The Montgomery County girls track team brought some underclassmen power to the Eastern Missouri Conference championship meet on May 2 at Jim Blacklock Field.

That helped the Wildcats add another conference championship plaque to their trophy case.

MCHS won its sixth straight EMO title in the girls division after placing first in the conference meet with 125 points. The Wildcats won the 11-team meet by 12.5 points over Louisiana.

After the meet, most of the members on the girls team did a victory lap in the rain.

“I didn’t mind it,” MCHS sophomore Samantha Turner said. “It was a little wet. I’m not going to lie.”

Also, MCHS placed second in the boys division with 96.5. Seniors Tyler Erwin and Jadrian Thurmon won titles for the Wildcats. Erwin placed first in the long jump in 22-5.25 and the triple jump in 43-3.75, while Thurmon came out on top in the 3,200 in 10:18.20. Bowling Green won the boys championship with 200 points.

The MCHS girls got solid efforts from their freshmen and sophomores at the conference meet. They combined to score 111 points. The sophomores had 79.5 points, while the freshmen had 31.5.

Turner and freshman Emma Rodgers were two of MCHS’ top performers at the league meet. Turner placed first in the shot put in 32-6.5 and the discus in a school-record throw 119-5. Rodgers came out on top in the 800 in 2:30.65, helped the 3,200 relay team – which also included senior Atlanta Kobusch, junior Katlyn Kolling and sophomore Austyn Robinson – place first in 11:07.63, finished second in the 3,200 and place third in the 300-meter hurdles.

MCHS won its ninth EMO crown in program history. The Wildcats won their first league title in 1996. They won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. After a three-year hiatus, MCHS came back on top of the conference in 2019 and has been there ever since. The streak of six straight titles doesn’t include the 2020 season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turner said she was thrilled to see her team win another conference title as it prepares for the Class 3, District 3 championship meet in Owensville on May 10. Last year, the girls team had five athletes – including Turner – qualify out of districts.

“It’s awesome,” Turner said. “It’s always fun coming out here with our girls and being able to have fun. be ourselves and be able to come out here knowing that we can do something like this. It’s always super cool.”

For the second year in a row, the Wildcats captured the EMO title in come-from-behind fashion. They trailed Louisiana by 3.5 points with four events remaining before outscoring the Bulldogs 40-24. Last year, MCHS came back from a four-point deficit with two events to go to win the title.

Rodgers’ effort in the 3,200 clinched the conference title for the Wildcats. It gave the Wildcats a 9.5 point lead with one event to go.

“When you’re in the two mile, you’ve got to have a great mindset,” Rodgers said. “So I was thinking, ‘We’re only four points behind, so this could get us ahead a little bit.’”

Rodgers has been a solid addition to the Wildcats, getting six first-place finishes. She said she is enjoying high school track after two months.

“It’s pretty nice,” Rodgers said. “I love the team environment of it all.”

Turner now has three conference titles with her sweep in the throwing events. She won the shot put in last year’s meet, which was also held at MCHS. In the discus, Turner broke the old mark of 117-7, which was set by Jennifer Kroger in 1997.

“It was really fun,” Turner said. “I was really excited. I was definitely not coming in here to break that, but I was super happy that I did.”

Turner’s teammate, sophomore Reaghan Hemeyer, said Turner has been making huge improvements in the discus.

“At practice, it was after a middle school meet and it was late,” Hemeyer said. “Sam decided to fix her grip just to mess around. She ended up throwing bombs – 35 meter bombs.”

Turner threw 119-5 in her third attempt after fouling her first two attempts. She won the discus for the first time in her high school track career.

“I was really excited,” Turner said. “I was jumping up and down. I was glad and I was really excited. There was a lot of energy going through my body.”

Besides Turner and Robinson, other sophomores who scored points for the Wildcats were Jillian Weekley, Sarah Waters, Anna Klekamp, Aubrey Janes, Olivia Spurgeon and Kaylee Daume.