Elgin's Keith Drapeau leaps over the bar in the high jump at the Class 5A state track meet in Yukon. Drapeau won the event with a height of 6-feet-8.
YUKON — The OSSAA Class 5A and 6A state track meet began on Friday at Yukon High School, with hundreds of athletes filling Miller Stadium to compete for state championships in their respective events.
Multiple southwest Oklahoma schools took part in the festivities, impressing the state with several memorable performances resulting in some medal stand appearances.
Here are some of the highlights from the first day of competition:
Drapeau dethrones defending high jump champ
Keith Drapeau chose the perfect day to perform the best jump of his career.
After a runner-up finish in the high jump last season, the junior from Elgin wanted more for himself, and he got just that. Drapeau cleared a personal best height of 6 feet, 8 inches, edging out favorite Gregory Whittenberg of Del City to earn him the Class 5A high jump state championship.
“I just wanted to reach higher heights, of course, and win," Drapeau said. "I was stuck at 6-06 all season — I couldn’t get higher. Coming into this meet, I knew I had to take care of business because I knew (Whittenberg) had done better every week coming in, and if he was going to clear something, I had to clear it.”
Whittenberg, who won the event last season, finished with the 6-08 mark as well, but a scratch on his first jump at that height kept him from retaining the title. Drapeau, on the other hand, cleared it on his first attempt.
Eisenhower’s Mark Berry competed in the event as well, getting on the medal stand with a fourth-place jump of 6-2.
Although Berry aspired for a top-three finish, he said he was pleased with where he ended up.
“I honestly feel good because I haven’t practiced on the high jump, but I got fourth,” Berry said. “I could’ve done better, but I just gotta keep working hard and it’ll pay off next year. Whatever you put in is all going to come out, and that’s all I have to say.”
In the girls’ events, Duncan’s Savannah Reynolds took second in the high jump with a leap of 5-04.
Milton cruises to shot put title
Capturing state title runs in the Milton family.
Duncan’s Rosaria Milton made easy work of the competition in the shot put, claiming her the state championship with a throw of 41-02, two feet ahead of runner-up Sadie Boos of Bishop Kelley. The win marked the second in the event for Milton’s family, for her sister, Jamesia, claimed the title in 2012 with a state record heave of 44-08.50.
Jamesia also won the state title in the discus throw in 2010.
“It feels great knowing I could follow in her footsteps,” Milton said. “She’s the one who led me on to track, so it feels good to be able to win.”
Milton saved her best throw for last, for the 41-02 mark was the best of her career. Her furthest toss of the morning prior to the personal best was 38-10. She placed fourth last season at 38-05.50.
Although she was reasonably satisfied with the result, Milton said it was bitter sweet knowing that was her final meet as a Demon.
“I don’t know how to feel about it,” Milton said. “It was sad, but I’m happy.”
Meanwhile, Connor Roddy of Duncan placed second in the boys shot put with a toss of 51-09.
Chao flies to 2nd place in pole vault
Alexis Chao improved her performance at the state meet once again, winning second in the pole vault at 10-06. Grove’s Megan Tramel finished the four-year sweep of the event, winning with a vault of 11-06.
The MacArthur senior came into the meet with a goal of 12-0 after clearing 11-0 last week at the regional meet, but she said the mounting pressure held her back from reaching that height.
“I just felt like there was a lot of pressure going on,” Chao said. “I know I could’ve done better, but I put too much pressure on myself because I wanted it really bad, especially knowing this was my last track meet (with Mac).”
Chao has one more chance to correct her mistakes, though, when she competes in the Meet of Champions at Moore High School on Tuesday.
“Although I didn’t do my best today, I think I’ll feel a lot more confident at the Meet of Champions next week,” Chao said. “I’m just going to keep practicing this weekend to get it right.”
Ike boys place 4th in 4x800
Less than three weeks ago, Eisenhower didn’t even have a 4x800 team.
On Friday, it found itself on the medal stand at the state meet.
In only their third time racing in the event, the team of Nicholas Cousin, Miguel Ingram, Wallace Cofield and Kaleb Tipton logged a time of 8 minutes, 32 seconds to finish fourth. Carl Albert won the race with a time of 8:15.
Duncan placed sixth in 8:34.
When anchor Tipton took the baton from Cofield for the final leg, the Eagles were in seventh. Tipton knew he had to run his best for the team to medal, and though daunting, he was not intimidated by the task.
He slowly picked off exhausted runners, passing four in the final 100 meters. His split of 2:02 was the fastest on the team.
“I was just thinking, ‘We just put this 4x8 team together, and my boy Miguel is graduating, so we gotta push it,’” Tipton said. “I just continued to push myself. I wasn’t doing it for myself, I was doing it for the team. It was just extra motivation for me when I looked ahead of me and saw my teammates. That’s when I knew it wasn’t just for me this time, it’s for them, too, so I had to get it done. To see the smiles on their faces when getting on the medal stand, it was a great feeling.”
Ike girls medal in 4x200
After qualifying for the finals of the 4x100 earlier in the day, Gena Rogers, Jamaya Morgan, Destinee Rush and Juliette Harvey turned their attention to the last event of the day — the 4x200 relay.
The team left the track with some hardware, finishing fourth in a time of 1:46, its fastest time of the season. Del City took the top prize, clocking in at 1:42.
Rush, one of the three seniors on the team, attributed the successful finish to running as unit rather than four individuals.
“We knew it was our last 200 of our high school careers, so we had to run it at our highest ability and give it all we got,” Rush said.
Other notable finishes
Kamree Castle of Elgin placed fifth in the 3,200-meter run (2-mile) with a time of 12:46. In the boys’ version of the race, MacArthur’s Daniel Nickell also finished fifth in 10:27.
The Altus boys took third in the boys 4x200, finishing in 1:30, while the Bulldogs’ girls took third in the 4x800 10:18.
Levi Glover of Elgin placed fourth in the pole vault at 12-06.