With his last year at Warrenton High School coming down to its final months, Isham Keeper decided to give track and field a shot this spring.

“I didn’t have anything to lose,” Keeper said. “It’s my senior year and I love competing.”

But when he joined the team this spring, Keeper never expected that he would become a district champion.

That happened on May 17, when he placed first in the high jump in 1.92 meters at the Class 4, District 4 at Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City.

“When I won, I ran over to (coach Mark) Thomas, gave him a hug and said ‘thank you,’” Keeper said. “I saw my mom in the stands too. She was very excited to hear my name over the intercom. It was a very exciting moment.” 

Thomas said he was thrilled to see Keeper win a district title in his first and only year with the Warrenton track team. 

“I held him out on (last) Saturday’s meet and he jumped one time all weekend, so for him to be able to come out and still jump over six feet and win it, that was impressive,” he said. 

Keeper was the lone district champion for Warrenton, which qualified in eight other events at the Class 4, Sectional 2 meet on May 24 in Columbia.

Seniors Avery Shaw and Morgan Marschel will be two competitors that will compete in two individual events. Shaw placed second in the discus throw (32.21) and third in shot put (11.68). Marschel finished second in the 400-meter dash (58.52) and fourth in the 200 (26.13). 

Marschel set personal bests in both events, an achievement made sweeter by her comeback from an injury that kept her out of sectionals last year.

“The work she’s put in and doing dual sports, it’s a lot on her body,” Thomas said. “I’m really happy for her and proud of her fight to get back to the sport and not worry about the injury.” 

Jonathan Sweitzer placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 51.39. 

“He read the race better and got out in the back stretch a little quicker than normal,” Thomas said. “When he got to the last 100 (meters), he had a race on his hands and went out and competed.” 

Dylan Coleman advanced to sectionals in the 1,600 after finishing fourth with a personal-best time of 4:44.51.

“He had a race for the last 100 meters. It looked like a sprint race back and forth. He ended up coming across right at the line and both of the guys collapsed, but he came out on top,” Thomas said. 

Thomas was also impressed with Marcus Greene, who advanced to sectionals in the shot put after placing third with a throw of 14.95. 

“It came down to the very last throw,” Thomas said. “To be able to handle that pressure and put out a big throw when you need it most – I was really happy for him.” 

The boys 1,600-meter relay team of Keeper, Coleman, Pierce and Sweitzer qualified for sectionals by placing fourth in 3:32.72.

“The place doesn’t matter to us at this point, you want to be in the top four at the end of this weekend. That’s our goal is to move on as many kids as we can to state. Anything can happen and it just takes one good throw, jump or moment and you got a shot,” Thomas said. “We want to get them believing all week long and have them know that they can do it.” 

Keeper said competing at districts was intimidating at first.

“Once I had to warm up, I was locked in from there,” he said. 

Keeper said finishing with a jump of 1.95 meters at the Union Invitational in April gave him confidence. 

“I also looked at the stats for Missouri and I saw I was ranked fourth in the state for all of Class 4,” he said. “That’s when I started to realize that I could really do something with this.” 

Keeper credits Thomas and Warrenton graduate Deacon Forrest for his rapid progress. After placing fourth in his first two meets, Keeper steadily climbed the ranks, never finishing outside the top two spots and consistently taking first in his last four competitions.

“(Thomas) has helped me the entire way with getting me in contact with the right people, giving me the right videos to watch and spending some extra time outside of practice. We’ll have Deacon come up sometimes on Saturdays and we’ll get some work in,” Keeper said. 

Keeper added the first couple weeks of practice were tough, especially since he had no track experience. However, he is grateful for his last-minute decision to join the team. 

“We worked on it a lot day and night but it was very hard to learn it,” he said. “I didn’t know there was this much technique coming into it. But, this has been a very good experience and everyone should do track – it’s one of the best sports ever.” 

Thomas commended Keeper for his eagerness to learn. 

“He’s listening and he’s a very gifted jumper naturally and we’re finding drills for him with technique,” Thomas said. “He’s taking those little tips and being really receptive and coming up and working on his own time. He’s dedicated to improving.” 

Keeper’s plan at sectionals is to simply qualify for the state meet.

“It’s all in God’s plan, so I put my faith in him and I just want to be in that top four to make it out and go to state,” Keeper said.