Ladue's Jehu Chesson Emerges From State Track Meet a Two-Time Champion

Jehu Chesson II’s brilliant athletic career at Ladue Horton Watkins has finally come to an end. Chesson has contributed so much to Ladue athletics. A prime receiver in football, he was good enough to gain the attention and a scholarship for the Michigan Wolverines football team. He added to Ladue’s basketball sucess and over the Memorial Day weekend, was gangbusters in track and field.

The state meet in Jefferson City was just another brilliant performance to his record-setting career.

He was first to the finish in the 100 meter dash in 10.77. He beat his rival Aaron Mallet of McCluer North in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles 37.77 to 37.86 and Mallet returned the favor in the 110 high’s, winning by a fraction, 14.14 to 14.15.

Chesson had precious few minutes to spare between the back-to-back hurdle and 100 meter events.

“We have special training for speed and endurance and we have great coaches and they stay on us all the time. I don’t know if losing to (Aaron) Mallet gave me special motivation. I respect his talents a great deal. When you come from Ladue, and you are the team’s only hurdler, you have to run with a chip on your shoulder. You can’t always be the best. There is always someone out there who wants to come out and beat you.”

Did Michigan football coach Brady Hoke know about your meet?

“Oh yes, he wished me best of luck. That was it.”

“My position coach stopped by the house recently and dropped off the playbook. He went over what I need to learn to be ready for fall camp.”

Is track harder than football? “I would say track is harder. The workouts are harder, but if my Michigan coach heard that, he would probably want to make my workout much harder.”

“This whole track season has been a real grind. I just finished up my AP (Advanced Placement) courses two weeks ago. We just had graduation. There’s been a lot of family in and out, but you just have to stay focused and find the motivation to do well.”

Amos Bartelsmeyer wins the mile; runs a personal best in the half.

Bartelsmeyer still has one more year at MICDS. Various Ivy League schools are courting the Creve Coeur distance runner, but he’s maintaining an open door policy for all collegiate possibilities. Nothing has been cast in stone.

In the 1600 meter run, he put some distance between himself and the field, including Kain Ellis of Benton, who finished second (4:24.78) about the half way mark of the race. By the end, he won in a breeze with an outstanding time of 4:14.66 on a very hot day.

Bartelsmeyer will run in the open mile Thursday night at St. Louis U. High’s Mile Festival and hopefully qualify for national competition this summer.

Here are photos and interviews from the annual track championships in Jefferson City.