The days of finishing at the back of the pack are fading for the Houston High School track team.
HHS continued its path of improvement last Thursday with a strong showing at the Ava track meet. The boys finished seventh among 15 teams while the girls missed winning the meet by less than two points and finished second.
Junior Abby Casper led the way for the Lady Tigers by winning the 100-and 200-meter dashes. Senior Shelby Cremer tied for first in the pole vault.
Ava edged Houston in the girls’ team point standings 94 to 92.5. Following Houston was Willow Springs (90.5), Salem (82), West Plains (69), Liberty (62), Dora (51), Mountain Grove (39), Mansfield (24), Bakersfield (16), Cabool (14), Alton (14), Hartville (13), Gainesville (5) and Couch (2).
On the boys’ side, Salem easily won the meet with 141 points. Ava was second at 113.5, followed by Mountain Grove (82), West Plains (82), Liberty (58), Cabool (43), Alton (37), Houston (36), Willow Springs (29), Mansfield (26.5), Dora (23), Bakersfield (19), Hartville (6), Gainesville (5) and Couch (0).
Casper, a reigning state finalists in both sprints, ran the 100 in 12.65 and was victorious in the 200 with a time of 25.2.
Cremer cleared 6 feet, 6 inches to tie for the lead in the pole vault. Her teammate, Krista Scott, tied for second in the event.
Madison Lawson was third in the 300 low hurdles in 56.96 seconds. Scott was fourth at 58.84.
Cremer had a pair of fourth-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump.
Trenton Best led the Tigers with a runner-up finish in the 110 high hurdles in 15.93. Teammate Caleb Adkison was third in the event in 16.53.
Best was third in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 43.45.