After a brilliant performance in the Cuba Relays on March 30, Steelville High School’s track team returned to action on April 7 in the Owensville Open. The Cardinals were scheduled to participate in the New Bloomfield Invitational on April 2, but that meet was canceled due to inclement weather.

Steelville competed in the Owensville Open against athletes from Father Tolton Regional Catholic School, Lighthouse Preparatory Academy, New Haven, Owensville, South Callaway, Sullivan and Wellsville-Middletown. Owensville won first place in the boys and girls meets and Father Tolton Regional Catholic took second place in both meets. Steelville finished in third place in the boys competition and took fifth place in the girls meet.

Freshman Adalei Perkins was the Lady Cardinals’ lone first-place finisher in the meet. Perkins took first in the triple jump with a 9.35 meter leap. Perkins also finished in fifth place in the 1600 meter race with a 6:12.16 time and took sixth place in the 800 meter race with a 2:52.25 time.

Perkins’ sister, Emeri also had a successful day on the track. She took third place in the 200 meter dash with a 29.07 time, sixth place in the 100 meter dash and fourth place in the triple jump with a 9.17 meter jump.

Freshman Brooklyn Thomas showed off her speed and strength, taking fourth place in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and finishing third in javelin throw. Thomas ran the 100 in 13.94, finished the 200 in 29.21 and threw the javelin 24.79 meters.

Fellow freshman Vivian West earned fifth-place finishes in the 200 meter and 400 meter races with 29.44 and 1:07.87 second finishes, respectively.

Seniors Elivia Pryor and Peyton Brooks both finished in the top-four of their respective events. Pryor finished in second place in the javelin throw with a 28.39 meter toss and Brooks took fourth place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 18.80 time. 

Freshman Cami Mason had a strong showing in the discus and shot put events. Mason took fifth place in the discus event with a 22.77 meter toss and finished in 11th place in the shot put with a 8.7 meter heave. 

Sophomore Annabella Haines and junior Regan Bratcher also competed in the discus and shot put events. Haines took 26th in the discus throw with a 13.58 meter toss and finished in 13th in the shot put with a 8.2 meter hurl. Bratcher took 29th in the discus event with a 12.53 meter fling and finished in 23rd in the shot put with a 6.47 meter heave. 

Steelville’s boys team also had multiple standout performances, led by seniors Hunter Starbeck and Landon Rutledge and juniors Max Harmon and Owen Rutledge.

Hunter Starbeck continued to shine in his first and only season on the track. After setting a meet record and taking first place in the Cuba Relays in the 400 meter dash, Starbeck finished in first place in the same event in Owensville with a 52.54-second time. He also took second place in the 200 meter dash with a 24.42-second finish.

Landon Rutledge competed in the 1600 meter race and finished in second place with a 4:50.67 time, which was six seconds shy of first-place finisher Zachary Holtmeyer of Owensville.

Owen Rutledge took second place in the 800 meter race with a 2:07.46 finish, just two seconds away from Holtmeyer’s 2:05.66. 

Senior Alexander Martin took third place in the 100 meter dash with a 12.04-second finish. Martin, both Rutledge brothers and Starbeck all competed in the 4x400 meter relays and were .14 of a second away from Father Tolton Regional’s first-place finishing time of 3:39.55, to finish in second place.

Freshman Lucas Garms finished in second place in the 3200 meter run with a 13:21.10 time and sophomore Darion Signaigo took third place in the 110 meter hurdles with a 20.03 finish.

Junior Max Harmon followed a first place finish in the discus toss in the Cuba Relays with another first-place performance in the discus event in Owensville. Harmon hurled the discus 40.8 meters to earn the victory. He also competed in the javelin toss and shot put event, finishing in sixth place in both events.

Senior Aiden Retkowski took third place in the discus event with a 36.64 meter heave and finished in fourth place in the shot put with a 11.92-meter toss.

Junior Will Bailey finished in 13th place in the discus competition with a 27.34-meter toss and took ninth place in the javelin event with a 30.27-meter hurl.

Freshman Andy Riley finished in third place in the high jump with a 1.65-meter leap and took sixth place in the triple jump with a 10.1-meter hop.

Steelville then competed in the Grandview Invitational in Hillsboro on April 13 and is scheduled to participate in the Cuba Invitational on April 16, which will both be detailed in next week’s edition.