JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For a few exuberant moments, John Farmer allowed his steely demeanor to crack wide open.

The compact Maryville junior leapt and pumped his fists as he ran along the runway at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. A 22-foot long jump will do that.

His personal best vaulted him ahead of the competition and landed him a second-place finish at Saturday’s Missouri Track and Field Championships.

“It feels great,” Farmer deadpanned, slipping back into his steady tone after his final attempt. “I’m just happy. That’s all.”

Farmer entered the event with the third-worst qualifying jump but felt confident entering the meet after a strong week of practice.

His opening effort of 20 feet, 6 inches didn’t elicit much of a response — unlike his second jump. The hollow thump of the board accompanied his leap, and he jumped, nervously awaiting the result.

His jump of 22-2 1/2 gave him a personal best by almost an entire foot.

“I’d been slowing down at the board, so that was hurting me,” he said. “I figured if I was going to do my best, I’d do it down here.”

Farmer reeled off two more jumps of 22 feet or greater but couldn’t surpass his preliminary total. Josh Shipp of University City matched the effort in finals, but Farmer finished higher on the medal stand thanks to a tiebreaker.

His effort also earned him the school record, as he surpassed Pat Jordan’s previous mark.

An equally impressive performance on the track allowed teammate and fellow junior John Rogers to join him on the medal stand.

Having pushed the 2-minute barrier in the 800-meter run the past two weeks, Rogers knocked it down when he ran a 1:57.64 — good enough for fourth. His time set a school record.

“I knew I could run under two minutes,” Rogers said. “I didn’t know I could run three seconds under that.”

Following his impressive anchor leg in the Friday’s 4x400-meter relay, Rogers raced to the front of the pack and remained tied for the lead after the first lap. His all-state chances started to fade, however, as he continued to slip in the standings around the final curve.

“I tried to lead for a little bit, but it didn’t work too well,” Rogers said. “I really started to hurt after about 600. That’s when I wasn’t sure, but I knew I had to finish.”

A resilient Rogers held his ground on the final straightaway and even got the lean on Potosi’s Joe Skelton, fending him off by one hundredth of a second despite his outside position.

The two juniors combined for 13 total points to help the Spoofhounds finish in a tie for 19th place.

Maryville’s girls, meanwhile, did more with less.

Jordan Stiens finished a runner-up to Tiffani McReynolds in both hurdle events, and Megan Walker earned her second throwing medal. Even with only three qualifiers, the Spoofhounds — the smallest Class 3 school by enrollment — finished all alone in sixth place with 30 points.

“They all stepped up at the right time and did what they had to do,” Maryville coach Grant Hageman said. “It all came together here at the end and was exciting to watch.”

Stiens’ races in particular proved exciting.

In her first event, the 100-meter hurdles, the sophomore stayed right with Pembroke Hill’s McReynolds for the first three hurdles before falling slightly off the pace. She finished nearly three-tenths of a second behind with a 14.94.

Stiens had to come from behind in the 300s, however, and overtook Bolivar’s Gracie Prewitt at the end to finish in 44.34 — almost a second behind McReynolds.

“I really wanted to catch her, but she’s pretty fast,” Stiens said. “Still, I was happy that I finished that high.”

Stiens couldn’t recapture her all-state form in the high jump, though, and couldn’t clear a height.

A day after earning a discus medal, Walker capped her underdog meet by picking up her fourth medal.

Her first throw of 37-2 got her through to finals, and the junior improved upon that mark by four inches in the finals — good enough for seventh. Her previous two medals came two years ago in the Class 1 meet, where she threw for Worth County.

“I knew the competition was going to be completely different from last time,” Walker said. “I didn’t know how things were going to go. I was just hoping that I would do my best and medal.”

Her all-state performance came despite a delayed start. Morning showers drenched the field and submerged half of the shot pits under an inch of standing water.

The event began three hours after its allotted 11 a.m. start time.

“(The shot) was kind of nasty when I got it back,” Walker said, “but I didn’t mind too much.”

Sports reporter Andy Meyer can be reached at andymeyer@npgco.com

With a few more qualifiers and another batch of solid performances, Hageman said the team could put itself in trophy contention by this time next season.

“I know the two (Walker and Stiens) that are coming back are excited about getting as many people down here as we can,” Hageman said. “I think we can keep building on this next year.”