Boys’ track had yet another stellar performance Friday, May 7, at the Shepherd BLUEJAY Invite. The Sharks placed first in the small school division with a final score of 126, besting second-place Breckenridge by a whopping 40 points. St. Louis trounced the small school division competition and held its own against the large schools as well.

Coach Jay Puffpaff recalled, “It was a big win for our team against some very good competition. Despite some windy conditions, the team showed up, competed hard, and made significant improvements.”

In the small school division, medal winners included: Ignatius Jackson in the 100-meter dash in third with a personal record (PR) of 11.25 seconds and in the 200-meter dash again taking third-place (24.28). Additionally, Andrew Taipalus placed fourth in the 400-meter race (56.56), Keegan Honig was fourth in the 800-meter race (2:13.70) and fifth in the 1600-meter race with a PR of 4:48.62, Nate March was fifth in the 800 (2:13.81) and fourth in the 1600 (4:47.23), Craig Bebow placed sixth in the 800 (2:19.84), and Dylan Marr was sixth in the 1600 (5:00.11).

Aaron Bowerman finished first in the 3200-meter race with a PR of 10:15.81, and Ben March finished fourth with a PR of 10:26.23. Caleb Noak was third in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.10, Aidan Fisher was fourth (19.15), and Will Erickson was sixth (21.42). Fisher also finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a 49.78 finish. Dousuah finished second in shot put with a PR throw of 41-10.50, second in discus with another PR of 117-10, and fourth in long jump with a jump of 18-02.50.

Relay teams from St. Louis who earned medals include the 4×100-meter relay team of Ben Dousuah, Fisher, J.T. Starry, and Josh Dew taking third with a time of 53.34, the 4×400-meter relay team of Jackson, Bebow, Marr, and Taipalus taking second with a 3:46.77 finish, and the 4×800-meter relay team of Marr, Bebow, March, and Honig finishing second with time of 8:44.91.

Going into this meet, the Sharks were ranked ninth in the state for division three according to MITCA’s rankings. However, the fantastic performances and drops in time at the BLUEJAY Invite could likely boost their positions. It was a dominant performance, and this meet will give the team confidence as they march deeper into the season’s schedule.

Jackson stated, “I think our team has a very good chance at competing against bigger teams, like the teams we went against. After Friday, we proved we can compete pretty well.”

The Sharks will be back in action Wednesday, May 12, at Standish-Sterling.