Jacob Walton’s Belle Lady Tiger and Tiger track and field athletes were eying top-four finishes over the weekend during the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 2, District 4 Track Meet held at New Bloomfield High School.

Athletes earning top-four finishes in any event would advance to one of four MSHSAA Class 2 sectional meets this Saturday at South Callaway High School in Mokane.

It did not take long for Walton to be able to make travel plans to Mokane.

Both the Tiger and Lady Tiger 4x800-meter relay teams advanced to sectionals with top-four finishes.

Placing second in a time of 8:56.78 during the boys 4x800m relay was the Tiger quartet of Malachi Fredendall, Coltin Hazelwood, Miles Frey and David Skaggs.

Also advancing with a fourth-place time of 12:50.76 was the Lady Tiger 4x800m relay team of Ellanor Kent, Allania Moore, Saylor Kent and Kenadie Bailey.

Ellanor Kent also advanced individually to sectionals in two events with a fourth-place time of 6:17.65 in the girls 1600m run and a second-place time of 14:00.58 in the girls 3200m run.

In addition to both Belle High School (BHS) 4x800m relay teams qualifying for sectionals, their 4x400m relay counterparts will also be joining them in Mokane.

Posting a third-place time of 3:45.88 in the boys 4x400m relay was the Tiger quartet of Miles Frey, Connor Weigel, Skaggs and Fredendall.

Grabbing the final sectional-qualifying spot in the girls 4x400m relay with a fourth-place time of 4:43.32 was the Lady Tiger squad of Avaya Kitchen, Zoe Camden, Ellie Gray and Bailey.

Camden also advanced individually to sectionals in two events clocking in with a second-place time of 1:04.87 in the girls 400m dash and a third-place time of 28.20 in the girls 200m dash.

Senior Aubrey Rehmert was the lone BHS athlete to advance to sectionals out of a field event claiming her fourth consecutive district title in the girls javelin with a winning throw of 37.82m.

Landon Storz posted his best finish during districts with a 17th-place time of 30.05 in the boys 200m dash.

Trevor Frey (10th, 20.61) and Isaiah Spurgeon (11th, 22.58) clocked in with their best district times for the Tigers in the boys 110m hurdles.

Sprinting to a ninth-place time for the Tigers in the boys 4x100m relay was the foursome of Braxton Ahart, Cason Taylor, Brice Robertson and Timothy Schmid.

Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 4x200m relay for the Tigers was the team of Connor LeRoux, Ahart, Taylor and Robertson with a 10th-place time of 1:42.90.

Brayden Barzee (5th, 35.99m) and Brayden Gibson (10th, 32.52m) led Tiger throwers with top-10 marks in the boys discus.

Robertson (5th, 1.73m) and Kaegan Kinsey (12th, 1.63m) sailed over the bar for Belle in the boys high jump at New Bloomfield.

Chloe Jones (12th, 23.14m) and Kennady Kinkead (13th, 21.31m) tossed the discus for the Lady Tigers while Jones posted a 10th-place mark of 7.83m.

Along with Rehmert winning her fourth district title in the girls javelin, Hayden Fann also posted a 21st-place throw of 17.79m for the Lady Tigers.

All that now stands between Belle’s sectional qualifiers and a trip to the MSHSAA State Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City over Memorial Day weekend is a top-four finish at sectionals.