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Woodson wins state title
JEFFERSON CITY -- Sikeston senior Tyler Woodson ended his high school athletic career in the best way possible, with a state championship.
Woodson captured first place in the 110 meter high hurdles at the Class 3 MSHSAA Track and Field Championships held at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City on Saturday.
Woodson's victory came after a season of injury. Other than one meet early in the year, he didn't even compete all season until the district meet at Perryville two weeks ago, making his run to a state championship even more unlikely.
"We're just so proud of him --
he deserves this," said Sikeston coach Jerry Dement. "We wasn't even competing just a few weeks ago but he practiced twice a day, every day and kept working to get better. He never gave up and it's paid off with a state championship."
Woodson won the event with a season-best time of 14.59, well ahead of second place Jason Ciemiega of Platte County at 14.70.
Woodson also qualified for the 300 meter hurdles, but he didn't advance to the finals on Saturday in that event.
Sikeston senior Felante Larry also had a strong weekend as he placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 45-feet-3.5 inches. Larry placed fifth in Friday's long jump with a leap of 21-9. Larry, who made it in the 200 meter dash as well, did not qualify past the preliminaries on Friday.
Locally, New Madrid County Central's Jeffrey McFarland placed in three individual events, taking second in the 200 meter dash (22.14), fourth in the 100 (11.14) and fifth in the 400 (50.85).
McFarland also ran a leg on the Eagles' 4 x 200 meter relay as the team placed seventh with a time of 1:31.94.
Dexter's Levi Rawson placed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 43-6.5. Also, Notre Dame's Bryce Willen took first place in the pole vault at 14-6.
As a team, Sikeston placed 10th with 20 points. It's the fourth straight year the Bulldogs have finished in the top 10 in the state.
NMCC finished in 11th place and Dexter finished in 28th place.