MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Creston girls track team got a new experience here Tuesday when it traveled to the Bearcat High School Invitational.
The Panthers finished second in a five-team field. The meet followed the typical Missouri High School Athletic Association format, which included events such as the pole vault and the triple jump.
The meet did not have any medley relays, and the distance races were the 3,200 meters and the 1,600 meters. Missouri also runs the 300 meter hurdles as opposed to the 400 meter hurdles.
“It was an entirely different meet than we’ve ever been a part of before,” head coach Clay Arnold said. “It was very interesting. We were able to mix it up a little bit and do some different things. We actually had a lot of season’s best and PRs, bouncing back one night after our home meet. I knew they’d be ready physically, but I wanted to see the mental aspect. Our sprinters, especially, ran really well.”
The night ended in a big way for the Panthers, with the 4x400 relay team of Raegen Smith, Breanna Wallace, Natalie Mostek and Taylor Briley running a season’s best time of 4:20.29, finishing second behind Winnetonka in 4:14.79.
“Wallace ran a PR in the second leg (1:04.54) and Nat ran a season best in the third leg (1:04.89),” Arnold said. “We were in third when Wallace got it and she ran down a girl. Was very impressive to finish off in second.”
Winnetonka also took first ahead of the Panthers in the 4x100 relay. Creston’s group of Rachel Shepherd, Cayla Maitlen, Briley and Amber Castillo ran a season’s best of 54.19.
“Winnetonka is a Kansas City school,” Arnold said. “They had some really good girls there. There were good individual girls, but teams weren’t very deep. We got second place and we weren’t trying to score any points. We just went down there for something different. Most of the events, other than the distance ones, had some solid competition.”
The Creston 4x800 relay team of Briley, Lexie Little, Maria Mostek and Natalie Mostek claimed Creston’s only relay victory of the night, winning by a wide margin with its time of 10:17.15.
Natalie Mostek also finished first in the 800 meters, running away with the win in 2:29.50. Jami Sickels ran a season’s best in that event.
Maria Mostek won the 3,200 meters in 12:38.93, with Little taking second in 13:49.40. Junior Jessica Beatty finished second in the 1,600 meters with her clocking of 6:11.62.
“The 3,200 girls didn’t have any competition, but I thought they ran well for first and second. Beatty was good in the mile. Nat ran a very solid open 800 by herself.”
Smith ran a PR in the 400 meter dash with her time of 1:04.95 for third place. The 4x200 relay team of Smith, Jami Sickels, Josie Sickels and Kiersten Latham took fifth in 1:59.40.
“Kiersten Latham, back-to-back nights on that (4x200) anchor was very strong, and Raegen had a great leadoff leg,” Arnold said.
Junior Amber Castillo finished fourth in the 100 hurdles and ran fifth in the 200 meter dash.
“As blazing as she’s been in those 100s, I wanted to see her run an open 200 and she didn’t disappoint,” Arnold said. “Ran a 28.87 out of the blocks in her first 200 of the year.”
Shepherd finished third in the 300 hurdles, running 55.29, while freshman Danielle Castillo took fourth in 58.15.
The Panthers set several season or personal bests in the field events.
Shepherd had a PR jump of 14-6.50 in the long jump, improving by 6.50 inches. Marie Hood threw a season’s best in the shot put at 31-1 for fifth place, while younger sister Hannah Hood took third. Freshman Faith Wilson recorded a new PR in the discus with a throw of 83-0.
Creston returns to action at Glenwood today.
“It’s going to be great competition over there,” Arnold said. “Treynor has been running excellent. We’re going to see Harlan for the first time. Those Council Bluffs schools this year have some pretty good athletes. We’ve definitely loaded up some relays and some individual events.”
Bearcat High School Invitational
Discus — 1. DeeNia McMiller, Winn, 137-3; 8. Faith Wilson, Creston, 83-0; 12. Marie Hood, Creston, 72-7.
Shot put — 1. DeeNia McMiller, Winn, 41-0; 3. Hannah Hood, Creston, 34-0; 5. Marie Hood, Creston, 31-1.
High jump — 1. Shelley Laures, PC, 5-2; 6. Breanna Wallace, Creston, 4-8.
Long jump — 1. Esther Loukawila, Winn, 17-1.50; 7. Rachel Shepherd, Creston, 14-6.50; 9. Danielle Castillo, Creston, 13-11.
3,200 meters — 1. Maria Mostek, Creston, 12:38.93; 2. Lexie Little, Creston, 13:49.40; 5. Angela Drey, Creston, 15:52.33.
4 x 800 relay — 1. Creston (Taylor Briley, Lexie Little, Maria Mostek, Natalie Mostek), 10:17.15.
100 meters — 1. LaTeefah Williams, Winn, 13.27; 6. Cayla Maitlen, Creston, 14.05; 11. Rachel Shepherd, Creston, 14.46; 14. Alyssa Trembly, Creston, 16.61.
400 meters — 1. Emma Evans, Winn, 1:02.61; 3. Raegen Smith, Creston, 1:04.95; 6. Breanna Wallace, Creston, 1:07.71; 13. Josie Sickels, Creston, 1:13.81.
4 x 200 relay — 1. Platte County, 1:55.83; 5. Creston (Raegen Smith, Jami Sickels, Josie Sickels, Kiersten Latham), 1:59.40.
100 hurdles — 1. Sydney Smith, Winn, 16.38; 4. Amber Castillo, Creston, 18.24; 5. Danielle Castillo, Creston, 18.35; 7. Leah Schuler, Creston, 20.41.
800 meters — 1. Natalie Mostek, Creston, 2:29.50; 6. Jami Sickels, Creston, 2:44.43; 10. Jessica Beatty, Creston, 2:50.35.
200 meters — 1. Kaity Yount, Sav, 28.18; 5. Amber Castillo, Creston, 28.87; 6. Cayla Maitlen, Creston, 29.33; 8. Kiersten Latham, Creston, 29.88.
300 hurdles — 1. Hillary Mathurin, PC, 50.83; 3. Rachel Shepherd, Creston, 55.29; 4. Danielle Castillo, Creston, 58.15; 9. Nicole Haley, Creston, 1:05.03.
1,600 meters — 1. Dominique Wiedmaier, Mary, 6:03.94; 2. Jessica Beatty, Creston, 6:11.62; 6. Angela Drey, Creston, 7:05.28.
4 x 100 relay — 1. Winnetonka, 52.91; 2. Creston (Rachel Shepherd, Cayla Maitlen, Taylor Briley, Amber Castillo), 54.19.
4 x 400 relay — 1. Winnetonka, 4:14.79; 2. Creston (Raegen Smith, Breanna Wallace, Natalie Mostek, Taylor Briley), 4:20.29.