Steelville Middle School and High School cross country teams competed in the Sept. 29 St. James Invitational at Maramec Spring Park.

SHS boys earned third place as a team on the backs of three top-20 medal-worthy performances. Five of the seven Cardinals competing in the boys 5000m race achieved personal-best times.

Senior Owen Rutledge finished in 9th place with a personal-best 18:07.88 time. He was followed closely by freshman Andrew Jensen, who finished 10th with a 18:18.24 time. Fellow freshman Brantley Booker earned 19th place with a 19:13.1 time to round out Steelville’s medal-winning boys.

Sophomore Lucas Garms improved his time significantly from the Sept. 26 Gans Creek Invitational in Columbia, dropping from 21:00.60 to a personal-best 19:55.23 time to break the 20-minute mark and earn 34th place.

Fellow sophomore Kaden Rulo ran a personal-best 20:09.2 time to take 37th place. Sophomore Andy Riley shaved off nearly 47 seconds from his previous race in Columbia, dropping from 22:40.60 to a personal-best 21:53.88 time to earn 64th place. Junior Colin Orick crossed the finish line in 22:56.3 to earn 85th place.

SHS girls Elizabeth Warden, Stormee Yates and Wyntr Yates competed in the girls’ 5000 meter varsity race. Top Lady Cardinal runner Adalei Perkins was busy playing for SHS’ volleyball team against Licking.

Warden continued her strong sophomore season with a medal-earning 9th-place finish after crossing the finish line with a 22:58.6 time.

Wyntr Yates took 33rd place with a 24:43.2 time and Stormee Yates finished in 71st with a 30:15.3 time.

Steelville Middle School’s boys team finished in first place as a team after having five runners finish in the top 12 places. Fourteen of the 15 SMS boys who competed in the boys 1.6 mile race ran personal-best times, showcasing their improvement throughout the season.

Eighth grader Peyton Martin took fourth place with a 8:51.1 time. Pacific eighth grader Landon Harrison won first place with a 8:36.5 time, less than 15 seconds ahead of Martin.

SMS seventh graders Landon Whaley, Cordale Pryor and Travis Harmon finished in fifth, seventh and 10th place, respectively, with 8:51.6, 9:15 and 9:33.1 times. Eighth grader Huntley Hammonds took 12th place with a 9:38.9 time.

Eighth graders Braxton Perkins and Lincoln Sackman took 25th and 36th, after crossing the finish line in 10:02.8 and 10:34.6, respectively. 

Seventh graders Landon Heuer and Sawyer Oaker finished in 40th and 44th with 10:51 and 11:02 times, respectively, to round out SMS’ top-50 boys performances.

SMS girls earned fifth place as a team in the 1.6 mile race. Seventh grader Sophia Oaker was the Lady Cardinals’ lone medal winner, taking ninth place with a 10:40.2 time.

Eighth grader Elaina Turnbough crossed the finish line in 11:30 to earn 21st place. Seventh graders Heidi Helms, Aubreigh Diaz and Gracyn Dicus took 25th, 26th and 29th place with 11:36.8, 11:38.9 and 12:15.5 times respectively to cap SMS’ top-50 girls runners.

The Cardinals will have over a week off before competing in the Oct. 10 Potosi Cross Country Invitational. Steelville’s varsity teams will then run Oct. 13 in the Owensville Invitational.