After putting together a pair of strong performances in their meets last week in Grandview (Hillsboro) and in Cuba, the Cardinals continued to thrive on April 21 in the Southwest Baptist University Bearcat Classic and on April 23 in the Hermann Invitational.

Steelville also competed in the St. James Invitational on April 27, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Cardinals will then compete in its final two meets of the regular season, returning to Cuba to take part in the GVC meet on May 2, starting at 8:30 a.m., before capping their regular season on April 5 at the Bourbon Invitational.

Steelville stands out among 63 teams at Southwest Baptist University Bearcat Classic

The Cardinals competed with 62 other schools ranging from Classes 1 through 3 during a busy afternoon of competition at Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in Bolivar, Mo.

Steelville’s boys team earned 11th place as a team and the Lady Cardinals didn’t place in the top 39 of girls teams. Mountain Grove, Clever and Hermitage earned first, second and third places, respectively in the boys division and Clever, Eldon and Houston finished in the top-three of the girls division.

Steelville senior Landon Rutledge continued his fantastic final season competing for the Cardinals with another exemplary performance at SBU. Rutledge is used to winning first place in a variety of events, but conquered a new event in Bolivar — the 2000 meter steeplechase competition that included numerous jumps over hurdles and through water. Rutledge earned first place in the event in a field of 48 competitors, after completing it in 6:47.05.

Rutledge was also a part of Steelville’s champion 4x800 relay team along with Alexander Martin, Hunter Starbeck and Owen Rutledge. The speedy quartet ran their fastest time ever in the event, earning first place out of 47 teams with an 8:28.54 finish. The same four Cardinals also took fifth place out of 25 teams in the 4x800 race after finishing in 3:37.67.

Starbeck continued his dominance in the 400 meter individual race. He ran it in a personal best 50.83 seconds, earning second place out of 95 participants, after finishing just 0.24 seconds behind first-place winner, Liberty’s Jaspar Melby.

Cardinal junior Max Harmon took eighth place in the discus competition out of 91 competitors after tossing it a personal best 41.02 meters. Harmon also finished 31st out of 98 participants in the shot put event with a 11.84 meter heave and took 37th out of 93 in the javelin event with a 37.21 meter throw.

Senior Aiden Retkowski earned 21st place out of 98 in the shot put event with a 12.34 meter toss and finished in 24th in the discus competition with a 36.76 meter heave.

Sophomore Darion Signaigo and freshman Aiden Greenwalt competed in the long jump event and took 56th and 67th out of 81 competitors with 4.62 meter and 4.19 meter leaps, respectively.

Freshman Andy Riley earned 21st place in the high jump competition in a field of over 50 competitors after leaping over the 1.65 meter bar. 

Starbeck, Greenwalt, Signaigo and Riley teamed up to run the 4x200 relay race. The Cardinals finished the race in 1:42.27 to earn 28th out of 39 competing teams.

In the girl’s division, freshman Adalei Perkins and junior Emeri Perkins each earned top-10 placements throughout the meet. 

Adalei Perkins earned ninth place out of 47 finishers in the 1600 meter race with a 5:58.31 time. She also finished in 14th out in the triple jump event out of 30 competitors with a 9.44 meter leap.

Emeri Perkins took 10th place out of 47 participants in the 300 meter hurdles events after completing it in 51.89 seconds.

Steelville freshman Brooklyn Thomas and senior Peyton Brooks competed in the javelin event. Thomas took 14th and Brooks finished in 38th out of 84 competitors with 31.85 meter and 25.25 meter tosses, respectively.

Freshman Cami Mason finished in 53rd in the shot put competition out of 84 qualifiers with a 7.42 meter heave. Both Perkins sisters along with Thomas and freshman Vivian West joined forces to run in the 4x400 relay race. The quartet completed the race in 4:44.39 to earn 15th out of 20 participating teams.

Cards post another superb showing in Hermann Invitational 

Another track meet marked another stellar showing for Steelville’s track and field team. Starting with the Lady Cardinals, Adalei Perkins continued her strong freshman season with a pair of standout performances. Perkins broke the six-minute mark in the 1600 meter race, taking second place with a 5:59.94 finish. She also added points for her team with a 8.96 meter leap in the triple jump, which earned her sixth place.

Emeri Perkins was even busier than her younger sister, taking fourth in the 300 meter hurdles with a 54.28 time, fourth in the triple jump with a 9.43 meter leap, and sixth in the 100 meter dash after crossing the finish line in 14.06 seconds.

Thomas also ran the 100 meter dash, finishing in 10th place after completing it in 14.54 seconds. She competed in the javelin event as well, earning eighth place with a 25.98 meter toss. Pryor also participated in the javelin competition, taking ninth place after throwing it 25.82 meters.

Freshman Alex Helms and Brooks both ran the 100 meter hurdles event, earning fifth and ninth place with 19:11 and 19:74 finishes, respectively. Helms also competed in the long jump, taking ninth place with a 4.05 meter leap. West joined the long jump event as well, finishing in 19th with a 3.4 meter bound.

Willow Jaycox ran the 800 meter race in 3:33.24 which earned her 15th place. 

Ila Pfeiffer competed in the pole vault event, taking eighth after hoisting herself over the 2.15 meter bar. 

Mason was Steelville’s top discus and shot put thrower, taking 21st and 19th with 17.9 and 7.12 meter heaves, respectively. 

Regan Bratcher threw the discus 13.78 meters to earn 23rd place and Annabella Haines tossed the shot put 6.61 meters to take 21st. 

For the Cardinal boys, Landon Rutledge added to his awards list with a pair of standout showings.

Rutledge dominated the hurdles events, winning the 110 meter hurdles race with a 17.31 time and finished in second place in the 300 meter hurdles after crossing the finish line in 41.97 seconds.

Starbeck earned third place in his specialty event, the 400 meter dash, with a 50.86 second finish against stiff competition.

Greenwalt had a busy and successful day of competition, taking fifth in the 100 meter dash with a 12.35 finish, fifth in the long jump with a 5.46 meter leap, and 13th in the 400 meter dash after crossing the finish line in 1:00.26.

Signaigo took eighth place in the 110 meter hurdles with a 19.87 finish, 16th in the 200 meter dash with a 27.90 second time before earning 17th in the long jump with a 4.87 meter leap.

Riley cleared 1.70 meters in the high jump, earning him fifth place and Martin leapt 1.65 meters, taking eighth place.

Steelville freshman Lucas Garms ran the 1600 and 3200 meter races, taking 14th in each race with 5:47.18 and 12:38.71 finishes, respectively.

Harmon continued to shine in the field events. He took second in the discus competition with a 41.52 meter hurl and seventh place in the shot put event and javelin events with 11.97 meter and 34.10 meter tosses, respectively.

Retkowski also earned a pair of top-five finishes in the field events, taking fourth in the discus competition and fifth in the shot put. He tossed the discus 35.32 meters and heaved the shot put 12.32 meters. Junior Will Bailey took 10th place in the javelin competition with a 32.7 meter toss to round out the Cardinal performances.