After competing in the Bourbon Invitational on April 8, the Steelville Middle School track and field teams took their speed and skills to the April 13 St. James Invitational. Steelville’s boys team finished in 13th place out of 17 teams. Salem’s boys team won first place in the meet, Bland took second and St. Clair finished in third place.

The Lady Cardinals took 13th place out of 16 teams. Union’s girls took first place, St. James finished in second and St. Clair in third.

Steelville eighth grader Wyntr Yates put on the strongest performance for the Lady Cardinals, earning a pair of top-five finishes. Yates took third place in the long jump competition with a 4.09 meter leap and finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles after completing it in 19.73 seconds. 

Yates was also a part of Steelville’s fourth place finish in the 4x800 relay race along with Elaina Turnbough, Maddie Settles and Miley Wright. 

Turnbough took ninth place in the 1600 meter race with a 7:06.39 finishing time. Wright finished in 13th place in the 400 meter race after completing it in 1:15.87. 

Lily Benton and Mckenzie Hewkin both competed in the 100 meter dash and finished in 23rd and 30th, respectively after completing it in 15.93 and 16.40. 

Zoey Brown and Jocelyn Peer ran the 200 meter dash and took 24th and 27th, respectively after finishing in 34.60 and 35.07.

Maddie Verdu and Mia Dotson competed in the discus competition and finished in 18th and 22nd with 14.53 meter and 13.68 meter tosses, respectively.

Dotson and Brooklyn Kelley participated in the shot put event. Kelley took 13th with a 7.51 meter heave and Dotson finished in 20th with a 7.10 meter throw. 

On the boys side, Steelville eighth grader Andrew Jensen was the Cardinals top finisher, taking fourth place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 18:16 time. 

Seventh grader Peyton Martin and eighth grader Brantley Booker both competed in the 1600 meter races and in the triple jump competition. In the 1600 meter race, Martin took sixth place with a 5:28.25 time and Booker finished in ninth place after completing it in 5:43.21. In the triple jump, Martin placed 15th with a 8.62 meter leap and Booker took 21st with a 7.75 meter jump. 

Martin and Booker were also half of Steelville’s 4x800 meter relay team that earned four place along with Jensen and Daniel Henry. 

Henry also ran the individual 800 meter race and finished in 26th place with a 2:54.04 time. 

Steelville seventh grader Crosby Bratcher competed in the 100 and 200 meter races, taking 23rd and 22nd places with 14.22 and 29.25 times, respectively.  

Brayden Banister ran the 100 meter hurdles and the 400 meter race, taking 21st and 17th with 22.18 and 106.41 times, respectively. 

Jordan Boone and Merl Vetter both competed in the discus competition. Boone took 29th with a 19.42 meter toss and Vetter finished in 32nd with a 16.56 meter heave. 

Boone also competed in the shot put event and took 33rd with a 7.24 meter toss along with Lincoln Sackman, who earned 29th place with a 7.65 meter throw. 

Steelville’s track and field teams were scheduled to compete in the Cuba Middle School Relays on April 15, but the meet was canceled due to the inclement weather. The Cardinals will return to action on April 21 in the Hermann Relays before finishing their season on May 4 in the Cuba Invitational.