Every point counts.

That might sound head-smackingly obvious and a bit cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

State track championships are just as much a product of the first-place phenoms as they are the eighth-place overachievers. Need an example? See Worth County’s 2007 girls’ squad, which won its third straight title by a point over Norborne.

With enough events, those sixth- and seventh-place winners start stacking up in a hurry.

While Rock Port’s girls did a good job of getting points everywhere they could – especially in the mile – Trenton’s boys did not. The Bulldogs left three points dangling in three separate ninth-place finishes Thursday.

If Kyle Hoyt and De’Andre Vandevender do what they’re supposed to, Trenton shouldn’t have to worry about anyone leapfrogging them. But solid, point-scoring performances from the less-heralded Dylan Robinson (400) and Brett Lawson (800) could help wrap this thing up fairly early.

And is it too early to congratulate Hamilton’s girls on their fourth state title in 12 months? I don’t think so. With all its talent and experience, that loaded team is beyond jinxing at this point.

-- For anyone who watched the 110-meter hurdles at Albany, today’s state final should bring about a serious case of déjà vu.

Don’t worry. You’re not taking crazy pills. The same kids are there.

Kyler Hiatt, Craig Mattson, Adam Nelson and Doug Archer (in that order) will line up next to each other after posting the fastest heat times. That sort of dominance out of a single district is pretty rare. Princeton’s Ethan Stark also slipped in with an eighth-place time.

In case you were wondering, Mattson beat Hiatt by nearly two-tenths of a second the last go round. We’ll see if history repeats itself.

-- Speaking of hurdles, only one more race stands between Jacob Stutz of DeKalb and an undefeated season in the 300 hurdles.

Stutz the first heat by nearly a full second but has the second-fasted seed time behind Hiatt heading into today’s final. When the two clashed at sectionals, Stutz won by an astonishing second and a half.

In order to get back to that margin and a new season best, Stutz will have to limit his troubling stutter-stepping tendencies, which surfaced again in prelims.

-- The two-mile race had to feel a little familiar for Zach Layton.

There he was – trying to stave off a pack of College Heights Christian runners. Only it wasn’t cross country season. In fact, the top four finishers in the Class 2 3,200 all finished sixth or higher at November’s state cross country meet in Columbia.

But Layton improved upon his previous finish, shattering his season best and finishing only behind Ethan Beaver, who also claimed the title last fall. The two seniors will have another crack at each today in the mile.

-- Also worth noting, Lawson’s Jasmine Kassanavoid beat last year’s state-winning shot put distance by six inches but still came up four feet short of Katie Evans of Putnam County.

The runner up a year ago, Evans set a new state mark at 46-feet-7 3/4. The two juniors will be back next year. After routinely throwing 40 feet, we’ll see is Kassanavoid can add the kind of distance Evans found between last year and this.