UNION — Back in early May, Bland Middle School (BMS) track and field athletes ended their record-breaking season at the Union Middle School Relays held inside Union High School’s E.A. Stierberger Stadium.

Bland’s eighth-grade Bears led the way with a fourth-place team finish scoring 69 points trailing only Washington (143.5), Rolla (111.5) and Owensville (75.5).

Jackson Prater (1st, 4:58.39) and Michael Felton (3rd, 5:07.07) took two of the top three spots in the eighth-grade boys 1600-meter run while the eighth-grade Bear 4x400m relay team of Liam Smith, Dakota Stockton, Prater and Felton won the event in a first-place time of 4:06.41.

Prater and Felton posted faster mile times at the Cuba Middle School Invitational of 4:52.18 and 5:04.90 respectively.

While Prater’s time established a new school record previously held by Trenton Burnett (5:04.32 in 2019 at Linn), Felton’s time is the third-fastest in school history.

Bland’s time in the boys 4x400m relay from Union was the second-fastest in school history behind the current record of 3:58.71 currently held by Malachi Fredendall, Peyton Valley, Gauge Workman and David Skaggs from the 2024 Cuba Middle School Invitational.

Felton and Prater also rewrote the BMS Track and Field record book in the boys 800m run at Union.

Placing second and third in times of 2:14.29 and 2:14.36 respectively at Union, Felton and Prater now own the top-two times in school history in the boys 800m run.

Burnett also previously held the school record for Bland with a time of 2:20.25 from the 2019 Linn Junior High Invitational.

Felton cracked the top 10 in school history in the boys 200m dash with a time of 27.50 at the St. James Middle School Invitational.

Also at St. James, Bland’s quartet of Alden Zabel, Weston Sadler, Stockton and Smith posted a time of 51.99 in the boys 4x100m relay nearly breaking the current school record time of 51.95 held by the team of Jason White, Skye Wise, Joseph Bialczyk and Will Doss from 2018 at the Russellville War-Tribe Relays.

Prater was not the only athlete to set a school record at Cuba this past spring.

Consisting of Zabel, Sadler, Stockton and Dobson, they set a new school record time of 1:46.21 in the boys 4x200m relay.

They broke the previous record of 1:48.0 by Brandon Brown, Brad Norton, Tyler Brown and Lane Sanders from the 2013 Bland Invitational.

Karsen Ridenhour threw his way into Bland’s top 10 with a mark of 29.70m from the Owensville Middle School (OMS) Relays.

Felton also tied Lathan Miller’s school record in the boys high jump clearing 1.57m at the Vienna Middle School Eagle Invitational.

Smith also set a new school record for Bland in the boys pole vault clearing 2.70m at Cuba while Zabel also joined the top five by clearing 2.15m at Owensville.

Avery Craigmiles (2022) and Chase Sellers (2026) both previous held the school record of 1.68m with both marks set at Vienna.

Kali Mayfield joined the top 10 of the Bland girls 100m dash with a time of 14.7 from the meet at Vienna this past spring.

Shae Buechter added her name to the top 10 in the girls 200m dash with a time of 31.44 good for sixth place in BMS history.

Skylar Stevens nearly set a school record in the girls 800m run for Bland with a time of 2:52.56 from the Missouri Middle School State Championships held in Waynesville.

Nolie Finnegan is the current record holder with a time of 2:42.2 from the Vienna Black and Gold Invitational back in 2023.

Stevens also posted the fifth-fastest mile time in school history at 6:31.37 from the Union Middle School Relays.

Sprinting to the third-fastest time in school history in the girls 4x100m relay was the Lady Bear team of Makenna Norris, Faith Gromowski, Mayfield and Buechter in 59.26.

Currently holding the record in that event is the team of Anastyn Lansford, Aubrey Rehmert, Reed and Finnegan in a time of 57.34 from the 2022 OMS Relays.

Bland’s foursome of Sedora Carroll, Mayfield, Buechter and Gromowski nearly set a new mark in the girls 4x200m relay with a time of 2:02.57 from last spring’s Cuba Middle School Invitational.

Natalie Lansford, Chloe Jones, Zoe Camden and Ellie Gray currently hold the BMS record in the girls 4x200m relay with a time of 2:02.41 from the 2024 Cuba Middle School Invitational.