The track team competed against teams from across the region on April 21 at the KU relays and came back with many placements within the top 20.

In order for athletes to participate, each coach submits his or her top athletes for each event. Then, the organizers select who will compete. Many different schools participated from Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado and more.

The girls 4×400 meter relay team of sophomores Izzy Pierce, Hailey Pittman; Dani Winslow, and Sophie Reed, freshman, finished second. The girls 4×100 meter relay of Riley Degner, sophomore, Pittman, Reed, and Grace Williams, senior, finished fourth. The girls 4×200 meter relay team of Williams, Reed, Pittman, and, Natalie Miller, junior, finished eighth.

“I was happy with my results because it is a really tough meet full of so much competition and a lot of us worked really hard to do our best and to be successful personally and for our team,” Pittman said.

Winslow finished in fifth place in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles and finished sixth in the high jump. Williams finished sixth in the 100-meter dash and Summer Kragel, senior, finished fourth in the high jump.

Emmanuel Okwuone, junior, finished fifth in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

“I was happy mainly because I gave a hundred percent effort and I set a personal record,” Okwuone said.

The boys sprint medley relay of Okwuone; Tre Adger; Cameron Waldo, seniors; and Jeremiah Tesfaye, junior, finished fourth.

Matthew Bohm, head track and field coach, was happy with the results. He believes that the KU Relays help prepare the athletes well for meets later in the year.

“It gives them tough competition and they have to perform under pressure,” Bohm said.

The quality of competition was something that athletes took note of as well.

“East St. Louis was really good because they had fast runners in almost every event and had placed first or second overall in about every event,” Okwuone said.

According to Pittman, these out of state competitors were tough to beat and that was what ulitmately pushed the team to break school records.