Clements places second in two events; Harlow breaks own pole vault record

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Ste. Genevieve star Kale Clements added three all-state medals to an already impressive collection, and senior Alissa Grass secured her third all-state award in the javelin.

The Dragons ultimately placed ninth in the Class 3 girls team standings while reaching the awards podium in five events Saturday at the MSHSAA track and field championships.

Kannon Harlow finalized a stellar track and field career at Central with his loftiest pole vault to date after a segment of his senior season was interrupted by a nagging injury.

Sam Erbland departed Arcadia Valley with a breakthrough performance in the 400-meter dash for his first all-state accolade, and achieved that feat in school-record time.

Clements drew closer than ever to an individual title before emerging with second-place honors in the 400 and 800 events. She also opened a fourth-place 4×800 relay for Ste. Genevieve.

The two runners who beat Clements to the finish line – Notre Dame de Sion senior Emerson Shelton and Eldon senior Zoe Martonfi – will not stand in her way next spring.

Shelton (57.96) posted the only 400 time quicker than Clements (58.30). Martonfi (2:13.69) dominated the 1600 with more than four seconds to spare, and earlier won the 1600.

Hollyn Zangaro also produced a banner weekend for the Dragons, earning two medals on Saturday. She captured seventh place in the 3200, and was superb as the 4×800 anchor.

After placing 15th last year in the 3200, Zangaro trimmed a full minute from her mark at 11:51.44 this time to reach her first individual track podium.

She followed Clements, Sadie Greminger and Sophia Fritsch in the 4×800, and gained three positions after receiving the last exchange in seventh.

Grass had hopes of topping her fifth-place javelin throw as a junior. After advancing past preliminaries in seventh spot on Friday, she increased distance on her fourth attempt, but ended up eighth overall,

The Ste. Genevieve girls 4×400 relay combo of Clements, Greminger, Cecilia Mooney and Kayden Huck stacked up 13th during qualifying heats.

Huck reached the state level in three total events, including both hurdles races, but was eliminated in those on Friday along with teammate Abigail Merklin in the triple jump.

Central senior Avery Johnson sought her second state medal in the 100-meter hurdles, but the sectional, district and conference champion narrowly missed out in ninth place.

Fredericktown senior Ava Penuel punctuated her versatile varsity career, comprising four sports, by placing 13th in the javelin and 15th in the discus.

With previous all-state accolades in both track and field and soccer, Penuel will turn her attention to playing volleyball at Mineral Area College.

Harlow, who has signed with the University of Missouri, delivered on the grand stage in his strongest event, landing within the top three Class 3 pole vaulters for the third consecutive year.

Harlow improved upon his own school record during his third and final attempt at 15 feet, 3 ½ inches, after a successful clearance of 14 feet, 10 inches guaranteed no worse than third place.

His performance easily eclipsed the championship marks established earlier in the day for Classes 1 and 2, but the Class 3 contingent offered a far more daunting challenge.

Macon junior and national elite Caelan Harland delivered his third consecutive state title after surviving an enormous test from Blair Oaks sophomore Tomas Gonzalez.

Harland started at the same height where Harlow peaked, and nailed a clutch third attempt at 16 feet, 9 ¼ inches to seize the crown from Gonzalez while establishing a Class 3 meet record.

Harlow, who also has state football championship and basketball runner-up trophies on his high school resume, finished 11th in the long jump on Saturday.

Erbland completed his final race for AV at sixth place on the 400 podium, surpassing his own program record with a new time of 50.10 seconds. He finished 10th during the 200 preliminaries.

Ste. Genevieve was represented on the boys side in two field events. Nathan Johnson placed 11th in the discus, and Paul Taylor was 11th in the shot put.

Oscar Millan made his state debut for Fredericktown at 12th place in the high jump.

Class 3

Girls Event Results:

400 – 2. Kale Clements, SG, 58.30

800 – 2. Kale Clements, SG, 2:18.01; 16. Allie England, CEN, 2:29.84

4×800 – 4. Ste. Genevieve (Kale Clements, Sadie Greminger, Sophia Fritsch, Hollyn Zangaro), 10:09.91

3200 – 7. Hollyn Zangaro, SG; 11:51.44

Javelin – 8. Alissa Grass, SG, 119-03; 13. Ava Penuel, FRED, 107-02; 16. Lauren Hale, FRED, 97-1

100 Hurdles – 9. Avery Johnson, CEN, 15.90; 15. Kayden Huck, SG, 16.42

4×400 – 13. Ste. Genevieve (Cecilia Mooney, Sadie Greminger, Kayden Huck, Kale Clements), 4:15.36

300 Hurdles – 14. Kayden Huck, SG, 49.70

Triple Jump – 14. Abigail Merklin, SG, 30-11.25

Discus – 15. Ava Penuel, FRED, 94-06

Boys Event Results:

Pole Vault – 3. Kannon Harlow, CEN, 15-03.50

400 – 6. Sam Erbland, AV, 50.10

200 – 10. Sam Erbland, AV, 22.46

Discus – 11. Nathan Johnson, SG, 135-09

Long Jump – 11. Kannon Harlow, CEN, 20-07.00

Shot Put – 11. Paul Taylor, SG, 48-05.25

High Jump – 12. Oscar Millan, FRED, 5-10.75