Fulton senior Jenny McCarty had just set a personal record in the girls' 3,200 meters at the Missouri State High School Activities' Class 3 state track and field championships. McCarty had gone 15 seconds faster and shattered her time in last year's 3,200 final.
Yet, McCarty wondered aloud as she sat down in a tent in the infield at Lincoln University's Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
"I don't understand how I ran that fast and got seventh," she said.
McCarty finished the 3,200 - the first of her two bids for state titles - in 11 minutes, 24.81 seconds on Friday to come away with a medal. But she lagged 46 seconds behind Ste. Genevieve freshman Taylor Werner, who won the state title in a Class 3 record time of 10:38.04.
To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.