James Allen was the area's only state champion on Friday, the first day of competition at the Class 1-2 state track meet at Jefferson City High.
A junior at Cleveland NJROTC, Allen won the 800-meter race in 1 minute and 56.7 seconds. Scott Lewis of College Heights Christian was the runner up in 1:58.
Allen's title highlighted a strong day for the Commanders. He also qualified for the finals in the 400 with the third-fastest time of 50 seconds. Brentwood's Kaylon Jenkins was the fastest in the 400 preliminary race in 50 seconds.
Junior Antonio Norman advanced to the finals of the 300-meter hurdles with the top prelim time of 39.11.
Cleveland's relay teams will open and close the meet Saturday. The first race of the second day is the 3,200 relay as the Commanders chase the state title that eluded them by a step last season. The 1,600 relay is the final event of the meet and Cleveland had the fastest preliminary in 3:28.
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Maplewood-Richmond Heights sophomore Zach Barton advanced to the finals of the 100 (11.21).
Other area state medalists on Friday include McKinley sophomore Rasheed Ricketts, who was the runner up in the Class 2 long jump (21 feet, 5.75 inches).
Jefferson senior Dylan Roth finished fourth in the Class 2 discus with a throw of 141 feet, 6 inches. Pierce City's Brayden Miller won the championship with a throw of 168-6.
On the girls side, Jefferson is chasing its first state plaque and every point counts. The Bluejays had several athletes earn all-state honors and the valuable points that come with it.
Senior Sarah Handrahan finished fifth in the discus (116 feet, 9 inches) and was eighth in the javelin (110-8).
Sophomore Jordan Heacock finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run in 12:22, a personal best.
Sophomore sprinter and jumper Anna Heacock advanced to the finals of the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles with the top preliminary times of 14.98 and 47.06, respectively. She also earned a spot in the championship race in the 200 (26.49). She will compete in the long jump on Saturday as well.
Jefferson also advanced its 400 and 800 relays to finals. Its 1,600 relay missed out on a shot at the finals when it finished ninth. The top eight advanced out of preliminaries.
Maplewood junior Jayda Buchanan made the finals of the Class 2 400 in 1:00.
Barat junior Addie Grapperhaus had the fastest preliminary times in the Class 1 100 (12.56), 200 (25.93) and 400 (58.29).
