The postseason is underway with the track team having a strong showing at the district meet this past Saturday in Poplar Bluff, qualifying individuals in 16 of 19 events. SLUH completed this dominant day winning the Class 5 District 1 meet with ease and taking down some other top programs in the state like Jackson and Poplar Bluff with an almost 40 point difference between SLUH and the second place team.

The day kicked off with the sprinting prelims in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 110-meter hurdles. Sophomore Ryan Wingo won his heat in both the 100 and 200, with sophomore Joe Harris winning his 100 and sophomore Jacobi Oliphant advancing to the finals in the 200 as well. In the 110 hurdles, senior Connor Grenigner and Oliphant also made it to the finals.

 In the finals of the sprinting events, Wingo won both the 100 and 200 with Harris placing fourth in the 100 and Oliphant placing fourth in the 200, both advancing to the sectional meet next weekend. In the 110 hurdles, Greninger placed second and advanced to sectionals while Oliphant was disqualified on a questionable false start call by the meet officials. Despite this, however, it was still an impressive showing from the SLUH sprinters, who hope to continue their success entering this Saturday. 

The SLUH relays also had a strong day across the board, qualifying each relay to compete in the sectionals meet this Saturday at Kirkwood. With first place finishes in both 4x200 and 4x800 relays, the SLUH athletes had an excellent chance to show off the chemistry of the team. 

Along with the winning relays, the 4x400 and 4x100 relays also qualified to the sectional meet despite each relay having at least one athlete scratch to be replaced by an alternate due to injuries or sickness.

On the distance side of the meet, SLUH qualified runners in the 800, 1600, and 3200 events with seniors Grant Brawley and Sean Kellogg finishing first and second in the 3200. Juniors Tim Greiner and Nolan Meara ran in the 1600, where both set impressive PR’s with Greiner running 4:32 and placing second overall. In the 800, senior Joe LaBarge put in a late surge to propel him into fourth place and qualify for the sectional meet. 

In the mid-distance events, SLUH also had a great showing, qualifying people in both the 400-meter dash and 300 hurdles. In the 400, junior Steffan Mayer, despite being in the second heat, still managed to get top four and earn a spot at sectionals next week. In the 300 hurdles, both Greninger and sophomore Keshon Parker placed top 4 as well earning a spot for next week. 

In the field events, senior Eric Piening kicked off the day with a third place finish in the high jump. Senior Andy Harris also finished in third place in the long jump, and then followed that up with a second place finish in the triple jump, just behind Piening, who won the event. In the javelin, both seniors Andrew Renaud and Corey Luaders threw far enough to secure third and fourth place, respectively.

With districts behind them, the SLUH Track and Field team looks forwards to sectionals this Saturday at Kirkwood High School where they will compete with qualifying members from both their own district as well as the qualifying individuals from Class 5 District 2, where they will aim to place in the top four and move onto the state meet held on May 27-28 at Jefferson City High School.