Mountain Grove junior Macey Penner capped off a great season as a distance runner for the track and field team on May 29 by placing third overall in the 800 meters at the Class 3 State Championships in Jefferson City.
Penner ran a personal best time of 2:22.69, which puts her No. 3 all time for the school as she passed Alexis Cooper (2:22.81).
Cooper ran that time in 2009.
“It was clear from the opening gun that Penner was putting herself in contention to medal,” said Mountain Grove head coach John Citron. “She moved near the front of the pack of 16 runners into third place and never relinquished the spot. She passed the 400 in 68.1 seconds, and then held off challenges to kick home in 74.6.”
Penner was just two seconds away from winning a state title.
Her teammate, freshman sprinter Jozey Sharp-MacPherson, had a slow start in the 100 meters race and finished 12th place overall in the Class 3 State Championships. In spite of the slow start, her 13.13 was her second best time of the season, but was short of her personal best 12.80 she set one week earlier in Sectionals.
