NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO | Junior Alexis Crouch brings the baton around the track in the Trojans 4x200 meter relay at the Wartburg Invitational.

WAVERLY — There is no shortage of new faces on the South Tama girls track and field team. The Trojans lost several seniors last season, but luckily have been able to bring in new athletes to fill up a competitive roster. As the girls headed over to Waverly for the Wartburg Invitational, it provided a good opportunity for experienced and newer athletes alike to improve in their events for the competition ahead.

To start off the meet, senior Natalie Meek and junior Cailey Brown both ran the 55 meter dash. Meek placed 31st with a time of 8.73 seconds while Brown followed closely behind with a time of 9.19 for 38th place. Sophomore Ashlyn Kapayou competed in the 200 meter dash placing 28th with a finishing time of 32.56. In the 400 meter dash, juniors Alexis Crouch and Macy Welsh both competed for the Trojans. Crouch ran 1:12.32 for 14th place, while Welsh ran 1:16.90 for 26th place.

The Trojans girls, similar to the boys, were able to get team points out of their distance athletes. Senior Kayla Heck racked in an impressive 5 points with her fifth place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:40.99. Senior Nadia Onichimowska also ran the 800 meters, finishing 16th with a time of 2:59.71, Onichimowska also doubled back to run the 1600 where she finished 18th with a time of 6:18.18.

The Trojans also showed progress in their relays as the 4×200 team of Crouch, Hala, Thiessen, and Bradley finished with a time of 2:02.48, which was good enough for 15th place. The last running event of the night was the 4×400 where the Trojan squad of Bradley, Crouch, Welsh and Smith finished in 18th place with a combined time of 5:02.72.

South Tama was also able to find success in the shot put, as sophomore Autumn Elsbury and freshman Emma Slifer both competed well. Elsbury finished in eighth place, scoring points for the team with a throw of 31.03 feet. Slifer finished 31st with a throw of 23.04 feet.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO | STC Senior Kayla Heck competes in the 800 meter dash at last week’s Wartburg Invitational. Heck would finish fifth overall.

The Trojan girls finished in 22nd place with a score of five points in this competitive field. South Tama was back in action on Tuesday in Grinnell to face off against conference opponents in the WaMac indoor meet as they looked to continue to improve on their already solid start.