Cooper Henderson and Gage Marshall got a big boost of confidence for their senior seasons with the Wellsville-Middletown boys track team next year.

The W-M juniors earned all-state medals on the final day of the Class 1 state track meet on May 18 at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City. Henderson finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.60 seconds and Marshall came in seventh in the high jump at 6 feet, 0.5 inches. Marshall received all-state honors in the high jump for the second year in a row, while Henderson picked up his first all-state medal.

A year ago, Marshall earned all-state honors for the first time after finishing eighth in 5-10.75. At this year’s state meet, he cleared a 5-10.5 in his third attempt, then a 6-0.5 in his first attempt to clinch a berth to the state podium.

“It means a lot,” Marshall said. “I put in a lot of work for it.”

Marshall qualified for state by placing second in a personal-best 6-1.25 at the sectional meet at South Callaway on May 11. The week before, he won a district title in the event at New Haven.

Marshall has been successful in the high jump for the last two years. He has four first-place finishes in the event, including two this year. He began his junior season on March 18 with a win at a meet in Van-Far.

“There’s something about it that’s awesome,” Marshall said. “You clear that bar and it feels like, ‘Hmm, I got it.’ It’s another height going up.”

Marshall said he was thrilled to get on the awards podium in his first trip to state last year. He finished in a tie for eighth with Braxton Gibson of Osborn.

“It was awesome as a sophomore,” Marshall said. “I didn’t think I would get a medal and there I was.”

Marshall said he is already excited about his senior season. Out of the top eight medalists in the high jump, there will be four returning next year and Marshall is one of them.

“I’m looking forward to it a lot,” Marshall said. “I’m hoping to do a lot better.”

By getting an all-state medal in the 110-meter hurdles, Henderson wrapped up an outstanding season that included 11 first-place finishes, including district and sectional titles in the 110-meter hurdles.

“I guess I was going into a rhythm,” Henderson said. “Ever since then, I kept being consistent, which is always great when you’re in track. I kept getting better in practices and in meets, which really helped me get to state.”

Henderson, who made his first state meet appearance, finished with a personal-best 15.94 seconds in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles on May 17 to qualify for finals. He also competed in the high jump at state, but didn’t get a medal.

Henderson said he enjoyed the experience of competing at state for the first time.

“It’s great running in front of all of these people,” the junior said. “Everybody was screaming and yelling.”

Henderson enjoyed a banner athletic season that also included his first all-Eastern Missouri Conference award in basketball this winter. He said he already has high hopes for his senior season.

“I’m hoping to have fun, have a great year and get better in everything I do,” Henderson said.