You had to see this one coming - it ended the only way a Cinderella story could.
With Hannah Oberdiek attempting to pull off the most unlikely of comebacks, there was a sense the South Callaway senior wasn't going to be denied a second straight state title in the Class 2 girls' long jump.
And after everything Oberdiek went through in the past nine months, Friday's competition was a cakewalk by comparison.
Oberdiek suffered a broken left femur in September, underwent surgery, worked her way through rehab and eventually landed in the same place she was last May - atop the podium at the state meet.
Oberdiek broke her personal record twice in her final three jumps and saved the best for last, winning the event at Lincoln University's Dwight T. Reed Stadium with a mark of 18 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
If it seems like a storybook ending, that was the point.
"After I broke my leg, my coach said, "Make a story out of it.' So from that day on, I've been thinking about making the best story out of it by being a back-to-back state champion," Oberdiek said.
And what's a story without a little drama?
In the preliminary round, Oberdiek fouled on her first two attempts and was down to one last shot at making the finals, where she would get three more attempts.
Needing just a mark slightly better than 16 feet to move on, she uncorked a leap of 17-4 1/2, the best mark of any competitor at that point.
"I was nervous," she said. "I fouled by like an inch on the first two and they were both good jumps. The last one, I moved it back two feet - I wasn't going to foul again, no matter what. I just had to get one in."
Her experience at last year's state meet came in handy on that jump.
"I was nervous, but I learned how to calm those nerves last year whenever I was down to (Crane's) Emma (Lander) and down to my last jump before winning," she said. "I had been through that already."
The relief of making the finals was evident on her next attempt, as her first jump was a whopping 18-4, breaking the school record she set way back in her freshman year. Now an excited senior, she jumped around the pit in celebration when the distance was announced.
"My best jump was 17-10 my freshman year and I've gotten close to it before, but not over it," Oberdiek said. "So getting in the 18s was exciting for one, and then beating the record I've had since freshman year was awesome, too. I was definitely excited about that."
In her second attempt of the finals, Oberdiek jumped 17-6 3/4 before unleashing her winning mark on her last try.
It was a long way from Sept. 5, when an accident in P.E. class resulted in the broken femur.
"I was running in P.E. class and tripped on somebody's leg and my left leg took an extra long step and just snapped," she said. "They did calcium deficiency tests and stuff and none of it came back unnatural, so it was just a freak accident that happened."
Oberdiek, who has signed to compete at Truman State University, attacked rehab with a championship effort after having a metal rod inserted in her leg.
"It was absolutely worth it," she said. "The people who didn't think I could do it, the ones who looked at me in September like, "She's done,' the satisfaction of telling them that I did it is awesome."