S-C athletes can't keep up in prelims

JEFFERSON CITY — The first day of the Class 4 state track and field championships was not easy for the Smith-Cotton Tigers.

Sharaden Staten and the S-C 1600-meter relay team — Brent and Brandon Katzing, Andrew Byrd and Ethan Warren — had the cards stacked against them from the beginning.

In the 110 high hurdles, Staten entered his preliminary heat against seven opponents who had all posted faster times.

Staten took eighth in 16.06 seconds.

The outcome did not faze Staten, who was proud of his team’s performance this year.

“The season was good,” Staten said. “Our biggest goal was to win conference and we did. We had a lot more people qualify for state this year. It was a pretty good year, I think.”

The Tigers’ relay team faced a similar situation later in the afternoon.

In their preliminary heat, the Tigers competed against seven other teams that had consistently posted faster times throughout the year.

S-C finished with its fastest time of season. Unfortunately, the time of 3 minutes, 27.25 seconds put it in eighth place  and knocked it out of a chance at the finals.

S-C coach Brad Hagedorn had nothing but praise for Staten and the relay team after their races.

“I’m very proud of them,” Hagedorn said. “... We knew going into the deal that we didn’t have a bunch of state champions on the team, but we had a good team. We had a good group of guys. 

“It doesn’t show at a big meet like this, but our place today doesn’t show the character and the kind of kids we have on our team.”

Smith-Cotton will now rest its hopes for a state medal on two-time All-State discus thrower Blake Price.

After finishing fourth in the state last year, the junior has his sights set on a top- three finish.

“I think he will be extremely disappointed if he is not top four,” Hagedorn said. “... I talked to him today and his practice throws were all at a level where he could be top three.”

The discus competition begins at 11 a.m.