A year ago, Sam Turner and Emma Rodgers ended their track seasons with all-state medals.

When they competed in the season-opening Montgomery County Early Invite on March 24 at Jim Blacklock Field, the Montgomery County athletes picked up right where they left off in 2025.

Turner won the shot put and discus and Rodgers earned three medals, including a first-place finish in the 400, at the 11-team meet. It’s the first time Turner and Rodgers won championships at the Montgomery Early Invite, which is usually the Wildcats’ first track meet of the season. 

A total of 11 MCHS athletes earned at least one medal at the Early Invite. The top three finishers in each event receive medals.

Turner and Rodgers are the Wildcats’ only returning all-state medalists. Last year, Turner placed second in the shot put and third in the discus and Rodgers came in eighth in the 800 at the Class 3 state meet in Jefferson City.

At the Early Invite, Turner threw a personal-best 37 feet, 3 inches in the shot put, surpassing the old mark of 37-0.5 meters she set in her victory at the Class 3, District 3 championship meet in Owensville. She tossed the 37-3 mark in her fourth and final attempt. 

In the discus, Turner threw 127-4, just five inches shy from her personal-best throw she set at state last year. She tossed that mark in her second attempt after scratching her first.

Turner, who is a junior, now has 10 first-place finishes in the throwing events in her high school track career. Last year, she had six.

Turner also has three Early Invite medals. She placed third in the discus in last year’s meet.

Rodgers, a sophomore, won the 400 with a 1:01.98, making it the first time she placed first in the event. Last year, she had seven first-place finishes in four different events, including three in the 800.

Rodgers also earned medals in two other events – the 1,600 and 3,200-meter relays. The 4x800 relay team of Rodgers, senior Katlyn Kolling and freshmen Trinity Brown and Anna Kay Johnson placed third and the 4x400 squad of Rodgers, Kolling, Brown and sophomore Mieka Ray was second.

Last year, Rodgers picked up medals in the 800, 4x400 and 4x800 at the Early Invite.

Besides Turner and Rodgers, Ray also got a first-place finish in the 2026 Early Invite, winning the triple jump with a 33-8.75. It’s just the second time she competed in the event.

Junior Aubrey Janes earned three medals at the Early Invite, placing second in the 200 and third in the high jump and long jump. Last year, she won the high jump.

Junior Kaylee Daume placed third in the shot put with a 33-5.75 for her first Early Invite medal.

Ray, Janes and Daume competed in last year’s state meet. Ray and Janes ran in the 4x400 and Daume competed in the shot put.

The Wildcats had a strong showing from their senior class at the Early Invite. Kolling and seniors Cooper Sellenriek, Kendrick Lewis and Ashton Johnson each had two medals.

Besides the medal in the 4x400, Kolling also placed third in the 400 in 1:06.67, coming up short from her personal-best 1:06.43 she set in last year’s districts.

Sellenriek placed second in the 400 in 54.35 seconds and third in the javelin in 138-5. He set personal-best marks in both events.

Lewis finished with personal-best efforts in his third-place finishes in the 300-meter hurdles and high jump. He ran 45.98 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles and jumped 5-10.75 in the high jump.

Johnson turned in personal-best throws in the shot put and discus. He finished second in the shot put in 41.7.25 and third in the discus in 123-10.

The Wildcats placed third in the girls division in 101.5 points and fifth in the boys division with 63. Washington won team titles in both divisions.

MCHS was scheduled to compete in the South Shelby Open Meet on March 30. Its next home meet is the Montgomery County Invitational on April 20.