For the first time in their lives, a handful of Community R-6 kids will compete at the state track and field meet.

Community R-6 at Sectionals Photo Gallery

This Friday’s program for the Class 1 meet at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City will include the relay team of Lane Carter, Mason Carroll, Caden Thomas and Aaron Carter in the boys 4x100 and 4x200 and Alyssa Beamer in the girls 800. The four boys and Beamer qualified at Saturday’s Class 1 Sectional 1 meet at South Callaway in Mokane.

Lane Carter, Carroll and Thomas all starters on the baseball team and the anchor leg Aaron Carter uses that speed to frequently pinch run for the Trojans on the diamond. Despite the time commitment that goes with being two-sport athletes in the same season, head coach Trenton Pummill said they are among the hardest working boys in the school. Their third-place 4x100 time of 47.69 set the school record for the second straight weekend, and their third-place 4x200 time of 1:40.04 is two seconds off that school record.

“This is only their sixth track meet this year, and yesterday, they had their third full practice ever on a track this season,” Pummill said. “For them to do this today was pretty phenomenal. That group is pretty special. It just shows the dedication they put in to be full-time baseball players and still have this on the backburner plus be heavily involved in other school organizations.”

Pummill said the boys “100 percent” exceeded his expectations and is definitely content with where they finished after breaking the 4x100 school record again. He said they will aim to clean up a few handoffs in the 4x200 to possibly break that school record at state.

In both races, Pummill has the four running in the same order since they haven’t given him any reason to mess with it. 

“Lane in the front and Aaron at the back are absolute studs,” Pummill said. “Mason Carroll and Caden Thomas are new to those relays. Mason Carroll, you look at him and he does not look like a sprinter, but the big man moves fast.”

Beamer embodies hard work and determination, Pummill said, as she had a goal to beat Higbee’s Ronnie Welch heading into sectionals since Welch was seeded higher than her in fourth. After a fourth-place time of 2:43.48, Beamer finished fourth to best Welch’s 2:43.64.

Pummill said Beamer literally gave everything she had because she fell across the finish line with dead legs. He said Beamer started the race “like a bullet out of a gun” until eventually her legs felt “like Jell-O.”

“She held an incredible pace, and she was hard to pass on every curve,” Pummill said. “Every time, they had to pass her on a curve so that only helped her out.”

Pummill said Beamer has wanted to go state since her freshman year, trying “every event under the sun,” and found a home in the 800. Events like the 800 aren’t favorable to a lot of kids, Pummill said, and even Beamer “partially died” at the end of Saturday’s race.

“She is a glutton for punishment,” Pummill said. “The 800 is one of those races where you want to die at the end.”

Community's boys relay quartet compete on state's first day on Friday, with the 4x200 relay starting at 12:30 p.m. and the 4x100 relay starting at 1:50 p.m., and Beamer runs the girls 800 at 4 p.m.

“It’s pretty awesome for a school like us to go to state when we don’t have a track,” Pummill said. “We have to borrow Mexico’s when they let us. It’s a testament to how hard-working these kids are because sometimes no track and sometimes we’re in hallways.”