Hoerr's Earns Four Golds as Affton Girls Take Second At State Track Meet

If one athlete could win a whole track meet by herself, Affton High senior Cheyenne Hoerr might be the one.

At least that’s the impression Hoerr made in the sweltering heat Saturday afternoon at the 86th Annual MSHSAA State Track Championships at Lincoln University’s Dwight T. Reed Stadium, when she won all four events she competed in, and helped Affton take second overall in the team competition despite having just three athletes qualify for the state meet.

“It hasn’t been too bad,” Hoerr said of the heat, which reached the high 90s by the time she won her fourth gold medal of the day in the girls 200 meter dash. “I feel OK. I’m just trying to do my best.”

On Saturday, Hoerr’s best was better than just about everybody else’s, as she also won the 100 meter dash, the 100 meter hurdles, and the 300 meter hurdles.

Those wins alone gave Affton 40 points in a competition that most teams would need at least seven or eight events to accumulate so many points.

It was because of Hoerr’s 40, the 13 points the Cougars got from teammate Hali Ford’s gold medal win in the triple jump and sixth place finish in the long jump, and Kara Klemp’s one-half point in the pole vault competition that gave Affton a total of 53.50 points on the day.

That total was enough to best every other team in the state, except University City, which won the Class 3 championship with 66 points, after winning the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relays, taking second in the 4x400 meter relay, and got points from two competitors in four other events on the day.

U. City brought a contingent of nine athletes that competed in 10 events, while Affton got its points from just three athletes competing in seven events.

The girls from Lutheran South also had a fine performance at the MSHSAA Track Championships, finishing fifth overall with a total of 29 points.

The Lancers didn’t bring home any gold, but sprinters Jasmine Cawley, Dana Kaempfe, Goka Meneh, and Maya Cody did take second in 4x100 meter relay, while individually, Cody took sixth in the open 100, and Jan Steinbrueck took third in the discus.

Senior Amanda Behnke placed in two events as well for Lutheran South, taking third place in both the one-mile and two-mile runs, which accounted for 12 of the Lancers’ 29 points.

On the boys side, Lutheran South placed in five events for a total of 16 points.

Seniors Nadum Meneh and Travis Connelly did most of the work on that front, with Meneh taking third in the open 400 and sixth in the open 200, and Connelly taking fourth in the two-mile run and eighth in the one-mile race.

Senior Sam Hoff also earned the Lancers a point, with an eighth-place finish in 300 meter hurdles.

Other state qualifiers from Lutheran South were senior Robert Tosie, who was 10th in the shot put, and freshman Richard James, who finished tied for ninth in the high jump.