It was a busy and successful week for Steelville High School’s track and field team. The Cardinals competed in the Grandview Invitational on April 13 and Steelville’s boys earned second place as a team and the girl’s team finished in third place. 

Three days later, the Cardinals took the short trip up Highway 19 to compete in the Cuba Relays. The boys team took first place in a dominant showing and the girl’s team earned third place after a strong performance. Both meets are detailed below. 

Steelville then hosted a meet on April 21 at Steelville City Park. The Cardinals are scheduled to compete in the Hermann Invitational on April 23 and in the St. James Invitational on April 27.

Cards thrive in Grandview Invitational

Steelville’s stellar track and field season continued on April 13 when the Cardinals traveled to Hillsboro to compete in the Grandview Invitational. Numerous boys and girls had standout performances for the red and white. 

Steelville’s sterling senior boys continued to finish at the top of the podium. Landon Rutledge took first place in the 300 meter hurdles with a 43.04 time, finished second in the 110 meter hurdles in a personal best 17.08 seconds and was a part of the Cardinal’s 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams that finished in first place along with Owen Rutledge, Alexander Martin and Hunter Starbeck. Owen Rutledge earned a gold medal in the 1600 meter race after finishing in 5:07.75.

Hunter Starbeck continued to thrive in the 400 meter dash, earning another first place finish with a 51:20 finishing time. Starbeck also took fourth place in the 200 meter dash after running the race in 24:26 seconds. 

Freshman Lucas Garms took fourth place in the 3200 meter race after completing the race in 12:35.83 and finished in fifth place in the 1600 meter race with a 5:34.87. 

Fellow freshman Aiden Greenwalt and Kaden Rulo both had multiple top-12 worthy performances. Greenwalt took sixth in the long jump with a 5.42 meter leap and finished in 10th in the 200 meter dash after completing it in 25.43 seconds. Rulo earned eighth place in the 400 meter after finishing in a personal best 57.34 seconds and took 12th place in the long jump with a 5.07 meter leap. 

Sophomore Darion Signaigo ran the 110 meter hurdles in 19.78 seconds to earn sixth place. 

Senior Aiden Retkowski had Steelville’s strongest performances in the field events. Retkowski finished in third place in the shot put with a 12.65 meter heave and fifth place in the discus event with a 38.45 meter toss. 

Freshman Andy Riley earned a third place medal in the high jump with a 5.6 meter leap and Martin matched him with a 5.6 meter leap and took fifth place.

Junior Max Harmon earned sixth place finished in the javelin and discus events with 35.83 meter and 36.35 meter heaves, respectively and took fourth place in the shot put with a 11.62 meter toss. 

Senior Will Bailey rounded out the Steelville boys competitors, taking 10th place in the javelin event with a 31.65 meter throw. 

The Lady Cardinals didn’t have any first place finishers, but had multiple athletes earn second and third place medals. 

Basketball standout Emeri Perkins put on her best all around performance of the spring track season, earning a trio of top-three finishes. Perkins took second in the 300 meter hurdles after finishing in a personal best 52.22 second and took third place in the 100 meter dash and triple jump events with a 14.32 second time and a season-best 9.39 meter leap.  

Perkins’ younger sister, freshman Adalei Perkins, also medaled in three different events. Perkins took second place in the 3200 meter race and in the triple jump with a 13:53.34 time and a 9.50 meter leap. She also finished in third place in the 400 meter race after finishing in 1:08.21.

Fellow freshman Vivian West also picked up a pair of medals in the 400 meter race and in the long jump. West ran the 400 meter in 1:07.06 and leapt 4.46 meters to earn second and third places, respectively. 

Brooklyn Thomas was also another Lady Cardinal freshman to earn a top-three finish. Thomas tossed the javelin 27.10 meters to earn second place in the event. 

Senior Peyton Brooks was the final Lady Cardinal medal winner on the track, taking third place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 19.37 second finish. Brooks also took fourth place in the 300 meter hurdles and eighth place in the javelin throw. 

Freshman Alex Helms competed for the first time this season and finished in fourth place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 19.56 second finish. 

Freshman Ila Pfeiffer was Steelville’s lone medal winner in the field events, earning second place in the pole vault competition with a 1.98 meter attempt. Junior Jayla Schmidt also competed in the event and finished in fourth place with a 1.68 meter leap. 

Junior Regan Bratcher took seventh place in the discus event with a 12.38 meter throw and sophomore Annabella Haines finished in eighth place in the shot put with a 7.05 meter toss. 

Freshman Cami Mason earned fifth place in the discus competition with a 19.75 meter toss and took ninth place in the shot put competition with a 6.80 meter heave. 

Cards put on a show in Cuba

Steelville’s boys and girls teams didn’t let the rain put a damper on their sparkling performance at the Cuba Invitational. After the rain delayed the meet for about thirty minutes, the Cardinals took to the track and were immediate standouts among the 12 schools competing. 

The Cardinals’ boys team earned a dominant seven first-place individual medals and won all three relay races en route to a first place win as a team. The Lady Cardinals earned two first place individual finishes, five second place medals and a pair of second places in the 4x200 and 4x400 relay races. 

Steelville senior Landon Rutledge continued to show that he’s one of the top runners in the area, taking first place in every race he competed in. Rutledge earned first place medals in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles along with winning the 1600 meter race, in which he led wire to wire. He was also a part of Steelville’s first place 4x400 relay team along with Aiden Greenwalt, Alexander Martin and Hunter Starbeck, which capped his perfect day on the track.   

Fellow Cardinal senior Hunter Starbeck’s dominance in the 400 meter race continued in Cuba. After setting a meet record in the Cuba Relays on March 30, Starbeck once again set another meet record and earned first place with a speedy 50.96 time that was the 48th fastest time in all of Missouri. 

Steelville’s dominance also continued in the field events. 

Martin earned a first place medal in the high jump competition with a 1.80 meter leap. Freshman Andy Riley wasn’t far behind him and took fourth place after jumping 1.75 meters. 

Junior Max Harmon finished in first place in the discus event after hurling it 40.60 meters. Harmon was also Steelville’s top javelin thrower, taking fifth place after throwing it 36.13 meters. 

Senior Aiden Retkowski took first place in the shot put competition after launching it 13.19 meters. Retkowski also finished in fourth place in the discus event after tossing it 35.34 meters. 

Greenwalt, Riley, Martin and sophomore Darion Signaigo ran the 4x100 race in 48.90 to earn first place and Greenwalt, Martin, Signaigo and Starbeck took first place in the 4x200 relay race after completing it in 1:39.06.

For the Lady Cardinals, Freshman Adalei Perkins and junior Emeri Perkins earned Steelville’s lone gold medals. 

Adalei Perkins took first place in the 1600 meter race after pulling away from Newburg’s Laynee Caquelin in the final stretch to finish with a 6:04.04 time. She also earned second place in the triple jump with a 9.35 meter hop and was a part of Steelville’s second place 4x400 relay along with Emeri Perkins, Brooklyn Thomas and Vivian West. 

Emeri Perkins edged out her young sister to earn first place in the triple jump with a 9.45 meter leap. She also earned third place in the 300 meter hurdles after completing the race in 51.64 seconds. 

Senior Peyton Brooks continued her consistent performance in the 100 meter hurdles, taking second place with a 18.90 time. Freshman Alex Helms also competed in the event and finished 19.63 seconds to earn fourth place.

West took second place in the 400 meter race after finishing in 1:07.10, less than three seconds shy of first place finisher Justice Evrard of Cuba. West showed her athletic versatility, taking part in the long jump competition and finished in eighth after leaping 3.58 meters. Along with being in the 4x400 relay team, West’s busy day wrapped up by being a part of Steelville’s second place 4x200 relay team along with Helms, senior Elivia Pryor and freshman Ila Pfeiffer who finished the race in 2:01.19. 

Before competing in the 4x400 relay race and in the individual 100 meter dash, Thomas earned second place in the javelin competition with a 32.70 meter toss. She finished in eighth place in the 100 meter dash after running it in 14.42 seconds. Pryor also threw the javelin, and took sixth place after hurling it 26.58 meters.  

Pfeiffer earned fourth place in the pole vault event after leaping 2.10 meters in addition to her efforts in the 4x200 relay team.

Freshman Cami Mason and junior Regan Bratcher competed in the shot put competition and finished in 12th and 16th place, respectively. Mason tossed it 7.32 meters and Bratcher hurled it 5.12 meters.