Park Hill South junior T.J. McGhee was the only Panther boy who medaled at the Class 5 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 26 and 27.
Judy Elful ended her high school career on a high note, collecting a pair of medals at the Class 5 State Track and Field Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 27.
The Park Hill South senior entered the state meet with only one career medal. While she missed out on moving past preliminaries in the 300-meter hurdles in her junior campaign, that changed this go-round.
“I used last year as a big motivation to get redemption because I didn’t make it last year in the 300,” Park Hill South senior Judy Elful said. “For this being my last race in high school, I just had to go all out.”
Last season, Elful didn’t get out of prelims in the 300-meter in 49.21 seconds and took eighth place in the 100-meter in 14.99 seconds, improving her times in both this time at state. She took seventh place in the prelims and the finals of the 100-meter, ending with a time of 14.73 seconds.
Park Hill South senior Judy Elful was the only Lady Panther who medaled at the Class 5 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 26 and 27.
The hurdler earned sixth place in the 300-meter prelims with a time of 44.89 seconds. In the finals, her time was slightly slower – 44.95 seconds – but she took fifth place.
“It feels good to end my career like this, I just kept pushing myself to get better. They (the other hurdlers) are different at state, I try to keep up with them but they’re really fast,” Elful said.
Park Hill South junior T.J. McGhee was the only other Panther who ended with a medal, doing so in the pole vault. He tied his PR – and the program record that he owns – with a vault of 13-9 feet to claim eighth place.
“My coach told me yesterday to just go out there and compete,” Park Hill South junior T.J. McGhee said. “He said it’s state but it’s just like a regular meet, so go out and do your thing. I knew if I went out there and jumped at least 13-9, I would get something.”
Park Hill South freshman Madilynn Conklin took 14th place in the 1,600-meter run at the Class 5 State Meet.
McGhee needed three attempts to clear 13-9 feet and missed on his three tries at the next height, which was at 14-2.75 feet. He took notes of the approaches of the other vaulters who finished ahead of him when he was competing.
“It was nice to get some mental reps watching them go, see their form and everything that they do when they vault and I kind of put that in my run to see what I could do from there. I’m already excited for next season, I just want to come out and try to place as high as I can next year,” McGhee said.
Park Hill South started the weekend off with the first Class 5 race, the girls’ 4x800-meter relay. Ella Conklin started the Lady Panthers off with a 2:28.27 split in her final race before handing the baton to her younger sister, Madilynn Conklin, who ran in 2:28.7.
Lucy Schrawder ran her 800 in 2:32.3 and Melania Puszczak had a team-best time of 2:27.6. Park Hill South finished in 12th place with a total time of 9:56. 85.
Madilynn Conklin was one of three freshmen who was in the 1,600-meter run. She ended in 14th place with a time of 5:19.08.
Shane Smith was unable to get out of prelims in the 400-meter dash at Jefferson City High School.
Park Hill South sophomore Lauren Smith pole vaulted 9-07.75 feet to take 11th place. Isabella Patton threw the discus 115 feet, claiming 13th place.
For the Park Hill South boys, it was a devastating ending for the 4x200-meter relay team who had a legit shot at a state title. Briggs Bartosh started off strong as the opening leg, but when Darrien Jones tried to give the baton to Troy Mosby, the handoff was botched, the baton hit the ground and the Panthers were disqualified from the event.
Thomas Garrett was the only freshman who ran the 3,200-meter as he finished in 12th place on May 27.
Earlier this season, Park Hill South broke the program record in the event and had times of 1:27.59 in sectionals and 1:27.3 in districts. The winning time at state was 1:26.15 and either of the last two times the Panthers ran in this postseason would have earned fourth place at the Class 5 State Meet.
Shane Smith was the anchor and never got a shot in the relay and then he missed out on making it to the finals in the 400-meter dash by 0.59 seconds. The junior crossed the finish line in 50.3 seconds and took 12th place.
Thomas Garrett was the only freshman in the entire state who made it to Jefferson City High School to compete in the 3,200-meter run. He crossed the finish line in 9:44.91 to earn 12th place.
Zeshaun Ballance-Gray was in the triple jump, leaping 43.2.25 feet on his first attempt and taking 10th place. The triple jumper had a 42-6.25-foot hop on his second attempt and had a fault on his third attempt.