St. Louis boys’ track and field had an outstanding performance during the St. Louis Invitational at home Friday, April 16. The team defeated seven other teams with a score of 135.25, while Alma was the runner-up with 117.08, and Valley Lutheran was third with 114.83. It was a clutch showing by the Sharks at their first invite of the season.

Coach Josh Kreider shared, “We had two personal records from our top throwers. Ben Dousuah threw 37-06.50, and Colby Taylor threw 32-7.5, which is both of their personal records for shot put. I look forward to having a great season with lots of personal achievement.”

Two Sharks took first place in their respective events to earn gold medals. Senior Keegan Honig took first in the 3200-meter race with a time of 10:42.28, and junior Ignatius Jackson won the 200-meter dash with an outstanding time of 23.62 seconds. 

Individuals who finished runners-up in their events to earn a silver medal include Honig in the 1600-meter race with a 4:56.68 finish, Jackon in the 100-meter dash with an 11.35, Ben Dousuah in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 19.35 seconds, and Aidan Fisher in the 300-meter hurdles with 48.82 seconds. St. Louis relay teams who earned silver medals with second-place finishes include the 4×200-meter relay team consisting of Gavin Wenzlick, Andrew Taipalus, Fisher, and Jackson with a 1:37.44 finish, the 4×400-meter relay of Dylan Marr, Craig Bebow, Jackson, and Taipalus with a time of 3:46.86, and the 4×800-meter relay team of Walker Aldrich, Bebow, Marr, and Honig with a 9:16.58 finish.

Individuals who finished anywhere from third through sixth in their events earned bronze medals on the day. Sharks earning a bronze medal include Taipalus in third in the 400-meter dash (55.13) and tying for fifth in high jump (5-03.00), Marr finishing third in the 800-meter race (2:14.26), Bebow placing sixth in the 800 (2:23.73), Ben March in third in the 1600 (5:01.16) and also third in the 3200 (10:52.79), Joe Erickson finishing sixth in the 3200 (11:57.03), Fisher in third in the 110 hurdles (19.72), Caleb Noack in fourth in the 110 hurdles (19.93) as well as fifth in the 300 hurdles (53.02), and Dousuah finishing fifth in shot put (37-06.50) and fifth in discus (102-00).

Coach Puffpaff shared, “I was really proud of the way we competed in the invite. It was a rough battle between us and Alma, and it really came down to our athletes stepping up and closing out the meet at a high level.”

It was an incredible win with clutch performances from the squad. The Sharks will be racing again Wednesday, April 21, at Bullock Creek for some Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) competition.