Local track teams participated in the Sparta “Buzz Bradley” Invitational Friday, with several placing among the top teams.

Waterloo took third among the 16 boys teams with a score of 93.5; Columbia came in sixth at 46.5; Dupo placed eighth, and Red Bud came in 13th. For the girls, Red Bud topped the local teams coming in fourth out of 14 teams with a team score of 85.5. Waterloo came in fifth with a score of 68, Columbia placed 11th and Dupo placed 12th.

Among the top finishers, Waterloo’s Justin Kretchmer came in first with a jump of 6’6”, while Dupo’s Matt McDonald took third with a 6-foot jump. Both athletes also competed in the long jump, with Kretchmer finishing in second place with a distance of 20 feet, while McDonald took sixth with a jump of 19’1.25”.

McDonald took home a first place medal in the triple jump at a distance of 41’6.5”.

In the shot put, Waterloo’s Brendan Duncan took first with a throw of 58’1”, one foot better than his throw at last week’s Granite City Invitational, and beat the second place finisher by nearly five feet. Columbia’s Grant Snow took fourth at a distance of 43’1.5”. Duncan also took first in the discus with a throw of 154’4”, defeating the second place finisher by nearly 37 feet.

Fellow Waterloo senior and long distance standout Josh Rodenberg finished first in the 1,600-meter run, with a time of 4:30.40.

Bulldog junior Nolan Mannino took third in the 400 meter dash, while Red Bud’s Ethan Duclos took third in the 3,200 meter run. Will Zeisset and Weston Liefer of Waterloo placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Columbia’s 4×800-meter relay team took second in the event with a time of 9:03.90.

On the girls side, Red Bud’s Kalli Hentis took first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.50, while Waterloo’s Jenna Bivens took second with a time of 12.70. Bivens’ time earned her a new Waterloo High School record, beating the previous record set in 1985 at 12.6.

Hentis also placed first in the 200-meter dash, while Bivens took third. Hentis placed third in the 400-meter dash as well.

Waterloo junior Jessi Elder took second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:39.40.

Red Bud has been stellar in distance events this season, with Friday as no exception. Musketeer senior Brittney Burmester took first in the 1,600-meter run with fellow teammate and sophomore Deanna Deterding coming in third. Burmester and Deterding took first and second, respectively, in the 3,200-meter run as well.

The WHS hurdles duo of sophomore Hannah Finnerty and junior Malone Wall are be- ginning to make a lasting impression in their respective events as well. Finnerty took second and Wall third in the 300-meter hurdles, while the duo took fourth and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the Sparta Invite.

The Bulldog’s 4×800-meter relay team of Carly Merritt, Amanda Schreder, and Courtney and Jessi Elder took third on Friday.

Columbia’s two star field athletes did well at Sparta, also. Eagle senior Amy Rzepcznski took first in the high jump at a height of 4’11”, while classmate Becca Krebel placed second in the shot put with a throw of 32’3.5”.

Dupo sophomore Kim Bennett took third in the discus with a toss of 80’8”.

Tuesday, Columbia was scheduled to host the Bi-County Invite with Waterloo, Gibault and Red Bud all in attendance. Due to the rain, the meet was postponed to Wednesday at 4 p.m.