Through the rain and cold temperatures, Liberty High senior D.C. Okonta was able to handle all the distractions and win a district championship.

Okonta won the triple jump Saturday, May 10, at the Class 4 District 8 meet at Blue Springs High. Okonta and junior Zack Baldwin (200 meters) were the only Liberty boys to win events as the Blue Jays took third with 97 points, behind champion Blue Springs (159) and Park Hill (102 1/2).

Okonta took the event with a jump of 45 feet, 3 inches, a half-inch better than Park Hill’s Andre McDonald.

“You have to think more about what you are doing when the weather is bad,” Okonta said. “You have to have a little more mental toughness.”

Okonta also drew inspiration from sophomore Katro Keels, who took third in the event with a jump of 45-0 1/2.

“Katro is very natural,” Okonta said. “He has a natural talent for doing this. Being a senior, it makes me want to try really hard to beat him because I think I should be doing better because I’m a senior and he’s a sophomore. It’s just a big competition between all of us.”

Keels is battling through a nagging and painful ankle injury. He also qualified for the sectional meet Saturday, May 17, in the high jump, taking third at 5-10.

“It’s difficult because you see the other competitors jumping farther than you,” Keels said. “You just want to do the best you can. Even though it hurts, you try not to let it affect you. You have to put it out of your mind. I try to be a competitor.”

Baldwin set himself up for making a strong bid for the state meet. He won the 200 in a time of 22.31 and took third in the 400 in 49.77.

Baldwin also ran the anchor leg of the 800 relay, which took second in 1:30.09. His teammates in the race were Danny Cunningham, Jeff Cunningham and Taylor Wilson.

Chris Melton was second in the high jump at 6-2. Marcus Lucas was second in the long jump at 22-4.

Tyler Stuber placed third in the 3,200 in a time of 9:56. Okonta was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 21-10. Stanton Ragland took fourth in the 1,600 in a time of 4:34.42, and A.J. Foy was fourth in the pole vault at 13-6.

The Kansas City sectional meet will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lee’s Summit North High. The meet will begin with the girls 3,200 relay, followed by the boys 3,200 relay. The other track events begin at 11:30 a.m.

The top four in each event advance to the Class 4 state meet Friday and Saturday, May 23 and 24, in Jefferson City.

Sports writer Kevin Goodwin can be reached at 389-6652 or kgoodwin@npgco.com.