JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Jaden Deaton sprinted past the leader on the backstretch and held on to claim the 3200-meters title Thursday in the MSHSAA Class 5 state track and field championships.
The Poplar Bluff senior’s win, along with his fourth-place showing in the 1600, a pair of all-state performances by Jadarius Pigg in the hurdles, a top-4 finish in the pole vault by Luke Barousse and a point from hurdler John-Paul Godwin led the Mules on a wet day at Adkins Stadium.
Poplar Bluff finished eighth in the boys team standings, 14 points behind fourth-place Hickman. Rock Bridge won the title with 52 points followed by Francis Howell (49.5), Lee’s Summit (49) and Hickman (48).
“We got almost all the points we could get out of everybody,” Mules coach Mark Barousse said.
Deaton started the day in the middle of the pack during the two-mile race. He was in 10th place at the midpoint and eighth with two laps left, trailing the leader by a second. Rock Bridge’s Matthew Hauser was 1.9 seconds in front of Deaton, who was fifth, at the start of the final lap.
Deaton ran the final quarter mile in 58.49 seconds to surge into the lead, holding off Hauser at the line by 0.63 of a seconds.
Deaton finished in 9 minutes, 17.87 seconds, cutting 12.18 seconds off his best time set during Saturday’s sectional meet.
“Good race,” Coach Barousse said. “Really good tactical race.”
He added that Deaton looked tired at first.
“He kind of sat back in the middle of the pack for most of the race and just made a move at the end,” Coach Barousse said. “He had lot more than anybody else had.”
Deaton finished fourth in the 1600 at 4:19.20, also faster than his time Saturday, but not his best of the spring. He was in ninth place at the midpoint and was eighth heading into the final lap. Only the winner, Liberty North’s Ethan Lee who finished in 4:17.39, had a faster final lap than Deaton’s 58.91.
Pigg finished second in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.46 seconds while Lee’s Summit senior Johnny Brackins set a Class 5 record at 13.79 to win.
Pigg was fourth in the 300 hurdles at 39.45 to earn a second all-state medal.
“(Pigg) ran really, really well in the 110s,” Coach Barousse said. “(He) got stuck in the blocks a little bit but from then on (he ran well).”
Godwin, running in the first of two heats, finished the 110 race in 15.16 seconds, his fastest time of the season, and ended up picking up a point and an all-state medal.
“Just got to run the best you can no matter where you’re at,” Coach Barousse said.
Godwin finished 14th in the 300 hurdles at 41.46, also his best time, cutting 0.3 of a second from Saturday’s race.
“They’ve been good all year long,” Coach Barousse said of the hurdlers. “Consistent and good all year long.”
Luke Barousse didn’t have a miss during the pole vault, clearing 14-feet, 1/2-inch to crack the top-6. After a weather delay, the bar was moved up to 14-3.25 where the junior missed his three attempts. Two others also missed at the height but Barousse placed fourth on jumps.
Jackson’s Collin Havill placed second at 14-6 while Ft. Zumwalt North junior Sullivan Gleason won at 14-8.75.
Barousse, who broke a pole earlier in the season and was using a shorter run to the pit, struggled after the delay when the wind shifted.
“It’s been a long road back this spring,” Coach Barousse said. “He jumped well today.”
Marquis Johnson finished 15th in the long jump at 6.16 meters, or 20-feet, 2.5-inches while Pigg was 16th at 6.03 meters.
Colin Lamberson was 16th in both the javelin, throwing 37.53 meters, and triple jump with a leap of 12.3 meters, or 40-feet, 4.25-inches.
Trenton Davis was 15th in the javelin at 39.69 meters, or 130-feet, 2-inches.
Johnson, Lamberson, Godwin and Pigg finished 15th in the mile relay at 3:34.61 while Poplar Bluff’s 800-relay of Kolyn McBride, Johnson, Devin Gatewood and Kasen Hoss finished 14th in 1:34.27.
“There’s little bitty nuances that make the difference between getting on the podium and not getting on the podium,” Coach Barousse said of the relays.
Emilee Cheek placed 11th in the 200 at 26.73 seconds, missing the podium by 0.8 of a second.
Cheek, Kennedy Rowland, Simone Anders and Morghyn McCain finished 12th in the 400-relay at 51.35, just 0.6 off the pace for eighth place. The Mules foursome finished 14th in the 800-relay at 1:49.16.
Haile Hall was 16th in the javelin at 28.25 meters, or 92-feet, 8-inches.
Deaton’s win was Poplar Bluff’s first since 2015 when the girls won the team title when Jabreuna Brimlett swept the hurdle events and Austin Barousse’s pole vault title in 2013.
Poplar Bluff’s John Myers also won the 3200 title in 1987, finishing in 9:32.76.
This past fall, Deaton earned all-state honors in cross country by finishing in 14th place, running the 5,000-meter course in 16:02.8. He won the 3200, 1600 and 800 races in the district meet this spring.