Defying The Odds
Liberty track and field has first state champions in program history
Photo provided by Mo. Milesplit
Freshmen Ally Kruger, Adrienne Rockette, Megan Venturella and Karlie Wooten formed the state title winning 4×800 relay team.
May 28, 2019
It is the day you’ve been waiting for all season long, the state track meet. The crowd and the competition is unlike any other you’ve faced so far this season. Although it may be fierce, that is not stopping you. This is your time to shine, show what you’re really made of, and you do. All of the hard work and long hours you’ve put in this season finally pays off. Next thing you know you just became the Class 4 state champion.
Senior Nolan Bone reacts after clearing a new personal record in the pole vault at the state meet. He took the title in the event.
Five athletes – Ally Kruger (9), Adrienne Rockette (9), Megan Venturella (9), Karlie Wooten (9), and Nolan Bone (12) – became the first state champions in the history of the program on May 25 at Washington High School. The four freshmen won the girls 4×8 and Bone won pole vault.
“It’s amazing (winning the 4×8). It took a little bit to sink in,” Megan Venturella said. “I can’t believe we made it, but at the same time I knew we could.”
All season the girls 4×8 has been working hard and getting faster. The girls were seeded second in Class 4 for a majority of their season. Now these girls have a new PR and school record under their belt with a time of 9:32.60, breaking their previous time by 19 seconds. The team has also been conference, district, and sectional champions.
On the boys side, Bone broke his own PR and school record with a vault of 15’9″. All season Bone was seeded second in Class 4.
The other athletes that attended the meet had a great day as well. Bruce Jordan (12) placed 7th in the 110 hurdles and 5th in the 300 hurdles, Ally Kruger placed 5th in the 1,600 and 2nd in the 3,200, and Karlie Wooten placed 8th in the 400.
As a team, the girls tied for 8th with Washington out of 56 teams with 23 points. The Parkway North girls won the overall team title. On the boys side, they tied for 15th out of 60 teams with 16 points with Grain Valley and Excelsior Springs.
The meet was moved to Washington due to a tornado that hit Jefferson City earlier in the week. However, the meet ran as scheduled but without the other two classes.
“I think the state meet was awesome. We had a fantastic day, pretty much did as well as we possibly could I felt like,” Coach Glavin said. “We had 10 qualifying events and seven of them were all-state which is awesome.”
