It's been a long road of recovery for Poplar Bluff's Jerrid Moore, Logan Bell and Kaylee Eakin but they ended up back at the MSHSAA track and field state championship meet.
Moore will anchor the Mules 400-meter relay in Friday's prelim and Bell will throw in the javelin a little over six months after they both suffered season-ending knee injuries in football. Eakin, meanwhile, overcame an illness to make the cut in the long jump, which competes Saturday at Jefferson City High School.
"I'm actually pretty proud of what I've done considering I haven't been training very hard this year," said Eakin, who was diagnosed with mononucleosis last summer.
Moore and Bell both had knee surgery to repair their ACL in the fall.
"Trying to get my mind right," Moore said. "Because I know I'm not going to be 100 percent what I was but, it's pretty good.
"It's not where it was but I feel like it will get back."
Bell is one of three in the state to throw the javelin over 175 feet this spring.
Last year as a sophomore, Bell earned all-state honors by placing third in Class 4 with a throw of 167-8. Had he competed in Class 5, Bell's throw was second in front of Dylan Cowling of Blue Springs and Kirkwood's Ivan Barnett, who both have longer throws this spring than Bell's school record of 178-8 at the Kansas Relays.
Throwers in the javelin can run up to 100 feet and the majority of the time this season Bell has been running on grass. Last week in muddy conditions he threw 160-7 on his first attempt and scratched the rest of the day. At state, like the Kansas Relays, the runway is a track surface.
"It's holding up pretty good," Bell said of his knee. "Most people wouldn't be throwing on it at all five months after surgery."
Bell injured his knee in a home football game against Farmington on Sept. 9. At the time the junior was second on the team in tackles and scored five touchdowns, averaging 8.8 yards per carry while taking snaps at quarterback.
Moore injured his knee two weeks later, Sept. 23, in a game at Sikeston as the Mules rallied from a 17-point deficit. He ended up fourth all-time in career receiving yards with 1,491 after setting a season record with 66 catches as a junior.
Moore didn't have surgery until Nov. 11, a month after Bell who was cleared to throw April 11. Moore's recovery was completed just in time for him to join the 400 relay.
At districts, the Mules ran a 44.27 for third place without Moore. Last week with him, they finished in 43.01.
The Mules rank 10th in the event but second-seeded CBC is less than a second faster.
"It's going to be whoever hits the handoffs and the sticks that make it through," Mules coach Mark Barousse said.
Isaiah Johnson, who will also compete in two hurdle events, will start the race before handing off to Wyatt Murphy who missed the state cut in the 100 by 0.02 of a second in 11.21. Adam Vincent has the third leg before Moore will finish.
Moore said he struggled at first getting the timing back on the handoffs.
"It was a little difficult at first but once I realized Jerrid's back, he's back to where he was, it wasn't hard to realize I'll be able to catch him," Vincent said.
The 400 relay earned all-state honors each of the last two years with Moore running a leg. Johnson and Murphy also ran last year as they finished seventh in 43.49.
Eakin, who broke the team record in the 800 as a freshman, was inching closer to the 400 mark of 58.7 set by Tenisha Britton last spring. She qualified for state in 58.82, missing the mark by 0.12 of a second for a third straight meet, but finished 12th in the prelim at 1:00.62.
In the days that followed, Eakin found herself fatigued and in pain, she said, leading to a doctor visit.
"Beginning of this year, something was still wrong," Eakin said.
Blood tests showed she still had low levels of iron, ferritin, a protein that stores iron, and cortisol, which helps the body use sugar and fat for energy, she said.
Even limited to one event, the long jump, Eakin found herself fatigued after competing in two meets within three days in March and was sidelined for three weeks.
"It was really stressful," she said.
Focusing on her jumping technique, Eakin was able to clear 15-9 at the conference meet for second place then won the district title a week later at 16-7.25. She cleared 16-6.75 to place third and qualify for state last weekend.
"That's just been a big surprise," Lady Mules coach Beth Lewis-Muse said. "We were just trying to find her a place throughout the entire season to still be apart of the team."
Eakin's twin sister Krisman qualified for state in two events for a second straight year in the 200 and 400.
Krisman Eakin earned all-state honors in the 200 as a freshman (eighth in 26.14) and sophomore (eighth in 25.88) but her season-best time of 25.7 ranks 13th heading into Friday's prelims. She also ranks 13th in the 400 at 59.79.
Shelby Sievers also returns to state in the shot. The junior placed 12th last year at 35-0.5 while last week she threw 37-3.5.
Khelie Spence qualified in the 100 hurdles after winning the sectional race last week in 15.76. Her season-best time of 15.01, ran in the district prelim, ranks sixth-fastest in the field. Two other freshmen --McCluer North's Michelle Owens and Jaden Wiley of Kickapoo --have the top two times while a third freshman also broke 15 seconds.
"I don't think we've seen Khelie's potential yet," Lewis-Muse said.
Johnson is looking for an all-state repeat in the 300 hurdles after finishing eighth as a freshman in 47.36. He has the third-fastest time coming in after a 39.3 last week. Johnson will also compete in the 110 hurdles after qualifying in 15.61.
Makarius Bell comes in with the fifth-best throw in the discus after qualifying at 153-0.
Vincent was sixth last year to earn all-state honors in the pole vault by clearing 14-0 while Brett Barousse was fourth at state as a freshman. Last year Barousse placed sixth in the state's toughest district despite clearing 13-0.
Both advanced to state by getting over 13-6. Vincent said his goal is to reach 15-feet after coming close when he got 14-6 early in the season.
The last vaulter to clear 15-feet at state, Austin Barousse in 2013, won the event.
"That's my goal," Vincent said. "That's my goal all year. Been close to it, but I'm hoping I get it this year."