Cuba High School’s track and field team welcomed 24 other teams into town on May 9 to compete in the Class 2 and Class 3 District 5 track meet.

Participants had to finish in the top-four of their respective competitions to advance to sectionals. Seven athletes from Cuba earned their entry into the Class 3 Sectional 3 Meet in Buffalo on May 16 with their performances and those who didn’t qualify saw their season come to an end.

Sectional-worthy showings

Senior Shannon Black was the lone athlete from Cuba to win first place and a district championship in their respective event, and she did so with a 10.18 meter throw in the shot put competition. Black also advanced to sectionals in the discus throw after earning second place with a 27.93 meter toss.

Sophomore Ella Basham was Cuba’s only other athlete to advance to sectionals in multiple events. Basham took third place in the individual 800 meter race with a 2:38.48 time and was a member of the Lady Wildcat’s 4x800 relay team that earned third place and kept their season alive along with her older sister, Cadynce Basham, Katherine Lily Becherer and Savanna Vass.

Senior Noah Halbert and sophomore Christian DeLuna were the lone members of Cuba’s boys team to advance to sectionals.  

Halbert ran the 300 meter hurdles in 43.03 seconds to earn fourth place and head to sectionals and DeLuna advanced in the pole vault competition after hoisting himself over the 3.25 meter bar to finish in third place.

Cuba seniors Cadynce Basham, Black and Halbert are all scheduled to compete in Buffalo, an hour and forty-five minutes away, the same day that Cuba High School’s graduation is taking place. The graduation is at 7 p.m. so the three athletes and their families will hope that they can compete and get back in time to celebrate with the rest of the class of 2026. 

Other notable Wildcat performances in districts

While the season came to an end for the rest of Cuba’s track and field athletes, there were still several noteworthy performances. 

Sophomore Brayden Lewis earned sixth place in the triple jump and long jump competitions. He leapt 12.25 meters in the triple jump and bounded 5.93 meters in the long jump, narrowly missing the fourth-place mark of 6.06 meters set by Salem’s Tyson Connors.

Lewis was also a member of Cuba’s 4x800 relay team along with Tandon Baker, DeLuna and Halbert that earned fifth place after finishing in 9:17.61.

Sophomore James Eickhorst took sixth place in the pole vault competition after clearing 2.80 meters and fellow sophomore Jamison Scott earned ninth place in the 110 meter hurdles race after crossing the finish line in 18.49 seconds.

Junior Zane Brown earned eighth place in the shot put competition with a 12.30 meter heave and took 12th place in the discus event with a 28.54 meter toss.

Sophomore John Vandegriffe finished in ninth place in the shot put with an 11.41 meter throw and earned 10th place in the discus competition with a 29.46 meter hurl.

Additional notable Lady Cat showings

Junior Teryn Vass finished just shy of qualifying for districts in the pole vault competition after taking fifth place. Vass cleared the 2.35 meter bar, which was the same result as Fair Grove’s Mackynzi Sekulic. But Vass finished with four points compared to Sekulic’s five and narrowly missed out on continuing her season.

While Cadynce Basham advanced to districts as a part of the Lady Cat’s 4x800 relay team, she had a solid showing in the individual 800 meter race. Basham crossed the finish line in 2:58.94 to take eighth place.

Fellow senior Cailyn Hulsey ran the 100 meter hurdles in 19.05 seconds to earn eighth place and cleared the 1.25 meter bar in the high jump to finish in ninth place.

Freshman Izarra Smith and junior Savanna Vass each earned ninth place in their respective competitions. Smith ran the 200 meter dash in 30.30 seconds and Vass completed the 1600 meter race in 7:18.22.

Sophomore Kendra Humphrey ran the 100 meter hurdles in 20.28 seconds to earn 10th place and was a part of Cuba’s 4x400 relay team that earned fifth place with a 4:37.52 time along with Teryn Vass, Ella Basham and Cynthia Viramontes.

After putting together a stellar sophomore season highlighted by a four-medal performance on April 16 in the Cuba Invitationals, Justice Evrard didn’t compete in the GVC meet or in districts due to an injury. She will look to come back even stronger for her junior year next spring.