The Wright City senior tandem missed out on medaling in their first state trip to the MSHSAA Class 2 Track and Field Championships held at Lincoln University. Johnson, competing in the 100-meter …
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The Wright City senior tandem missed out on medaling in their first state trip to the MSHSAA Class 2 Track and Field Championships held at Lincoln University. Johnson, competing in the 100-meter hurdles, failed to get past Friday's preliminaries. Meanwhile, Wimmer missed the finals in the triple jump by two spots on Saturday. Both tried to shake their sour moods in knowing they finally achieved a goal of at least qualifying for the state field. "It's a lot bigger than most of our meets," Johnson said. "I enjoyed it. I'm glad to be here competing and not watching. That makes me happy." Wimmer added: "It's pretty big (on making it to state). But I have nothing to show for it. I wanted a medal." Sue Wright, Wright City track coach, said she was proud of her two seniors. She was happy to see them get the chance to compete one last time among the state's best. "You can't be sad about being here," she said. "You got here. There are a lot of kids who didn't get here. There are a lot of seniors who didn't get here. You go away knowing you gave it everything you had on the track." Johnson had attended the state meet as a freshman so she was familiar with the atmosphere and surroundings of Dwight T. Reed Stadium. But the William Woods recruit still had to tone down her nerves when she stepped into the blocks. She had a time of 17.21 seconds in the second heat of the 100 hurdles, good enough to place sixth and post the 13th-fastest time overall. Precious Selmon of Crystal City won the state crown in 14.16 in Saturday's finals. Penney's Lindsay Vollmer was second in 14.61, while Molly O'Brien of Spokane was third in 15.84. "When I was done, I was pretty much mad at myself," Johnson said. "My time wasn't very good. I was thinking, 'If I run a good time, I will be happy with whatever I get.' Since I didn't run a good time, I'm not happy." Wimmer nearly snuck into the finals, but couldn't break into the top nine. His best jump came in his third and final attempt when he landed at 41 feet, 3/4 inches. He missed the finals by a foot. "I figured I had to get a 42 (feet)," Wimmer said. Trenton's Deandre Vandevender captured the state title with a leap of 46-5, beating runner-up Joe Smith of Westran by over two feet (44-0).
