JEFFERSON CITY — Find the medal stand.

Matt Candrl’s Owensville Dutchmen and Dutchgirl track athletes had that on their minds over the weekend during the 2024 Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Track and Field Championships held at the Dennis and Roberta Licklider Track Complex inside Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium.

It did not take long for Owensville to land an athlete on the medal stand Friday morning.

Narrowly making it into the nine-man finals, Owensville junior Eli Graham threw his way onto the podium with a seventh-place mark of 45.42 meters in the Class 3 Boys Discus.

“Eli was able to end his junior season on a high note,” Candrl said. “After breaking a 29-year-old school record the previous weekend at sectionals, he did what he had to do to get on the medal stand in spite of a rough start in the prelims at state.”

Fellow OHS junior Landon Losch marked his state meet debut competing in the Class 3 Boys 110m hurdles.

Placing 15th overall with a preliminary time of 15.85, Losch now has plenty of motivation for his senior season.

“Landon did a great job breaking the 16-second barrier and getting himself to the state meet,” Candrl said. “Now he knows what he has to work on to drop that time down even more.”

Dutchgirl senior Emma Daniels was next on the track Friday in the prelims of the Class 3 Girls 100m dash.

Placing fifth in her preliminary heat with a time of 12.52, that was good enough for seventh overall and a spot in Saturday’s finals.

Winding up with a seventh-place time of 12.64 in Saturday’s finals, Daniels ended her OHS track career with seven state medals including three from over the weekend.

“This was an awesome way to close out my senior year with three medals in track,” Daniels said. “Now I’ll look to do my best on the basketball court at Columbia College.”

Nearly an hour after Daniels’ first event, junior Ilene Limberg hit the track taking her first of three shots at a medal in the Class 3 Girls 1600m run.

Sitting ninth after the first lap, Limberg worked her way into the top eight before crossing the finish line with a seventh-place time of 5:18.25.

“I knew I had to work hard today to get into the top eight against a really competitive field,” Limberg said. “I feel fortunate that I was able to stay with the middle pack putting myself in a good position to get on the podium.”

Another hour passed before the Dutchgirl 4x100m relay team looked to sprint their way into the finals.

One of three schools to post a time of 50.86, the Owensville foursome of McKenzy Echols, Emma-lee Wehmeyer, Cameron Nowack and Emma Daniels qualified for the finals with the seventh-fastest time.

During Saturday’s finals, that same foursome dropped their time down to 50.58 to place fourth in the state in the Class 3 Girls 4x100m relay.

“I’m really proud of the girls for doing what they need to do to improve their position from a tough lane,” Candrl said. “It will be tough to replace Emma and McKenzy but I feel confident we will find a pair of sprinters next spring to fill those shoes.”

Daniels had one more shot Friday at advancing to the finals during the prelims of the Class 3 Girls 200m dash.

Posting a time of 25.97 in the first of two preliminary heats, Emma posted the sixth-fastest time earning her a spot in Saturday’s finals.

Taking sixth in 26.04, Emma Daniels finished her outstanding OHS track career as a seven-time All-State athlete.

“Emma will be greatly missed and hard to replace next year,” Candrl said. “She always gave everything she had and it was awesome to see her on the podium individually in the 100m and 200m dashes after she did not make the finals in both events last year as a junior.”

Saturday action on the track opened up with the Dutchgirls competing in the Class 3 Girls 4x800m relay.

Ranked 12th coming in, the orange and black knew they had work to do.

Limberg gave Owensville the lead after the first leg of the race before Brynn Wright, Abbie Gibson and Hannah Gehlert helped OHS land on the medal stand after a sixth-place time of 10:12.00 shaving nearly 15 seconds from their sectional time.

“I’m so proud of those girls for running the race that they did,” Candrl said. “The nice thing is that all four of them are back next year to perhaps get that time under 10 minutes.”

Limberg’s final chance at the podium came in the Class 3 Girls 3200m run later on Saturday afternoon.

Hovering at or near the top eight the entire race, Limberg narrowly missed a third state medal Saturday after posting a ninth-place time of 11:55.89.