Makayla Witthaus figured she would face an uphill battle.

When the district seedings came out, the Warrenton senior thrower figured she had a chance to make it out of the Class 4 District 4 meet, which took place at Capital City High School last Saturday, but she’d do so having earned her spot.

Her heave of 36 feet, 10.25 inches earned her the third-best distance at the event, qualifying her for this weekend’s sectional meet at Orchard Farm.

“I am so glad to have made it through to sectionals, as it was one of my goals for the season,” Witthaus said. “It made me proud to be able to represent Warrenton as I move on and continue to compete. Throughout the year, there were ups and downs due to challenges when throwing. I learned to push through and adjust to compete and achieve a good outcome. When I saw the district seedings, I knew I would have to overcome challenges and compete at my best.”

Witthaus’ second throw of six on the day earned her a spot in the next round. The toss was nearly two feet better than the fifth-best thrower, as the top four qualified for the sectional.

The senior wasn’t the only Warrenton track athlete to qualify for the sectional, as the school had a pair of boys’ relays advance.

The 4x200-meter relay team of senior Jonathan Sweitzer, freshman Ty Thompson, freshman Antevion Pierce and sophomore Antwian Pierce took fourth in 1 minute, 31.46 seconds.

The 4x400 team of Sweitzer, the Pierces and junior Jordan Lopez took third in 3:32.27 to also advance to the sectional.

Warrenton boys’ Coach Mark Thomas said that there was plenty to celebrate coming out of a tough district field at Capital City.

“We are really happy and excited for them; they, as well as the rest of the team, have worked extremely hard this season,” Thomas said. “Each of the relay members has dealt with nagging injuries at some point throughout the season, so to be able to push through and qualify was great for them. Makayla was able to throw a personal best to earn her way to the sectional against some of the top throwers in the state. Where you get sent to districts is a real thing; some are tougher than others in certain events, and ours at Capital City was very competitive in almost all of them. We are very pleased with the way our student-athletes handled it and the entire season. We lose three senior competitors to graduation, so we are encouraged for the future.”

For the Wright City girls, the future is now.

A trio of Wildcats performed exceptionally well at the Class 3 Sectional 2 meet at Centralia.

Junior Ada Ferrell placed fourth in the 100 hurdles in a time of 16.51 to punch her ticket to the Class 3 state meet, which begins tomorrow (Friday) at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.

A stumble nearly cost Ferrell, but she persevered, she said.

“It feels great to qualify for state,” Ferrell said. “I felt like I ran a good race even though I almost fell, I still kept my mind right on track and pushed myself to finish (in the) top four. My goal for state is to make it for prelims and run on Friday and Saturday.”

Joining Ferrell will be freshman Victoria Riggs and senior Sadie Sehnert.

Riggs took fourth in the 1,600 in 5:38.22 while Sehnert was third in the javelin with a distance of 119-5.