Steelville High School’s track and field team traveled to Waynesville to compete in its second meet of the season. The Cardinals boys and girls teams battled through sweltering 95 degree temperatures and had numerous standout performances on both sides.

Lady Cardinal freshmen Adalei Perkins and Vivian West both had success competing in multiple events. Perkins ran a personal best 6:28.64 in the 1600 meter race and took sixth place. She also leaped a personal best 9.65 meters in the triple jump and was a part of a third place 4x800 relay team along with West, junior Lydia Smelser and senior Elivia Pryor. 

West took fourth place in the individual 400 meter dash with a 1:08.27 time and was a member of Steelville’s third place finish in the 4x200 meter relays along with Pryor and freshmen Brooklyn Thomas and Cami Mason. 

Thomas finished in eighth place in the 400 meter dash with a 1:11.50 finishing time and took ninth place in the javelin throw with a 22.24 meter heave. Mason also competed in the discus, javelin and shot put events. She hurled the discus 15.51 meters and took 24th place, threw the javelin 16.81 meters to finish in 19th and tossed the shot put 7.34 meters for an 18th place finish. Pryor took seventh place in the javelin throw with a 22.62 meter toss and fellow senior Peyton Brooks finished in 13th with a 18.83 meter heave. Freshman Willow Jaycox competed in the 100 and 200 meter races and finished with 16.96 and 39.96 times, respectively, which were both good for 22nd place finishes. 

Steelville’s boys team also had an exemplary performance and took home three gold medals. Junior Owen Rutledge finished in first place in the 800 meter run with a blistering 2:10.75 finishing time. Rutledge’s older brother, senior Landon Rutledge, took first place in the 300 meter hurdles with a 43.09 time and both brothers were a part of Steelville’s 3:33.63 first place finish in the 4x100 meter relays along with seniors Hunter Starbeck and Alex Martin. The same relay team showed their versatility to succeed in long distance as well, finishing in second place in the 4x800 with a 8:40.10 time. 

Starbeck also took fourth place in the individual 400 meter race with a 23.80 finishing time. Martin also competed in the 100 meter dash, finishing in 11th with a 11.86 time and showed his leaping ability in the high jump, taking fourth place with a 1.62 meter jump.

Sophomore Trey Turnbough finished in 47th in the 100 meter dash with a 14.53 time and freshman Nolan Marty took 51st in the same event with a 17.03 finish. Freshman Aiden Greenwalt finished in 16th in the 200 meter dash with a 25.12 time. Fellow freshmen Kaden Rulo took 11th place in the 400 meter dash with a 58.59 time and Lucas Garms finished in seventh place in the 3200 meter run with a 12:52.70 time.

In the field events, freshman Andy Riley tied Martin with a 1.62 meter jump in the high jump for a share of fourth place. Riley also showcased his hops in the triple jump, taking 10th place with a 10.29 meter leap. 

Greenwalt and Rulo also competed in the long jump and took 16th and 21st with 5.6 meter and 5.35 meter jumps, respectively. 

Junior Max Harmon had strong performances in the javelin throw, discus toss and shot put, taking fourth, second and seventh place, in each respective event. Harmon threw the javelin 35.38 meters, tossed the discus 38.45 meters and hurled the shot put 11.66 meters. Fellow junior Will Bailey threw the javelin 29.29 meters, which was good for 11th place. 

Senior Aiden Retowski competed in the discus toss and shot put events, taking fourth place and sixth place, in each respective event. Retwoski tossed the discus 34.03 meters and hurled the shot put 11.86 meters.

Steelville’s boys’ and girls’ track and field athletes both competed in the Cuba Relays on March 30, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Cardinals will return to action on April 2 in the New Bloomfield Invitational and will then compete in the Pacific Invitational on April 7.