MOKANE, Mo. -- New Bloomfield freshman Addison Baker won the 400-meter dash and was the lead runner in the Lady Wildcats' first-place 4x400 relay team in the South Callaway HS Invitational Thursday at South Callaway High School.
Host South Callaway finished fourth out of 16 teams with 59 points, and New Bloomfield -- short some competitors due to injury -- took 10th with 45.
"Our girls, you're seeing them continue to progress, continue to get better continue to move forward to being their kind of final version of the season," South Callaway track and field coach Stephen Wisch said. "Some of that progress and growth is what we love to see."
"The girls 4x800 and 4x400 are running some very good times right now," New Bloomfield track and field coach Jacob White said. "But, I'm super proud of all the kids, girls and boys. It is such an honor to be able to coach them and be a part of their journey. It's so much fun coaching them. Most importantly, #NBPROUD."
Hallsville won the team championship with 88 points, Vienna placed second with 77 and Russellville third with 70.
With how she did, it didn't look like Baker was among the youngest at the invite.
Baker won the 400 at 1 minute and 7.44 seconds when the sun still shone, beating rival South Callaway's Lotus Gwaltney, who finished second, by 2.21.
"This one was a lot harder to win than the last 100, but I feel like I pushed harder," Baker said. "...It's good (to compete at New Bloomfield's sectionals site). Challenging schools, especially some of the bigger ones, are harder to beat, but it's good to get the experience of competition."
In the penultimate event under the chilly night sky, Baker gave 4x400 teammates Kaelyn Tighe, Myah Briggs and Marley Hunt all the cushion they needed to win.
The Lady Wildcats did just that, smoking the competition by clocking in at 4:32.81, 13.73 faster than second-place Vienna's Lainey Magner, Madison Weeks, Jaedyn Schell and Aubrey Reeves.
"I think today we pushed way harder," Baker said. "We weren't that much slower than our PR, and the wind was awful and we still ran."
"We weren't expecting to get as good as we did today, as we did the other day, because we had more competition," Tighe said. "But today, we did pretty much just as good and get the win, too."
"I think this season just kind of really big for us because we're kind of like down, especially on Bella (Talbot) we're down with that," Briggs said. "We're trying to really pick up on a lot of other events. And so, I think like this event especially. ...We started with 4:44. We've dropped 14 seconds off of it, so that's really big for us. I think we have a lot pushing us, especially since last year. We were right on the cusp of getting out of sectionals to go to state, so we're really pushing for that."
For it to be surprising to see South Callaway's Reece Pahl not win a dash event shows how good of a student-athlete she is, and unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, Pahl didn't get gold in her home meet.
Even though Pahl didn't win an event, she still earned silver in all four she competed in. She ran the 100 dash in 13.63 and the 200 in 27.15 and leaped 4 feet and 5.94 inches in the high jump and 15-2.28 in the long jump.
"I think anytime you talk about our girls track team the last couple of years, you have to mention Reece Pahl," Wisch said. "Multi-state medalist last year and did really well. We talked about it a lot today with her. The Hallsville young woman is very, very talented, different class. So, we're not going to see her come postseason, but we love seeing that type of competition during the year. So, Reece getting second in a few events."
New Bloomfield's 4x100 relay team of Briggs, Addyson Werdehausen, Tighe and Baker (55.9) and 4x800 of Baker, Tighe, Hunt and Ella Trigg (11:56.59) received silver medals.
Kelsey Wetherell recorded a third-place finish in the triple jump at 28-6.52 for South Callaway and Briggs in the 300 hurdles at 53.13 for the Lady Wildcats.
"Kelsey Wetherell got third in the triple, which is a big thing for her," Wisch said.
The Lady Bulldogs' Madelyn Radmacher finished fourth in the pole vault at 7-7.73.
South Callaway finishes its two-event week in the Licklider Relays at 9:45 a.m. Saturday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.
"Improvement, right?" Wisch said when asked what South Callaway's focus is leading up to the postseason. "It's finding spots. We have those conversations a lot. 'Okay, this is where you are right now.' This is where you stand in let's say long jump. Well, this is our spot compared to the conference rankings and district rankings.
"How can you find a better fit? If you weren't gonna get points here, where can you maybe get a conversation with this kid? For some kids, well, how can you compensate? For some kids, how can you help us get a point? Because track like every other sport, it comes down to every single point and finding a role for each kid. So, that team level that's where we're talking about individually is just growth, and that's a big part of life."
New Bloomfield competes in the Versailles Invitational at 4 p.m. Monday at Versailles High School.
South Callaway's Kelsey Wetherell leaps in the long jump in the South Callaway HS Invitational Thursday at South Callaway High School in Mokane. (Robby Campbell/Fulton Sun)