 ¼.
Pole vault: 1. Kamryn Florea, Lawson, 12-0. St. James: 6. Ariana Jones 9-11 ¾*.
Long jump: 1. Amya Bills, New Madrid Central, 18-4 ½.
Triple jump: 1. Orangie Jackson, New Madrid Central, 36-11 ½.
Shot put: 1. Brionna Johnson, Holden, 38-1 ¼.
Discus: 1. Eva Alexander, Oak Grove, 130-10.
Javelin: 1. Jadyn Barnes, Licking, 124-2.
*-All-State
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