The track season for Steelville High School is in its home stretch and the Cardinals are making sure to finish strong.

The Red and White had a strong showing in the St. James Invitational on April 27 and managed an even better performance on May 2 in the Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) meet in Cuba. The Cardinal’s boys and girls each won their respective brackets, giving Steelville a clean sweep and the crowns of the GVC.

The Cardinals will compete next on May 9 in the Class 2 District 1 Tournament at Lutheran North High School in St. Louis. Top performers from that meet will continue their season the following week on May 16 in the Class 2 Sectional 1 Tournament at Dexter High School

St. James Invitational

Steelville’s ongoing excellent track and field season continued in the St. James Invitational. Out of 14 teams competing, the Lady Cardinals reigned supreme, taking first place and Steelville’s boys team earned a respectable third-place finish.

For the Lady Cardinals, freshman Adalei Perkins had a sparkling showing, winning first place in a pair of races and earning a second-place finish in the triple jump. Perkins won the 1600- and 3200-meter races after completing them in 16:04.16 and a personal best 13:28:48, respectively. She leapt 9.64 meters in the triple jump, to take second place, just shy of her sister, Emeri, in first place.

Emeri Perkins won the triple jump competition with a 9.76 meter leap and earned second place in the 300m hurdles race after finishing in a personal best time of 50.82 seconds. She was 0.09 seconds away from first-place finisher Penelope Huff of Licking, who completed it in 50.73 seconds. Perkins also ran a season-best 13.71 seconds in the 100m dash to take sixth place.

Freshman Brooklyn Thomas also ran the 100m dash, taking eighth place with a 14.19 time. 

Fellow freshmen Alex Helms and Vivian West had strong showings in multiple events, showing athletic versatility to run and jump their way to top performances. Helms earned third place in the 300m hurdles after finishing in 54.63 seconds, seventh place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 19.56 time and fourth place in the long jump with a 4.38 meter leap.

West earned third place in the 400m dash after crossing the finish line in 1:07.82 and took sixth place with a 4.30 meter leap. West was also a part of Steelville’s second-place finish in the 4x100 relay race along with Emeri Perkins, Thomas and senior Elivia Pryor.

Senior Peyton Brooks competed in the 100m hurdles, earning 11th place after completing it in 28.75 seconds. 

Freshman Willow Jaycox finished in 14th in the 800 meter run with a 3:30.62 finish to round out the track events for the Lady Cardinals.

In the field events, junior Jayla Schmidt earned seventh place in the pole vault competition after hosting herself over the 1.85 meter bar.

Freshman Cami Mason and junior Regan Bratcher each competed in the discus and shot put events. Mason hurled the discus 20.4 meters to earn 12th place and tossed the shot put 7.86 meter to take 11th. Bratcher launched the discus a personal-best 17.84 meters to finish in 19th and heaved the shot put 5.68 meters to take 25th.

Starbeck sets 400 record

On the boys side, senior Hunter Starbeck once again showed that he is an elite runner in the 400 meter dash. Starbeck broke another meet record in the event, finishing in 50.89 seconds to earn first place and set the mark for the St. James Invitational. Starbeck is within striking distance of Steelville’s all time finisher, Tyler DeClue, whose school record of 50.15 still stands for now.

Starbeck also earned a pair of gold medals as a member of Steelville’s first place 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams along with Landon Rutledge, Owen Rutledge and Alexander Martin. He also took second place in the 4x200 relay race along with Martin, Aiden Greenwalt and Darion Signaigo.

Owen Rutledge continued his domination in the 800 meter race, taking first place with a 2:05.44 finishing time.

Landon Rutledge ran the 110m hurdles in a personal-best 15.75 seconds to earn second place and was just 0.11 seconds away from first-place finisher, Luke Pryor of Salem’s finishing time of 15.66 seconds. Rutledge also earned fifth place in the 300m hurdles after crossing the finish line in 46.66 seconds.

Signaigo ran the 110m hurdles in 19.86 seconds to take ninth place and freshman Jacoby Eaton competed in the 300m hurdles and the 1600m race, earning 11th place with a 53.12 time in the hurdles and finishing in 15th in the 1600m run after crossing the finish line in 5:58.81.

Fellow freshman Lucas Garms ran the 3200m race in 12:32.12 to earn sixth place and ran the 1600m race in 5:39.16 to finish in ninth place.

Freshman Andy Riley continued to show that his leaping ability translates from the basketball court to the field events on the track. Riley earned sixth place in the high jump with a 1.67 meter leap and finished in 10th place in the triple jump with a 10.51 meter hop. 

Junior Max Harmon’s dominance in the discus and shot put events continued in St. James. Harmon hurled the discus a personal-best 43.24 meters to earn first place and heaved the shot put 13.4 meters to earn second place. 

Senior Aiden Retkowski and junior Will Bailey also competed in the discus and shot put competitions. Retkowski earned a pair of medals, taking second place in the discus with a 36.89 meter toss and finishing third in the shot put with a 13.13 meter hurl. 

Bailey tossed the discus 25.83 meters to take 13th place and heaved the shot put 9.59 meters to finish in 18th. 

GVC’s in Cuba

While Emeri Perkins had a strong day in St. James, she took it to another level in the GVC meet in Cuba. Perkins earned three gold medals, taking first place in the 100 meter dash, 300 meter hurdles and in the triple jump. She ran the 100m in 13.46, competed the 300m hurdles in 51.63 and leapt a season-high 9.91 meters in the triple jump. 

Adalei Perkins also had a standout day, taking first place in the 1600 and 3200m races and second place in the triple jump. She ran the 1600m in 6:02.67, finished the 3200m in 13:14.77 and leapt 9.59 meters to finish just shy of her older sister. 

Alex Helms used her speed and leaping ability to also win a pair of gold medals. Helms won the 100m hurdles with a 18.87 time and earned first place in the long jump with a 4.27 meter hop. She also took second place in the 300m hurdles after crossing the finish line in 55.31 seconds. 

Peyton Brooks earned a pair of medals after finishing second in the 100m hurdles and in third in the high jump competition. She ran the 100m hurdles in 19.05 and leapt 1.22 meters in the high jump.

Brooklyn Thomas had a busy and successful day, taking second place in the javelin competition, third place in the 100m dash and fourth place in the 200m race. She tossed the javelin 30.68 meters, ran the 100m in 14.34 and finished the 200m in 29.46. 

Vivian West also earned a pair of medals after finishing second in the 400m race and in third in the 200m dash. She ran the 200m in in 29.35 and completed the 400 m in 1:06.50

Elivia Pryor finished in fourth place in the 400m race and in the javelin competition. She ran the 400m in 1:18.34 and heaved the javelin 27.73 meters. 

Steelville’s 4x400 relay team of Adalei Perkins, Emeri Perkins, Thomas and West also took home the gold medal after finishing in 4:43.26.  

On the boys side, gold medals were handed out left and right to the Cardinals.

Landon Rutledge earned gold in the 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles after finishing them in 16.63 and 42.30 seconds, respectively. Rutledge also was a part of Steelville’s first place 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams along with Owen Rutledge, Alexander Martin and Hunter Starbeck.

Owen Rutledge dominated the 800m and 1600m races, earning gold medals in each race. He ran the 800m in 2:13.75 and finished the 1600m in 5:11.17. 

Martin earned silver medals in the 100m dash and in the high jump event. He ran the 100m in 11.81 seconds and leapt 1.77 meters. 

Starbeck’s supremacy in the 400m race continued, as the speedy redhead completed the race in 50.52 seconds to earn first place. Starbeck also finished in first in the 200m dash, after crossing the finish line in 23.94 seconds. 

Aiden Greenwalt earned a pair of medals in the 200m race and in the long jump. He took third place in the 200m race after finishing in 25:47 and finished in second place in the long jump after leaping 5.51 meters. 

Will Bailey earned his first gold medal of the year in the javelin event after launching it a season-best 38.48 meters. He also finished in third place in the pole vault competition after hosting himself over 2.43 meters. 

Max Harmon won a pair of gold medals after finishing in first place in the discus and shot put events. He heaved the discus 39.76 meters and tossed the shot put 13.85 meters. 

Aiden Retkowski was right behind Harmon in both events, earning second place in both the discus and shot put competitions. He threw the discus 37.36m and launched the shot put 13.34 meters. 

Andy Riley earned third place in the high jump after leaping 1.72 meters and finished in fifth place in the triple jump after hopping 9.76 meters.

Riley, Harmon, Greenwalt and Darion Signaigo combined to win first place in the 4x100 race after finishing in 50.18 seconds.