Thomas, Rushin bring home state track titles

Central junior Asia Thomas broke a 20-year school record in the 400 meters to reach the state meet last weekend.

Thomas outdid herself Saturday at the Class 4 state meet in Jefferson City, Mo.

Thomas broke the state record to win the state championship in the 400.

"It was good," she said. "I was happy."

The school record belonged to Thomas' mother, Nakeba, before Thomas finished in 54.71 seconds to win last weekend's sectional. She ran a 54.49 to win Saturday's state title. The second-place finisher, Ladue's Montenea Roye, was three-hundredths of a second behind Thomas.

Central junior Asia Thomas, center, competes in the 400 meters during Saturday's Class 4 state meet in Jefferson City, Mo. (BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic)

"She pushed me at the end," Thomas said of Roye. "She yelled at me, 'We broke the record.'"

Thomas capped her day by placing second in the 200, crossing the line in 24.84.

"A lot of the people who did the 200 were in the 400," she said. "We were really tired. It was really close."

Thomas credited harder workouts for her improvement this season.

"I was working harder, pushing myself more in practice," she said. "I'm happy about it now. It was painful and I was tired and I didn't think I was really getting anywhere with it. I'm happy I pushed myself now."

Central's Chris Martin competes in the triple jump Saturday.

Jackson senior Landon Wachter placed sixth in the 400. She competed against Thomas and Roye in last week's sectional meet.

"It was a great way for her to end her career, to finish all-state in the 400," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said of his daughter Landon. "Our sectional is just unbelievable. Asia just had a great run. She's had a great year and a really great ending right here. She's really come on here at the end. Landon ran in a very competitive 400 class."

Landon Wachter, who will run at the University of Missouri next season, finished as a three-time medalist in the 400.

Jackson senior Jill Rushin, who also will compete at Missouri next season, earned her third state title by winning Saturday's discus. She hurled it 152 feet to win by 8 feet 3 inches.

"I PR'd and it was my last state meet," she said. "It just felt good to go out and win that."

Rushin (Jill)

The victory Saturday was a bit of redemption for Rushin, who won the state title in the shot put and discus last season. She placed second in Friday's shot put competition.

"In warmups on Thursday, I was doing great in the shot put," she said. "I don't know what happened on Friday. The timing was off because we had been practicing something a little bit new at practice, trying to get it tuned up."

Rushin threw the shot put 43-8 1/2, which was 4 3/4 inches shorter than Hickman's Sarah Hall.

"The warmup before she threw the day before, she was throwing 47 feet pretty good," coach Wachter said. "It's just like anything else, some days things happen for you and some days they don't. For not having a very good day for her, taking second in the state, is pretty outstanding. I'd like to have a bad day like that."

The second-place finish fueled Rushin's determination to defend her title in the discus.

Jackson senior Jill Rushin competes in the discus Saturday during the Class 4 state meet in Jefferson City, Mo.

"That helped me to stay motivated," she said. "After the shot put, I just told myself to shake it off because I still had another event to do."

Rushin finished her Jackson career as an eight-time all-state performer.

"She really had a great year," coach Wachter said. "When kids are seniors, they have a lot of pressure on them and they have a lot of things going on. But she handled that really well."

Central junior Matt Deisher grabbed a fifth-place finish in the pole vault, and Jackson junior Blake Smith took seventh in the long jump.

"Last year, he had a really rough year battling injuries, and he came back this year and had a great year and a great finish," coach Wachter said of Smith. "He broke our school record in the sectional meet then had a good jump up here. We thought he could [place in the top eight] if everything fell right."

Central's Asia Thomas competes in the 400 meters during Saturday's Class 4 state meet in Jefferson City, Mo.

In the Class 3 meet, Notre Dame got a pair of fifth-place finishes.

Senior Joe Froemsdorf placed fifth in the pole vault, while senior Grant Eudy took fifth in the high jump.

Senior Wynn McClellan placed seventh in the 3,200.

Casey Brewer, Perryville's lone state qualifier, took ninth in the discus.

Class 4

Girls

Team standings -- 12. Jackson 21; 15. Central 18

Shot put -- 2. Jill Rushin, J, 43-8 1/2; 14. Carlee Reaves, C, 32-10 1/4

400 -- 1. Asia Thomas, C, 54.49; 6. Landon Wachter, J, 59.22

200 -- 2. A. Thomas, C, 24.84

Discus -- 1. Rushin, J, 152-0

Boys

Team standings -- 43. Central 3.5; 51. Jackson 2

Pole vault -- 5. Matt Deisher, C, 14-0; 14. Chris Reed, J, 12-6

Triple jump -- 15. Chris Martin, C, 42-5

Discus -- 12. Zach Horrell, C, 140-11

Long jump -- 7. Blake Smith, J, 21-8 1/2

Class 3

Girls

Discus -- 9. Casey Brewer, Perryville, 112-4

Boys

Team standings -- 24. Notre Dame 9.5

400 relay -- 15. Notre Dame (Taylor Essner, Ryan Long, Brady Vetter, Ethan Huber), 44.80

Pole vault -- 5. Joe Froemsdorf, ND, 13-6

3,200 -- 7. Wynn McClellan, ND, 9:42.39

1,600 -- 13. McClellan, ND, 4:32.42

High jump -- 5. Grant Eudy, ND, 6-4