The St. James High School track team will be sending a total of 11 athletes in 11 events to sectional competition through the Missouri Class 3 District 5 Meet held Saturday, May 9 at Cuba High School.
The top four finishers in each event advanced from the district meet to Class 3 Sectional 3 competition, to be held at Buffalo High School Saturday, May 16. The Class 2 Sectional 3 Meet will also be held at Buffalo Saturday.

The top four finishers in each event at sectionals move on to the 2026 Missouri Track and Field Championships, to be held at Adkins Stadium on the campus of Jefferson City High School. The state track championships are May 22-23 for Class 1-3 schools and May 29-30 for Class 4-5 schools.
It will be the 100th Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) track championships for the boys’ division and 51st for the girls’ division.

At the District 5 Meet last Saturday St. James qualified six girls in seven events and five boys in four events to sectionals.

For the St. James boys, sophomore Ashton Moreland won the 3,200-meter run with a school-record time of 10:21.23. He also broke the record the previous week at the Four Rives Conference Meet. Also for STJ, the 4x800-meter relay squad of senior Johnny Perkins, freshman Kylar Hodge, Moreland and sophomore Ryder Byfield was second at 8:40.43; Byfield was third in the 800-meter run at 2:09.24, and senior Aiden Boone was fourth in the triple jump at 41-10.

Lady Tiger relay teams placing second were the 4x100-meter relay squad of sophomore Madalynn McCracken, senior Avery Campbell, senior Alex Hughes and junior Adalee Richardson at :51.36; the 4x200-meter relay squad of McCracken, freshman Anslee Stubblefield, Campbell and Richardson at 1:48.84, and the 4x400-meter relay squad of McCracken, Campbell, Stubblefield and Hughes at 4:20.08.

Third places came from sophomore Kirah Drennan in the discus at 87-8 and Hughes in the triple jump at 33-2. Lady Tiger fourth places were by Richardson in the 100-meter dash at :12.83 and Stubblefield in the 300-meter hurdles at :54.51.

“This is a really great group of kids going to sectionals on Saturday,” said St. James first-year head coach Josh Singleton. “They all have a tremendous work ethic that has got them to sectionals. The girls’ 4x1 and 4x2 relay teams have been pushing the school record all year. They have had a lot of ups and downs with injuries, but they really pulled together and stuck it out as true teammates. Coach (Bri) Hodge has put in a lot of work with the boys’ 4x8 team. They are a very young team with lots of promise. They have been PRing almost every time they run. Coach (Greg) Jackson has done amazing work with his young throwers and Drennan has shown a lot of development over the year. Same with Moreland and Byfield in the 3,200 and 800. They both have been drastically cutting their times down each time they run.

“Boone has been an exceptional athlete, as always. It’s going to be tough losing an athlete like him as well as the other seniors on the team. I would like to thank all the coaches for their help and support this year. It’s really different taking over as a head coach, especially after a coach like (former head coach) Joe Campbell, who was here for almost 30 years. I would also like to thank the athletes and if it weren’t for them we wouldn’t even be in this position.”

May 9 at Cuba High School

Class 3 District 5 Meet

Boys

Team Standings: 1. Fair Grove 171, 2. Mtn. Grove 100, 3. Buffalo 97, 4. Strafford 79, 5. Mtn. View Liberty 68, 6. Salem 52, 7. Ava 47, 8. St. James 44, 9. Cuba 28, 9. Willow Springs 28, 11. Houston 23.

Event winners and St. James results:

100-meter dash: 1. Sawyer Morris, Liberty, :10.94. St. James Results: 9. Whitten Woessner :11.83, 17. Gabrial Taylor :12.46.

200-meter dash: 1. Javonnie Melton, Buffalo, :22.33. St. James Results: 15. Joshua Rinehart :26.22.

400-meter dash: 1. Jasper Melby, Liberty :51.52. St. James Results: 14. Gaige Martin 1:00.06, 16.  Preston Hash 1:03.03.

800-meter run: 1. Jacob Shurtz, Fair Grove, 2:07.53. St. James Results: 3. Ryder Byfield 2:09.24*, 5. Johnny Perkins 2:11.48.

1,600-meter run: 1. Isaac Smith, Ava, 4:40.09. St. James Results: 8. Kylar Hodge 4:58.76, 13. Kypton Earney 5:32.25.

3,200-meter run: 1. Ashton Moreland, St. James, 10:21.23*.

110-meter hurdles: 1. Parker Tune, Liberty, :15.70.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Aden Estep, Mtn. Grove, :41.21.

4x100-meter relay: 1. Buffalo, :42.76; 6. St. James (Westin Ridenhour, Austin Bell, Aiden Boone, Woessner) :45.83.

4x200-meter relay: 1. Buffalo, 1:30.40; 8. St. James (Rinehart, Martin, Woessner, Taylor) 1:46.86.

4x400-meter relay: 1. Liberty, 3:30.99.

4x800-meter relay: 1. Fair Grove, 8:38.17; 2. St. James (Perkins, Hodge, Moreland, Byfield) 8:40.43*.

Shot put: 1. Slade Rodgers, Mtn. Grove, 50-3 1/4. St. James Results: 11. Zane Achterberg 35-7 1/4, 15. Caden Brown 33-6.

Discus: 1. Kolton Klindworth, Fair Grove, 153-0. St. James Results: 15. Slade Williams 78-10, 16. Blake Moore 75-0.

Javelin: 1. Tyler Valma, Buffalo, 156-5. St. James Results: 13. Achterberg 115-1, 17. Hash 89-3.
High jump: 1. Kale Gardner, Mtn. Grove, 6-2 3/4.

Pole vault: 1. Miller Bettis, Fair Grove, 12-1 1/2. St. James Results: 7. Cole Shields 9-2 1/4.

Long jump: 1. Jakoeby Mcdannald, Fair Grove, 20-7. St. James Results: 9. Woessner 18-7, 10. Ridenhour 16-11 1/2.

Triple jump: 1. Jeremiah Galloway, Willow Springs, 43-3. St. James Results: 4. Aiden Boone, St. James, 41-10*, 5. Austin Bell 40-7 1/2.

*-Sectional Qualifier

Girls

Team Standings: 1. Strafford 135, 2. Houston 104, 3. Salem 90, 4. Fair Grove 83, 5. Mtn. Grove 71, 6. St. James 66, 7. Buffalo 52, 8. Cuba 48, 9. Ava 32, 10. Liberty 22, 11. Willow Springs 2.

Event winners and St. James results:

100-meter dash: 1. Payten Coulter, Strafford, :12.30. St. James Results: 4. Adalee Richardson :12.83*.

200-meter dash: 1. Ava Lane, Strafford, :25.89. St. James Results: 5. Richardson :26.34.

400-meter dash: 1. Kayla Wagner, Houston, 1:00.82.

800-meter run: 1. Lyla Huffman, Houston, 2:29.66. St. James Results: 5. Adalyne Hash 2:45.55.

1,600-meter run: 1. Katrina Cantwell, Fair Grove, 5:39.24. St. James Results: 8. Katherine Strackeljahn 6:23.62.

3,200-meter run: 1. Cantwell, Fair Grove, 11:53.04. St. James Results: 5. Strackeljahn 13:49.93.

100-meter hurdles: 1. Olivia Sons, Mtn. Grove, :15.99. St. James Results: 6. Anslee Stubblefield :18.80.

300-meter hurdles: 1. Dyson Dailing, Houston, :47.35. St. James Results: 4. Stubblefield :54.51*.

4x100-meter relay: 1. Strafford, :48.82; 2. St. James (Madalynn McCracken, Avery Campbell, Alex Hughes, Richardson) :51.36*.

4x200-meter relay: 1. Strafford, 1:42.78; 2. St. James (McCracken, Stubblefield, Campbell, Richardson) 1:48.84*.

4x400-meter relay: 1. Fair Grove, 4:12.23; 2. St. James (McCracken, Campbell, Stubblefield, Hughes) 4:20.08*.

4x800-meter relay: 1. Salem, 11:03.17.

Shot put: 1. Shannon Black, Cuba, 33-4 3/4. St. James Results: 5. Kirrah Drennan 28-10 1/4.

Discus: 1. Brenna Rodriguez, Buffalo, 112-3. St. James Results: 3. Drennan 87-8*.

Javelin: 1. Shelby Samek, Buffalo, 132-2. St. James Results: 12. Aubrey Lind 64-5, Shayden Madle 56-8.

High jump: 1. Hally Scheets, Houston, 4-9.

Pole vault: 1. Rebekah Pipp, Salem, 9-2 1/4.

Long jump: 1. Samek, Buffalo, 18-0 1/2.

Triple jump: 1. Samek, Buffalo, 36-1 1/4. St. James Results: 3. Hughes 33-2*, 15. Landri Abel 22-0 1/4.

*-Sectional Qualifier