A busy week for Cuba High School’s track and field teams concluded with a pair of second-place finishes in the Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) meet on May 2 at Cuba High School.

The Wildcats finished 40 points behind Steelville’s first-place boys’ team and the Lady Wildcats were just 13 points shy of Steelville’s first- place girls’ team.

Both of Cuba’s teams also competed in the St. James Invitational on April 30. Bourbon’s track and field teams didn’t compete in St. James, but did participate in the GVC meet in Cuba.  

Both schools are scheduled to compete in the Bourbon Invitational at Bourbon High School on May 5, weather permitting. The Wildcats will then host the Class 3 District 5 Tournament on May 9, where teams from 24 other schools will descend on Cuba and compete throughout the afternoon. Bourbon’s teams will compete in the Class 2 District 2 Tournament on May 9 at Lutheran North High School in St. Louis.

St. James Invitational

The Wildcats returned to action on April 29 in the St. James Invitational. 

Cuba’s boys and girls fared well in the field of 14 competing teams. The Wildcats finished fifth in the boys’ division and the Lady Wildcats earned a second-place tie with Salem in the girl’s division despite not having star sophomore Justice Evrard compete in the meet. Salem’s boys won the event and Steelville’s girls emerged victorious.

While the Lady Wildcats had numerous individual standout performances, their showings in the team relay races were exemplary. 

Cuba’s 4x400 relay team of Cailyn Hulsey, Cynthia Viramontes, Kendra Humphrey and Teryn Vass earned first place with a 4:46.08 time. 

The Lady Wildcats 4x100 throwers relay team of Shannon Black, Katherine Lily Becherer, Ryleigh Blackmon and Alyonna DeClue also finished in first place after completing the race in 1:02.97.

Cuba’s 4x200 relay team of Izarra Smith, Humphrey, Vass and Viramontes earned third place with a 1:59.14 finishing time. St James earned first place in the event with a 1:52.31 time.

Individually, sophomore Ella Basham had a pair of medal-winning performances. Basham took second place in the 800 meter run after completing it in 2:41.59 and finished in third place in the 1600 meter run with a 6:12.46 time. 

Basham’s older sister, Cadynce Basham, earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 800 and 1600 meter races and took sixth place in the pole vault competition. Basham ran the 800m in 2:48.09, finished the 1600m in 6:21.61 and hoisted herself over 2 meters in the pole vault event.

Besides being a member of the champion 4x400 relay team, Hulsey also had her best individual showings this season throughout the meet. She earned third place in the 100m hurdles with a 19:01 time and finished in fifth place in the high jump with a 1.22 meter leap.

Humphrey, also a part of the 4x400 relay, was equally busy. She took sixth place in the 300 meter hurdles and finished in eighth place in the 100 meter hurdles with 1:02.60 and 20:12 times, respectively.

Smith earned 13th place in the 100m dash with a 14.59 time and took ninth place in the 200m dash after crossing the finish line in 30.16 seconds. 

Sophomore Makenlee Lorenz finished in 15th in the 100m dash with a 14.71 time, 15th in the long jump with a 3.36 meter leap and had her best performance of the day in the triple jump, taking seventh place with an 8.72 meter hop.

Viramontes earned 10th place in the long jump with a 3.94 meter leap. Sophomore Savannah Vass finished in 11th place in the 1600m race with a 7:06.59 time.

Black stole the show in the field events, earning first place in the discus competition with a 29.42 meter heave and second place in the shot put with a 10.49 meter launch. 

On the boys side, senior Noah Halbert continued to show that his athleticism on the football field and the basketball court translates to the track. Halbert earned first place in the 300m hurdles, third place in the 110m hurdles and sixth place in the 100m dash. He ran the 300m hurdles in 44:14. The 110m hurdles in 17:68 and the 100m dash in 12:04 seconds.

Sophomore Christian DeLuna, also a Wildcat hooper, earned his first gold medal of the year in the pole vault event, hosting himself over 3.2 meters to secure first place.

Sophomore Brayden Lewis, a fellow duel sport athlete, had a busy and successful day in a variety of events. He took second place in the triple jump with a 12.29 meter leap, eighth place in the long jump with a 5.62 meter hop, fourth place in the 400 meter dash with a 54:85 finish and sixth place in the 200 meter dash after completing it in 24:52 seconds.

Fellow sophomore Karter Kaysinger competed in the 100, 200 and 400m races, earning 18th, 11th and 10th place with 12:77, 25:97 and 59:54 second finishes, respectively.

Junior Tandon Baker ran the 800 and 1600 meter races, earning 13th and sixth place with 2:24.54 and 5:25.48 times, respectively. 

Sophomore Jamison Scott was also busy showcasing his speed and leaping ability. Scott took eighth place in the 100m hurdles with a 19.81 time, seventh place in the 300m hurdles with a 49:27 finish and earned ninth place in the triple jump with a 10.6 meter leap.

Freshman Preston Hulsey ran the 110 meter and 300 meter hurdles, earning 11th and 10th place finishes with 21.57 and 52.25 second finishes, respectively.

Cuba’s 4x100 throwers relay team of Zane Brown, Gavin Hepperman, Cole Henke and John Vandegriffe earned second place in the event with a 55.87 finishing time, less than two seconds behind the first place St. James team that crossed the finish line in 53.75 seconds.

Vandegriffe also shined in the discus competition, earning third place with a 34.5 meter heave. He competed in the shot put event as well, taking 14th with a 10.76 meter toss.

Brown earned a pair of top-10 finishes in the discus and shot put events, taking 10th in the discus competition with a 30.14 meter throw and sixth place in the shot put with a 11.83 meter hurl. Henke earned 16th place in the shot put event with a 10.63 meter throw and Hepperman took 16th place in the discus competition with a 24.5 meter toss.

GVC action in Cuba

While the Lady Wildcats finished just short of first place as a team, they did have multiple individual first place performances throughout the day.

Ella Basham finished in first place in the 800 meter race after crossing the finish line in 2:44.91. She was also a member of Cuba’s 4x800 relay team that earned a gold medal along with Cadynce Basham, Savanna Vass and Lily Becherer. Basham additionally earned a silver medal in the 1600 meter race after completing it in 6:11.52.

Teryn Vass took first place in the pole vault competition after hosting herself over the 2.28 meter bar. She also earned a pair of silver medals in the 100m and 200m dash events, after finishing in 13.98 and 29.33 seconds, respectively.

Cadynce Basham finished in second in the pole vault, third in the 3200 meter race and fourth place in the 1600 meter race. She made it over 1.98 meters in the pole vault, ran the 3200m in 14:28.67 and completed the 1600m in 6:35.76.

Shannon Black bested her strong performance in St. James by earning a pair of gold medals in the GVC meet. Black took first place in the discus competition after throwing it 30.79 meters and finished in first place in the shot put event with a 10.23 meter heave. She capped her stellar day with a third-place finish in the javelin competition after hosting it 30.16 meters.

Cailyn Hulsey took second place in the high jump with a 1.27 meter leap and finished in third place in the 100 meter hurdles after crossing the finish line in 19.33 seconds.

Kendra Humphrey competed in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles along with the high jump competition, finishing in fourth place in all three events. She ran the hurdles in 20.27 and 59.09 seconds, respectively before leaping 1.17 meters in the high jump. 

Cynthia Viramontes earned second place in the long jump with a 3.94 meter leap and Izarra Smith finished right behind her, taking third place with a 3.93 meter jump. Viramontes also took fourth place in the triple jump with a 8.37 meter hop and Smith finished in fourth place in the 100 meter dash with a 14.52 second time.

Cuba’s 4x200 relay team of Viramontes, Smith, Hulsey and Maklenlee Lorenz finished in second place with a 2:01.33 time.

Reese Bell was Bourbon’s top girls’ performer, earning a pair of third-place finishes in the 300 meter hurdles and in the triple jump. She completed the hurdles in 58.29 and leapt 8.95 meters in the triple jump. 

Savanna Vance ran the 100 meter dash in 14.75 seconds to earn fifth place and Hayden Terry tossed the shot put 8.54 meters to finish in fourth place.

Jaelynne Rohrer earned a pair of sixth-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump events, after leaping 3.63 meters and 5.92 meters, respectively.

Brayden Lewis stood out for Cuba’s boys with a pair of gold medals in the long jump and triple jump events. He won the long jump with a 5.78 meter leap and conquered the triple jump with a 12.13 meter hop. Lewis also finished in second place in the 200 meter dash with a 24.53 time and took third place in the 400 meter race after crossing the finish line in 54.70 seconds.

Tandon Baker earned a gold medal in the 3200 meter race after completing it in 12:04.38. He also took second place in the 1600 meter race with a 5:21.62 finish.

Christian DeLuna continued his stellar week in the pole vault competition, earning his second gold medal in three days after summiting himself over 3.48 meters. James Eickhorst took second place in the event after hoisting himself over 2.58 meters.

Noah Halbert earned a pair of silver medals in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles after finishing them in 18.19 and 45.58 seconds, respectively. Halbert also took third place in the 100 meter dash after crossing the finish line in 11.93 seconds.

Jamison Scott took third place in the 100 meter hurdles with a 19.09 time and finished in fourth place in the 300 meter hurdles after completing the race in 49.88 seconds. Scott also took third place in the triple jump with a 10.20 meter hop and fourth place in the high jump with a 1.62 meter leap.

Billie Thompson earned sixth place in the high jump with a 1.47 meter leap and took eighth place in the long jump with a 4.19 meter hop. 

Karter Kaysinger finished in fifth place in the 100 meter dash with a 12.32 second time and Zaylen Kammer earned fifth place in the 400 meter race with a 1:00.29 finish.

Cuba’s 4x200 relay team of Kaysinger, Kammer, Vandegriffe and Ryan McPherson finished in first place after completing it in 1:43.56. 

John Vandegriffe took third place in the discus event with a 34.53 meter toss, fifth place in the shot put competition with a 10.49 meter heave and eighth place in the javelin throw with a 29.70 meter hurl.

Zane Brown finished in fourth place in the discus throw and shot put competition after tossing them 33.82 meters and 11.18 meters respectively. Brown also took seventh place in the javelin event with a 30.24 meter toss.

Drawe Froning had the best results for Bourbon, taking fifth place in the 1600 meter race with a 5:30.71 finish.

Cain Brenk took eighth place in the 100 meter dash after crossing the finish line in 12:50 seconds. Presley Hilsey earned ninth place in the 200 meter dash with a 34.76 second time and finished 12th in the discus event with a 13.48 meter toss. Dustin Brown took ninth place in the shot put competition and 10th place in the discus throw with 9.39 meter and 22.80 meter heaves respectively.

Jonathan Poole earned 11th place in the discus event with a 19.48 meter heave to round out the Bourbon boys’ competitors.