The Dale Collier Invitational at Kirkwood High is annually one of the top late-season track and field meets in the St. Louis metro area.
The meet features excellent programs from St. Louis and the Metro East, as well as teams from southeast Missouri and the Kansas City area. In the girls team competition, Ladue finished first with 98 points while East St. Louis was second with 96. Blue Springs was third with 74, followed by Cardinal Ritter with 72.
Ladue displayed the impressive depth that helped it win the Missouri Class 5 state championship last season. The Rams got first-place finishes from Taylor Gase in the 800-meter run, Adele Salvatori in the 1,600, and Sabra Fink in the shot put.
In the sprints, Laila Murray and Arianna Freeman placed second and third in the 100, while Zoe Coleman placed third in the 200. The Rams also finished first in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays.
East St. Louis swept the top two spots in the 100-meter hurdles as Kendra Jennings finished first and Pea’Ton Walker followed in second. The Flyers also finished second in the 4×200 relay and third in the 4×400.
Cardinal Ritter finished first in three events, led by Aziza Hendricks’ win in the triple jump at 37 feet, 6 inches. MeKenzie Rogers won the 200 and ran a leg on the Lions’ first-place 4×100 relay team, which posted a time of 48.95 seconds.
Sydney Lanton of John Burroughs was one of the meet’s top performers, winning the 300 hurdles and the long jump while also finishing third in the triple jump.
The girls 400 was among the day’s top races. Ava Tobias of Incarnate Word won in 55.67 seconds, followed by Aniya Davis of Hazelwood West in 55.92 and Jade David of East St. Louis in 58.48.
On the boys side, Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience had an excellent showing. It won the 4×800 relay in 7:57.47, more than 14 seconds ahead of its nearest competitor. Sophomore Max McFarlane won the long jump at 23 feet, 3 inches. Senior Moses Mugeny won the triple jump at 46 feet, 7 inches, while McFarlane finished third at 46-1.
Joe Sperino of John Burroughs won the 800 in a meet-record time of 1:59.63. Pattonville won the 4×200 relay in an impressive 1:26.76.