Cuba and Bourbon’s middle School track and field teams competed on April 13 in the St. James Invitational at St. James High School. Bourbon’s boys team took seventh place out of 17 teams competing and Cuba’s boys finished 10th in the lineup. Salem’s boys team won first place in the meet; Bland took second; and St. Clair finished in third place.  

The Bourbon girls placed 12th out of 16 teams and Cuba’s girls finished in 14th place. Union’s girls took first place, St. James finished in second and St. Clair in third. 

The busy final stretch of meets continued for Cuba and Bourbon’s Middle School track and field teams when the Wildcats and Warhawks competed on April 21 in the Hermann Relays.

Each meet is detailed below.

St. James Invitational

Beginning on the girls side with the Lady Warhawks, Bourbon’s Eva Wertich had the top girls performance for the Blue and White, running a personal best 6.35.01 in the 1600 meter race to finish in fourth place. 

Amiyah Vineyard took eighth place in the 200 meter dash after completing it in 31.53 seconds and finished in 10th place in the 100 meter dash with a 14.92 time.

Abby Payne had a strong day competing in the field events, taking six place in the long jump with a personal best 3.98 meter leap, tying the Bourbon Middle School record. Payne also finished in fifth place in the triple jump competition with a 8.89 meter hop. Sadie Sadler also participated in the girls triple jump, taking 19th place with a 7.60 meter leap. 

Elsie Rutz was the top performer for the Cuba girls team. The seventh grader earned second place in the girls 1600 meter race with a 6:18.83 finish and took sixth place in the 800 meter race after completing it in 2:58.06. Claire Echols also competed in the 800 meter race and finished in 22nd with a 3:38.59 time. 

Lady Wildcat eighth grader Harper Maxwell finished in 15th in the girls 100 meter hurdles after completing the race in 20.63 seconds. 

Lily Yates took and Nora Jones ran in the girls 400 meter race and took 19th and 28th place, respectively after finishing in 1:20.03 and in 1:25.21.

Madelynn Meyers competed in the girls long jump and triple jump events, finishing in 29th and 25th place, respectively after leaping 3.33 meters in the long jump and 6.72 meters in the triple jump. 

Kinley Brinkmann and Emma Asher participated in the shot put event and took 21st and 25th place, respectively. Brinkmann tossed it 6.95 meters and Asher heaved the shot 6.86 meters. 

Lady Warhawks Lilah Schultz-Ware and Lucy Cain also competed in the shot put, taking 33rd and 35th place with 5.50 and 5.12 meter tosses, respectively. 

Bourbon’s boys had numerous top-10 performances. Eighth grader Elijah Frederick had a pair of medal worthy showings. Frederick took second place in the 1600 meter race with a 5:12.66 time and finished in third place in the 800 meter race after completing it in 2:20.64. 

Fellow eighth grader Joshua Gibbs finished in fifth place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 18.35 time, sixth place in the 400 meter race and ninth place in the 200 meter dash. 

Coltyn Strosnider took eighth place in the 200 meter race with a 27.54 time and finished in ninth place in the 100 meter dash after finishing it in 13.34 seconds. 

Nick Woods was dominant in the field events, placing second in shot put and in fifth in the discus event. Woods hurled the shot put 10.55 meters and tossed the discus 30.40 meters. 

Trenton Humphrey was Cuba’s top finisher on the boys side after taking third place in the pole vault competition with a 2.28 meter leap. 

Cuba eighth grader Ayden Mabe showcased his leaping ability in the high jump and triple jump events, finishing in seventh place for both with 1.47 meter and 9.50 meter jumps, respectively. Fellow eighth grader Spencer Walker also competed in the high jump, and took 13th place with 1.37 meters. 

The Wildcats 4x200 relay team of Tristan Cross, Noah Shores, Oliver Scharfenberg and Spencer Walker finished in third place and broke a 15 year old Cuba Middle School record for their efforts. The Wildcats combined to run a 1:47, besting the previous school record of 1:49 set in 2011.

Hermann Relays

Both teams had a handful of notable performances, led by Bourbon eighth-grader Elijah Fredrick, who earned gold medals in the 800 and 1600 meter races. Frederick ran the 800 in 2:19.56 and completed the 1600 meter race in 5:10.41.

Other Warhawk participants included Blake Wallis, who ran the 800 in 2:51.19 to earn 19th place and Brody Delmont, who took 18th place in the 1600 meter event with a 6:06.73 time.

Joshua Gibbs had a strong day for the Warhawks, earning fifth place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 17:29 time before taking eighth place in the 400 meter dash after finishing in 1:02.68.

Nick Woods also had a top-five performance, earning fifth in the discus event with a 29.9 meter toss. Woods also finished in 11th in the high jump with a 1.4 meter leap.

Carson Bullock competed in the discus and shot put events, taking 20th and 21st with 19.62 meter and 8.15 meter tosses, respectfully.

Cuba’s boys didn’t win any competitions, but had a handful of top-10 performances.

Ayden Maybe earned sixth place in the high jump with a 1.5 meter leap and finished in seventh place in the triple jump after landing 9.1 meters.

Cole Elsey took ninth place in the 400 meter dash with a 1:02.78 time and finished in 18th in the discus event and 23rd in the shot put competition.

Spencer Walker earned ninth place in the high jump event with a 1.45 meter leap.

Wildcat eighth-grader Ryan Richards competed in the 100 and 200 meter dash events, taking 23rd and 20th with 14.63 and 30.70 finishing times, respectively.

Ryan Ray finished in 18th in the 800 meter run with a 2:50.50 time and Oliver Scharfenberg took 21st in the long jump with a 3.83 meter leap to round out the Wildcat qualifiers.

On the girls side, Bourbon eighth grader Abby Payne had the Lady Warhawks’ best individual performance, earning fourth place in the triple jump with a 8.48 meter leap. Eva Wertich also earned a top-10 finish, taking ninth place in the 1600 meter race after completing it in 6:32.15.

Amiyah Vineyard competed in the 100 and 200 meter races, taking 16th and ninth place, respectively with 15:15 and 31.27 second times. Kymber Troutt also competed in the 100 meter dash, earning 28th place with a 17.96 finish.

Auria Williams and Addi Downing both ran the 400 meter dash, earning 19th and 23rd places with 1:18.46 and 1:22.14 times, respectively.

Alaina Evans and Sophia Wasson each competed in the 800 meter race, taking 16th and 21st place, respectively after finishing in 3:14.42 and 3:28.51.

Lucy Biles took 22nd in the long jump with a 3.15 meter leap and Lucy Cain earned 22nd and 25th place in the shot put and discus events with a 6.43 meter and 9.56 meter tosses.

Cuba’s girls had one top-five finisher, seventh grader Elsie Rutz. She earned fifth place in the 1600 meter run after completing it in 6:14.19. Rutz also took 12th in the 800 meter run with a 2:59.09 time.

Eighth grader Harper Maxwell took 13th place in the 100 meter hurdles after finishing in 20.62 seconds. 

Maddison Bonney and Emma Asher each ran the 100 meter dash, taking 24th and 27th with 16.04 and 16.87 second finishes, respectively. Bonney also participated in the long jump, earning 23rd with a 3.1 meter leap. Asher competed in the shot put event as well, earning 23rd with a 6.3 meter toss.

Madelynn Myers and Charli McInnis took 23rd and 24th in the 200 meter dash after completing it in 35.85 and 37.00 seconds, respectively. Myers also competed in the triple jump, earning 16th after leaping 6.84 meters. Lillian Yates ran the 400 meter dash in 1:20.89 to finish in 22nd and Claire Echols completed the 800 meter race in 3:26.80 to take 20th.

Payton Moody took 26th in the long jump after landing 2.8 meters and Kinley Brinkmann earned 19th in the shot put event with a 7.3-meter heave.

Each team will wrap its season up on May 5 by participating in the Cuba Invitational at Cuba High School.