Making the trek north into Callaway County over the weekend for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 2, District 4 track meet at New Bloomfield High School, Tony Terry, Jr.’s Hermann High School (HHS) track and field athletes had top-four finishes on their radar looking to advance to this Saturday’s sectional meet at South Callaway High School in Mokane.

Hermann’s Lady Bearcats placed third as a team with 74 points behind Harrisburg (167) and Fayette (104) while the Bearcats took fifth in the boys team standings with 77 points.

Doing a lot of their damage in the throwing events, Hermann junior Alaina Powers punched her sectional ticket with a second-place mark of 32.69 meters in the girls discus while senior Faith Gabathuler extended her HHS track and field career by another week following a second-place throw of 10.82m in the girls shot put.

Katelyn Krueger also placed ninth for the Lady Bearcats in the girls shot put with a throw of 7.96m.

Fellow senior Ashlyn Hughes will join Gabathuler at sectionals following her second-place throw of 35.56m in the girls javelin.

Alivia Witthaus also scored three Lady Bearcat team points with her sixth-place throw of 30.56m in the girls javelin.

Jillian Frederick will also see her senior season of HHS track be a week longer after clearing 1.40m to place fourth in the girls high jump.

Morgan Penning will get at least one more lap around a track this Saturday at sectionals in Mokane following her third-place time of 1:06.00 in the girls 400m dash at New Bloomfield.

Leading the way for Lady Bearcat relay teams with a fifth-place time of 4:43.87 in the girls 4x400m relay was the team of Tenley McFadden, Makayla Nicholson, Brooklyn McCurdy and Penning.

Placing sixth in the girls 4x200m relay for Hermann in a time of 1:56.78 was the Lady Bearcat quartet of Heidi Brinker, McFadden, Nicholson and Penning.

Sprinting to a sixth-place time of 54.19 in the girls 4x100m relay was the Lady Bearcat foursome of Adlee LaBruyere, Brinker, Nicholson and Hughes.

McFadden just missed qualifying for sectionals in the girls 200m dash after a fifth-place time of 29.25.

Fynnlee Riffle also picked up two Lady Bearcat team points with her seventh-place time of 1:13.79 in the girls 400m dash.

Elaina Uthlaut ended her HHS track and field career with an eighth-place time of 3:00.74 in the girls 800m run good for a team point.

Eileen Swofford just missed qualifying for sectionals in the girls 1600m run placing fifth in a time of 6:36.22.

Grace Engemann also earned two team points for the Lady Bearcats with her seventh-place time of 16:15.62.

Taya Thurman ended her freshman season of HHS track with a 12th-place time of 1:00.54 in the girls 300m hurdles.

Kylie Helmig and Callie Borzillo both cleared 2.15m in the girls pole vault placing them 10th and 11th respectively.

Senior Nolan Kopp paced the Bearcats advancing to sectionals in all three distance events winning both the boys 1600m run in 4:41.05 and the boys 3200m run in 10:41.91.

He also placed third in the boys 800m run with a time of 2:12.98.

Ryker Ash also sprinted his way to a pair of individual sectional berths placing third in the boys 200m dash with a time of 23.32 and fourth in the boys 400m dash in 52.63.

Chase Branson ended his junior season on the track following a ninth-place time of 5:25.70 in the boys 1600m run while senior Eric Chorley placed ninth in the boys 3200m run with a time of 11:50.72 for the Bearcats.

Bracksten Carr posted his best finish at districts in the boys 110m hurdles with a sixth-place time of 18.31.

Pacing Bearcat relay teams was the boys 4x400m foursome of Tayven Hopkins, Roman Martin, Ash and Kopp with a fifth-place time of 3:46.35.

Hermann’s boys 4x200m relay team of Ashton Rucker, Colin Nunnally, Martin and Hopkins also placed eighth in a time of 1:41.63.

Victor Loaiza (14th, 10.27m) and Nathon Wheeler (15th, 10.14m) ended their respective Bearcat track seasons in the boys shot put while Layne Bader (14th, 28,48m) and Spencer Head (19th, 24.02m) competed for Hermann in the boys discus.

Elliot Geers (21st, 25.67m) also competed for the Bearcats in the boys javelin.

Hopkins and Rucker both cleared 1.73m in the boys high jump to place second and third respectively punching their individual tickets to sectionals.

Gavyn Theissen ended his senior season of HHS track after an 11th-place leap of 5.30m in the boys long jump.

Sawyer Moore also ended his freshman season with a 17th-place leap of 4.74m in the boys long jump.

Nunnally extended his junior season by another week in the boys triple jump with a second-place mark of 12.34m.