KANSAS CITY – Excelsior Springs secured nine spots at Class 4 sectional track and field competition Saturday at Odessa.

The Tigers took top-four finishes May 15 at the Class 4 District 8 meet, hosted by Winnetonka at Staley High School. The girls produced qualifiers in four events, including a relay team. The boys produced qualifiers in five individual events, with one qualifier in two events.

“We had many fifth places, which were close to qualifying,” coach Jonah Albertson said. “We set 13 personal records on the day but fell just short of making it to the sectional meet with some of them.”

On the girls side, senior Emma Craven qualified in the high jump and 400-meter dash; junior Breanna Williams qualified in pole vault; and the girls 3,200 relay team qualified.

Craven placed third in the high jump by clearing 1.47 meters and finished fourth in the 400 in a personal-best 1 minute, 3.1 seconds. Williams cleared 2.13 to finish fourth in the pole vault.

The 3,200 relay team finished fourth in 11:13.13.

On the boys side, freshman Mason Wartner advanced in the 1,600 and 3,200, and junior Tyler Rumore advanced in the 3,200. In the field events, sophomore Braxton Moffett qualified in the pole vault and Ricky Juarez qualified in the javelin.

Moffett placed second by vaulting a season-best 3.2. Juarez finished third by throwing 39.57.

In the running events, Wartner finished second in the 3,200 in 10:28.01 and placed third in the 1,600 in 4:50.88. Rumore placed fourth in the 3,200 in 10:29.5.

Junior Donovan Paige was just short of qualifying in the 100, as a photo finish revealed him to be a few thousandths of a second out of the final qualifying spot. The boys 400 and 1,600 relay teams each set records, but they fell short of qualifying.