Crusaders take second; Etzold wins four titles

~ In addition to being part of two winning relays, the Saxony junior won the 800 and 1,600.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Saxony Lutheran's 1,600 relay team knew heading into the final race of the Class 1 track and field championship Saturday the team state title was out of reach, but that did not deter the Crusaders from nearly setting a state record.

The Crusaders finished the state meet just as they started it on Friday at Dwight T. Reed Stadium, bringing home yet another relay title and ultimately a second-place team trophy.

"It was awesome," senior Grant Lehmann said of his final meet. "We couldn't get first like we wanted to, but second place will do."

Polo won the team title with 64 points, followed by Saxony Lutheran with 56.

"The kids ran incredibly," Saxony coach Larry Cleair said. "They came within three-tenths of a second of the meet mark [in the 1,600]. They were incredible."

Saxony's Brandon Etzold was incredible in his own right.

The 1,600 relay capped off a perfect day for Etzold, who had already captured state titles in the 800 and 1,600 earlier Saturday. With another state title in the 3,200 relay on Friday, the Crusaders junior came away with four state titles.

Etzold, Alex Jauch, Lehmann and Max Wieser finished the 1,600 relay in 3 minutes, 27.48 seconds. The state record is 3:27.04. All four runners had participated in at least one event prior to the 1,600 relay, and three of them had run in at least two races already that day.

"I came down for our pre-race prayer before the guys ran the 4x4 and they said, 'Coach, we're spent,'" Cleair said. "I said, 'guys I know you're tired, I just want you to dig down and fine that one last thing you've got.'"

Saxony Lutheran trailed second-place Lone Jack by one point heading into the 1,600 relay, but the Crusaders' foursome outpaced the Mules' quartet by more than four seconds. Princeton, which had a better time than Saxony in Friday's qualifying, finished second less than a second back.

"We knew we were in second place, all we had to do was beat Lone Jack," Lehmann said. "Our goal at that point was trying to beat Princeton, which had a better time yesterday."

Etzold brought home his first individual state title by winning the 1,600 meter run in 4:27.13, exactly two seconds ahead of David Goeglein of Kansas City Lutheran. Etzold finished second to Goeglin at both the 1,600 last year and at the cross country state championship in the fall.

"They got to the middle of the final turn and Brandon turned it up a gear and the kid couldn't catch him," Cleair said.

In the 800, Etzold won in 1:58.84. Freshman teammate Ross Gage finished 13th in the event.

Lehmann finished fourth in the 400 in 52.01 seconds. Last year, Lehmann finished sixth in the 400.

Also finishing fourth for the Crusaders was Jauch in the 300 hurdles. Jauch, a junior, finished in 40.72 seconds. Last year, Jauch was fifth in the 300 hurdles. Jauch also placed sixth in the 200 in 23.55 seconds.

In the 800 relay, the Crusaders finished sixth in 1:34.96 with the team of Wieser, Lehmann, Jauch and Casey Petzoldt. Polo won the event in a state-record time of 1:31.69.

Crusaders senior Tim Lorenz failed to medal in the shot put, finishing in 13th with a throw of 41 feet, 6 inches. Chaffee sophomore Walker Rice earned all-state honors in the event with a throw of 45-1 1/2, good enough for seventh.

With only four seniors among those at the state meet, Saxony Lutheran should be ready to compete for a title once again next year.

"We know what we have to do next year to get up to that first place as a team," Jauch said.

Chaffee's girls brought home all-state honors in the 1,600 relay in fourth place. The team of Rachel Hendrix, Nikole Johnson, Tracy Martin and Christian Murakami finished in 4:20.74.

Chaffee senior Sarah Dooley finished 15th in the shot put with a throw of 30-3/4.

Bell City had its first all-state track athlete in its first year fielding a team, as junior Carerra Patterson finished seventh in the 800 in 2:31.12 on Friday.

In Class 2, Scott City sophomore Derek Goodin earned all-state honors with a seventh-place finish in the 300 hurdles. Goodin finished in 41.63 seconds. Scott City's girls finished 14th in the 3,200 relay in 10:50.28.

Southeast Missouri squad Malden won the boys team title in Class 2.