After the Montgomery County Early Invite ended on March 21 under chilly and cloudy conditions, Stephanie Finke tried to remember when the last time the season-opening meet was held under decent weather during her 13 years as MCHS track coach.

Her answer was simple.

“I’m pretty sure never,” Finke said. “It’s always cold. We had snow and all kinds of stuff.”

Despite the conditions, the Wildcats turned in a strong performance at the 14-team meet at Jim Blacklock Field, earning medals in 10 events, including first-place finishes in four of them.

Now, MCHS is setting its sights on getting plenty of athletes on the podium at the Class 3 state meet in two months. The Wildcats return seven all-state medalists from the 2022 season – seniors Adam Czerniewski, Lyric Ford and Dominic Luttrell, juniors Jacer Brower and El Reagan and sophomores Tyler Erwin and Jadrian Thurmon.

Reagan is back after finishing with eight victories in the pole vault last spring, including a state championship. The junior won the pole vault and earned a third-place medal in the high jump in this year’s MCHS Early Invite.

Czerniewski, Luttrell, Brower and Thurmon return from last year’s boys 800-meter relay team that finished sixth, making it the first time since 2014 the Wildcats had a relay team earning all-state honors. At the Early Invite, the 4x200 team of Luttrell, Thurmon, Landon Massey and Triston Smith earned a third-place medal.

Erwin, who placed eighth in the high jump at Jefferson City a year ago, finished in the top eight in four events at the Early Invite, placing third in the triple jump, fourth in the high jump, fifth in the 110-meter hurdles and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Ford, who finished fourth in 1,600 in state last year, started her senior year on a high note at the Early Invite, winning the 1,600 and 800.

Czerniewski also turned in a strong effort at the MCHS meet, winning the triple jump and 200, finishing fifth in the javelin and helping the 4x100 team place eighth.

Ford, Czerniewski and Luttrell lead a small senior class that also includes Destiny Shaw, Carie Schroer and Carissa Doyle.

“It’s always a great group of senior kids,” Finke said. “I lean on them a lot, even with helping some of the juniors such as how to do drills because they can’t be in every area at the same time. Having that leadership really makes my job easier. If we don’t have that, it’s chaos.”

The girls are looking to win their seventh Eastern Missouri Conference championship and their fourth in five years. They lost five athletes to graduation, including Sam Queathem, an all-state performer in the javelin last spring.

“We have a lot of young kids,” Finke said. “I know I have a lot of eighth-graders coming up. It’s going to be a rebuilding year for us. Obviously, I have three good returners in Lyric, Malia and El. The girls will be all right.”

Finke has high hopes for the boys team even though it lost its top distance performer, Dawson McCown, to graduation.

“The boys will be pretty strong,” said Finke, who has been coaching the MCHS track team since 2011. “I have a lot of returners. Obviously, we lost Dawson and that one is going to hurt.”

The Wildcats were scheduled to have a track meet at South Shelby High School on March 27. They will compete in the Holt Invitational on April 1 in Wentzville.

MCHS’ next home meet will be on April 6, when it hosts the Montgomery County Non-Medal meet. It will also host the Montgomery County Invitational on April 17.