HISTORY

The Capital City boys track and field team captures the school’s first team state trophy.

At the end of all three seasons of Capital City’s track and field program’s existence, the Cavaliers and Lady Cavaliers have come home from the Class 5 state track and field championships with a school first.

The first girls individual champion was in the first year of the program, the first boys individual champion came last year. This year, they brought home the school’s first team state trophy.

“The kids were fired up about it and I’m so proud of them,” Capital City coach Scott Gschwender said. “What they’ve done all

year and even to come to the state meet a little short handed knowing that the 4x400 was something that we needed, they didn’t dwell on that. They just accepted what we had and put the best foot forward. They did their best and their best was good enough. I’m very proud.”

The Cavaliers scored 31 points at Adkins Stadium to claim fourth place behind Rock Bridge’s 73.5, Liberty North’s 58 and Camdenton’s 32.

Capital City entered Day 2 of the meet with 18 points after Keion Grieve won the 800-meter run and placed seventh in the 1,600-meter run and Sam Albert took third in the shot put Friday.

The Cavaliers scored all their points early Saturday, then had a long day to hurry up and wait.

Albert started the day in the discus, firing his best throw on his first attempt for a toss of 169 feet, 6 inches to take fourth.

“Last year I went to state (in the discus) but got last,” Albert said. “It felt pretty good to get up there, I was really happy, I PR’ed by a meter.”

Albert ends his high school track career with three state medals, all in the top four, as he prepares to continue his career at Missouri.

“It was kind of bittersweet,” Albert said of his final state experience. “The shot put didn’t go how I wanted, but the discus went a lot better than I thought it would. You win some, you lose some.”

The Cavaliers then hit the track for the first race of the day in the 4x800-meter relay.

Brock Schofield led off, working his way from the back line into second before passing into first on the back stretch. Schofield jockeyed for position in the top three spots the remainder of his two laps.

“The plan was to kick out a little hard and get in front of the main pack,” Schofield said. “That’s what we did through 200 and then just wanted to hand off in front of the main pack to avoid what happened last year.”

Eventually, Schofield handed off to Sincere Davis in second only five meters back of the leader.

Davis overtook for first with 200 meters left in his first lap, then was nearly passed on the backstretch of the second, but was able to hold off the oncomer until the homestretch.

“Every time I run, my main goal is to catch as many people in the first 200 as I can then I try to settle,” Davis said. “He (Rockhurst’s August Thompson) was starting to slow around the turn, so I just wanted to hold stride and finish strong.”

Davis handed off to Colin Voss about 10 meters back of first, and Voss ran a split of 1:59.26 before setting up anchor Grieve in fourth.

“I’m the slowest one on the team, but I knew I had to stick to guys as well as I can to get Keion in a good spot to pass,” Voss said. “… When I came around the back corner, I was feeling it, but I knew I had to keep going. When two more guys passed me, I knew I couldn’t let any more go. Coming down the final stretch, I usually don’t have any kick, but today I just pushed through it.”

The 800-meter run champion then ran a split of 1:52.25 to overtake all but Liberty North on the way to a second-place finish in 7:45.74.

“I knew I’d have to make up a little bit,” Grieve said. “My main thing I was telling myself was not to go catch them too quickly, just to gradually build speed. On the second lap, I could start to feel them getting tired and I started to make my move to reel them in slowly.”

After the race, the Cavaliers sat in first place in the team standings with all 31 points they would accumulate, so Gschwender was left to wait and watch.

“Thirty-one points, I was kinda thinking it wouldn’t sit, so I just enjoyed watching the girls and didn’t think about it,” Gschwender said. “… Just watched the girls and how they overperformed, and then the 200 rolled around and I started looking and doing the math and realized we had a chance.”

As the final events were upcoming, it became clear Capital City’s point total might be good enough to hang on for a plaque, forcing Gschwender to go in search of his runners just in case.

“Around the 200, I started calling and texting them all because they left,” Gschwender said. “I had to tell them, ‘Hey guys, there’s a chance we get a plaque.’ We got them all over here and watching the triple jump. Once we found out, the kids were all going crazy.”

The final events completed with Nixa and Staley, which were tied at 28 and each had one competitor remaining in the final events, just behind at 28 points.

“Staley’s triple jumper and Nixa’s 3,200 both had to get fifth or higher. We were basically just watching and rooting on other schools,” Gschwender said with a laugh.

Grieve ended with three state medals, as did the busiest Lady Cavalier, Tyrica Sterrett, who had three finals races Saturday.

Sterrett just missed the podium in the 100- and 200-meter dashes last season and started her sophomore state championship with a fourth-place finish in the 100 with a time of 11.98.

“Last year, I got like ninth in both the 100 and 200 and this year, I actually improved,” Sterrett said. “It felt better.”

Sterrett had a quick turnaround as she then joined Kalie Strayhorn, Kambry Pistel and Layla Hess for a fourth-place finish in the 4x200-meter relay in a time of 1:42.67.

“I was really excited because a lot of these girls haven’t been to state and our relay didn’t really come together until toward the end of the season,” Strayhorn said. “We were doing really, really good. So I was excited to see how we could do. … It felt amazing, I got to stand up with my team for one last time before I leave.”

“I was an alternate last year, so I got to experience the crowd, but didn’t get to run,” Pistel said. “We didn’t get put together until senior night and we really just clicked well.”

Sterrett then finished her day with a seventh-place finish in the 200 with a time of 25.06.

Capital City’s girls also got eight more team points from Michelyn Appiah, who claimed her second state medal Saturday with a second-place finish in the shot put.

“I came in seeded a little bit lower and popped a really big one on my first throw. I was really proud of that,” Appiah said. “It took off so much pressure.”

Appiah tossed her first throw 42-9½, placing her in first initially, before eventual champion Makenzie Garr of St. Joseph Central hurled her third throw 45-1¾.

“I just got to let loose and try to pop another one just for fun,” Appiah said.

Capital City’s girls totaled 28 points to claim ninth in the team standings.

“They battled all the way through,” Gschwender said. “We look at our program from districts to sectional to state, our training program is to try to peak at state and we did. The kids showed up yesterday and they showed up today and they did exactly what we expected them to do.”

Cardinal Ritter was the girls team champion with 94 points, while Blue Springs took second at 63, Lafayette: Wildwood was third at 49 and Rock Bridge scored 40 for fourth.

“The kids did well, the coaches did well,” Gschwender said. “The coaches coached their butts off and the kids responded well. Proud of the staff and proud of the kids.”