Mexico had already qualified several athletes for sectionals this Saturday at home but hadn’t won an event yet.

Mexico, Centralia, North Callaway District Track Photo Gallery

At the Class 4 District 4 meet Saturday at North Point High School in Wentzville, the 4x400 relay team of Anthony Shivers, Charlie Fisher, Tyler Grimes and Davontae Frame won the final event of the night with a season-best time of 3:32.46 at around 9:30 p.m. after a long day that included a meet start time of 9 a.m. and two weather delays of over an hour. 

Mexico’s 4x400 relay earned the school its lone state medal last season after finishing seventh so the Bulldogs will certainly look for a return to state in the Class 4 Sectional 2 meet in Mexico.

Among the other Mexico athletes to qualify for sectionals with a top four placing includes the third-place girls 4x800 relay of Viviana Benjamin, Maggie Ramsey, Emma Seibert and Sidney Turlington with a season-best time of 11:13.69. On the boys side, Anthony Shivers was third in the 100 with a personal-best of 11.03, the 4x100 relay of Shivers, Alex Rowan, Grubb and Tyler Grimes was second, Grimes finished second in the 800 with a personal-best 2:00.35, Thomas Peuster was second in the 3200 with a personal-best 10:23.64, Morgan Grubb was third in the pole vault and Charlie Fisher finished third with a personal-best 6.11 meters.

Centralia girls win third straight district title

The Centralia girls were expected to bring home hardware after dominating much this season, and that’s exactly what they did Saturday at districts in Wentzville.

In the Class 3 District 4 meet at North Point High School, the Lady Panthers won their third straight district title with 158 points, which was ahead of Palmyra’s 115.5, and the boys finished third with 91 points, trailing Bowling Green’s winning 148 and Southern Boone’s 92. Many Centralia athletes finished in the top four to earn a place at this Saturday’s Class 3 Sectional 2 meet at Mexico after about a 12-hour meet that was dragged on because of two weather delays, with the first involving hail.

Shelby Lewis won the girls 200 and 400 while three girls relays finished first, including the 4x800 relay of Kenedee Moss, Becca Erisman, Annie Robinson and Jozelynn Bostick; the 4x200 relay of Harper Sontheimer, Autumn Hawkins, Kaelyn Walters and Lewis; and the 4x400 relay of Olivia Adams, Sontheimer, Erisman and Lewis. Among the other girls sectional top four placers were Kaylie Ensor’s third place in the pole vault, Cora King’s fourth place in the shot put, Ellie Berendzen’s second place in the discus, Tilly Fox’s fourth place in the high jump, Walters’ fourth place in the 100, Bostick’s second place in the 800, 1600 and 3200, Moss’s fourth place in the 800 and 1600, the third-place 4x100 relay of Erisman, Hawkins, Sontheimer and Walters, Sontheimer’s second in the 300 hurdles and Erisman’s third in the 300 hurdles.

The boys had Rohan Holiman and Payton Mabrey win the 800 and shot put, respectively. Jacob Beard was third in the pole vault, the 4x800 relay of Landon Moss, Dryst Bostick, Holiman and JR Lesher finished second, Cayden Dunn was second in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, and JR Lesher finished third in the 1600 and fourth in the 3200.

North Callaway trio grabs final sectional spots, Cash breaks school record

North Callaway had reasons for celebration after a long day on Saturday.

At the Class 3 District 4 meet at North Point High School in Wentzville, Isiah Craighead finished fourth in the boys javelin to earn the top-four requirement to compete at the Class 3 Sectional 2 meet this Saturday in Mexico, as did Tristan Young in the boys pole vault and Pressley Schmauch in the girls 3200.

Faith Cash finished eighth in the girls javelin but broke a school record in the process with a throw of 34.02 meters.

“I am really excited for our kids that qualified for sectionals and for Faith Cash breaking the school record in the javelin,” head coach Reid Randolph said. “At the same time, I hurt for our seniors that missed out on qualifying for sectionals. They have put in a ton of work and have been with the program since the seventh grade. We knew going in that several of them were going to be close, but it just didn't go our way.”

The meet was delayed twice due to weather delays that lasted over an hour. The first delay saw a system that dropped hail along with a downpour of rain.

“Overall, I am proud of our kids for staying focused and positive throughout the day,” Randolph said. “They did everything that we asked of them — stayed hydrated, ate the right foods at the right time, entertained each other, supported their teammates, safely evacuated camp twice and had fun. We arrived at the venue at 7:30am and left after 9:30pm, so it was a long day.”