Steelville High School’s cross country team competed in the Sept. 22 Belle Invitational and in the Sept. 26 Gans Creek Classic in Columbia. Steelville Middle School’s cross team also competed in the Belle Invitational. Both meets are detailed below.

Both Steelville schools are scheduled to compete in the Sept. 29 St. James Invitational, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Cardinals will then have almost two weeks off before running in the Oct. 10 Potosi Invitational.   

Sept. 22 Belle Invitational

Steelville High School and Middle School cross country teams continued its strong fall season with an exemplary effort in the Sept. 22 Belle Cross Country Invitational. After persevering through scorching heat in the Sept. 17 Steelville Invitational, the Cardinals benefited from lower temperatures in Belle, as many of its runners significantly decreased their times.

Senior Owen Rutledge was one of Steelville’s six runners in the boys varsity race who improved their times. Rutledge cut 18.5 seconds off from his previous time to finish in 18:30.90, earning fourth place. Freshman Andrew Jensen continued his strong debut campaign with a 18:53.09 time to finish in eighth place, shaving off nearly eight seconds from his time in Steelville. Fellow freshman Brantley Booker also medaled, placing 14th with a 19:37.86 time, almost 12 seconds faster than his previous race.

Sophomores Kaden Rulo and Lucas Garms finished next and each athlete cut over 50 seconds off their Steelville Invitational times. Rulo took 25th with a personal best 20:40.6 time and Garms finished in 30th with a personal best 21:05.6 time.

Fellow sophomore Andrew Riley also took a huge leap from his previous race, finishing in 23:26, a one minute and 7.7 second improvement, to earn 53rd place. Junior Colin Orick crossed the finish line in 24:59 to earn 63rd place.    

The SHS girls team had three runners compete in Belle. Adalei Perkins, who took third place in the Steelville Invitational, was playing for Steelville’s volleyball team against Kingston and didn’t compete in the race.

Elisabeth Warden led the Lady Cardinals with an 11th place finish, completing the race in 23:49.30. That was a season-best time for Warden and nearly 29 seconds faster than her 24:18.2 time in Steelville.

Wyntr Yates finished in 21st with a personal-best 26:03.98 time, 12 seconds off her time from Steelville.

Stormee Yates crossed the finish line in 30:47.52, a drastic two and a half minute improvement from the 33:24.6 time she ran just five days prior.

SMS teams also had stellar showings as the boys team earned first place and the girls team finished in third place.

Steelville’s boys team had 15 runners compete in the two mile middle school race, showcasing its depth and bright future of the program.

Six of those Cardinals finished in the top 22, led by second place finisher Peyton Martin and third place earner Landon Whaley. Martin crossed the finish line in a personal best 11:59.5 and Whaley completed the race in 12:27.8.

Cordale Pryor completed the race in 13:07.2 to take 14th place. Huntley Hammonds earned 16th place with a 13:11.6 time. Travis Harmon finished in 21st place with a 13:27.9 time and Braxton Perkins completed the race in 13:27.9 to take 22nd.

Lincoln Sackman earned 47th, Landon Heuer took 48th and Sawyer Oaker finished in 50th to round out Steelville’s top 50 finishers.

Seven Lady Cardinals ran the two mile girls race and three earned medals with top-20 finishes.

Seventh grader Sophia Oaker led Steelville with a 14:38.4 time to finish in eighth place. Eighth grader Elaina Turnbough completed the race in 15:16.5 to take 15th place and seventh grader Heidi Helms crossed the finish line in 15:27.1 to earn 20th place.

Seventh graders Aubreigh Diaz, Gracyn Dicus, Hope Mabe and Hattie Harmon finished in 29th, 32nd, 62nd, and 65th, respectively to cap SMS girls performances.

SMS runners are scheduled to compete next in the Sept. 29 Invitational and SHS athletes in competed in the Sept. 26 Gans Creek Invitational in Columbia.

Sept. 26 Gans Creek Classic

The Cardinals left Steelville at the crack of dawn to make it to Columbia for the Gans Creek Classic. Steelville’s varsity girls ran the 5k at 7:55 a.m. and the varsity boys competed at 8:30 a.m. in their 5k race. Each race had over 250 athletes from all over the state competing in it and a college race in the same course also followed. 

Wyntr Yates, Stormee Yates and Warden were Steelville’s girls runners who competed in the event, and all three ran personal best times. Warden completed the race in 22:54.8, taking 72nd place. Wyntr Yates crossed the finish line in 23:46.3, earning 100th place. Stormee Yates finished in 30:01:1, placing 219th.

In the boys race, Rutledge ran a personal best 18:14.5 time, finishing in 30th place. Booker ran a personal best 19:03.6 time, taking 79th. Jensen crossed the finish line in  19:15.1, earning 94th. Rulo completed the race in a personal best 20:09.5 time, finishing in 137th. Garms ran a personal best 21:00.6 time, taking 177th. Orick crossed the finish line in a personal best 22:28.2 time, taking 231st and Riley finished in a personal best 22:40.6 time, earning 241st place.