A respectable showing by the Cassville girls and boys track teams awarded the squads fifth and sixth place, respectively, at the Big 8 Championships in Mt. Vernon on May 3.

The Lady Wildcats’ 4×800 relay team of Marianne McCrackin, Tori Mitchell, Annie Moore and Jolie Evans was the biggest winner, turning in a 10:37.33, more than 6 seconds ahead of runner up Logan-Rogersville. Cassville collected a pair of second place finishes, Jolie Evans in the 800-meter and Riley Morris in the discus, and three third place medals, Marianne McCrackin in the 300-meter hurdles, Tori Mitchell in the 800-meter and Dakotah Anderson in the 3200-meter.

Erin Flehmer, Cassville girls track coach, said the team’s hard work this season is paying off.

“The progress of this team has been wonderful,”she said. “Every meet, the team has gotten better and they are working very hard.”

Flehmer said the team’s relay groupings have been the shining light.

“We should, based on rankings, get our 4×800, 4×400, 4×200, Jolie Evans in the 800, Jadyn Williams-Reed in the 200 and 400, Riley Morris in discus and Annie Moore in pole vault [on to sectionals],” she said. “We have been working hard this week to get ourselves mentally ready for Saturday. I have changed some relays to get the most out of every runner. The girls are ready to compete and keep working hard into the next week.”

For the boys, gold was elusive, but three silvers and a bronze were achieved. Bradan Dickinson, a state medalist in shot put last year, threw 14.83 meters. The shot is .44 meters better than his fifth-place throw at state last year, and the winner at that event threw for 16.15 meters.

Peter Littlefield also earned a second place finish in the high jump, and the 4×800 relay team of Jacob Martinez, Caleb Leach, Peter Littlefield and Charles Elliott took second place in the 4×800 event. Eli pickett was the lone third place winner for the Wildcats, taking bronze in pole vault.

Clay Weldy, Cassville boys track coach, said he is pleased with how his Wildcats are performing with the Class 3, District 6 meet approaching on Saturday in Lamar.

“I’ve been proud of the progression of our team this year,” Weldy said. “Every member of our team has made improvement and gotten better at their events. This has been an enjoyable group to be around. They are very hard working and team oriented, even though track lends itself to be an individual based sport.

“We’ve been a pretty well-rounded team this spring. We’ve gotten points from all 19 events.”

The Wildcats hope that progression will translate to tickets to the sectional meet.

“We have several returnees from sectionals a year ago: Bradan Dickinson in shot put, Eli Pickett in pole vault, Peter Littlefield in high jump and our 4×100 relay. I think they all have a chance to advance again this year. I think we have a chance to get some of our distance events to sectionals, and our four relay teams also have a good chance. We are hoping for a good showing this Saturday, and hope we get as many kids through to sectionals as possible.”

With a week to prepare, Weldy said the team will stick to what it knows.

“There are no major tweaks that we are making,” he said. “We are just continuing to work at the same events we’ve been doing all year, and trying to get better.”

The boys finished 6th as a team. The top six in each event are All-Conference performers. Results for the Wildcats include:

2nd Place Shot Put, Bradan

Shot Put, Bradan Dickinson, 14.83

High Jump, Peter Littlefield, 1.75m

4×800 Relay, Jacob Martinez, Caleb Leach, Peter Littlefield, Charles Elliott, 8:43.97 3rd Place

3rd Place

Pole Vault, Eli Pickett, 3.51m

4th Place

1600m, Caleb Leach, 4:47.55

4×100 Relay, Garrett Ewing, Bryson Jacobson, Jake Anthonysz, Jon Oliphant, 46.00

4×200 Relay, Garrett Ewing, Bryson Jacobson, Jake Anthonysz, Jon Oliphant, 1:35.53

5th Place 4×400 Relay, Jacob

4×400 Relay, Jacob Martinez, Caleb Leach, Peter Littlefield, Charles Elliott, 3:40.62

8th Place

Discus, Bradan Dickinson, 39.12m

Results for the girls, who finished 5th as a team, include:

1st Place 4x800m relay,

4x800m relay, Marianne McCrackin, Tori Mitchell, Annie Moore, Jolie Evans, 10:37.33

2nd Place

800m, Jolie Evans, 2:32.08

Discus, Riley Morris, 105-08.50

3rd Place

300m Hurdles, Marianne McCrackin, 51.92

800m, Tori Mitchell, 2:38.02

3200m, Dakotah Anderson, 13:28.28

4th place

100m hurdles, Marianne McCrackin, 17.13

400m, Jadyn Williams-Reed, 1:04.70

Pole Vault, Annie Moore, 8-06.00

5th place

Shot Put, Aaliyah Franklin, 29-09.00

6th place 1600m, Dakotah

1600m, Dakotah Anderson, 6:11.80

4x4m relay, Sharayah Seymour, Jolie Evans, Annie Moore, Jadyn Williams-Reed, 4:36.85 7th place

7th place

Discus, Maci Barton, 86-08.50

Javelin, Landry Parnell, 88-10.25

8th place

4x100m relay, Grace Yocum, Sharayah Seymour, Pazlee Burbridge, Evelyn Elliott, 54.64 4x200m relay, Grace

4x200m relay, Grace Yocum, Sharayah Seymour, Evelyn Elliott, Jadyn Williams-Reed, 1:55.74 200m, Jadyn Williams-200m, Jadyn Williams-Reed, 28.02

BIG 8 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cassville: Girls 5th as a team, boys 6th

Gold: Only first place came in girls 4x800m relay

More: Sectional returnees hope to advance again