Local high school track and field athletes have been putting their best feet and arms forward this spring, as evidenced in recent meets. 

On Monday, Columbia and Dupo tracksters competed in the Wiseman/Henning Invitational at Freeburg.

For the Columbia boys, Chase Hendrickson won the discus with a throw of 150 feet, 7.5 inches. Joel Spirakis placed fifth in the pole vault at seven feet, three inches.

For the Columbia girls, Alayna Calvin placed sixth in the long jump at 14 feet, 9.25 inches.

For the Dupo boys, Braxton Barnett won the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 6.75 inches. He also placed third in the discus at 141 feet, 10 inches. 

Also at this meet for the Tigers, Keith West placed second in the triple jump at 40 feet, 5.75 inches. Carter Lumpkins placed third in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:47.56.

For the Dupo girls, Allison Taylor placed third in the discus (99 feet, 5.75 inches) and fifth in the shot put (31 feet, 11.75 inches). 

The Waterloo boys track squad competed in Saturday’s Norm Armstrong Invitational at Belleville West, finishing with a few noteworthy performances. A total of 33 schools were represented. 

Waterloo’s Tyler DeVilder placed first in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:25.89, which was a personal best. 

Also for the Bulldogs, Luke Smith placed third in the 800 meter run with a personal best time of 1:57.91. 

Waterloo’s Chris Pete set a new school record in the 200 meter run with a time of 21.86 seconds, which was good for sixth place at this meet. 

Gibault track athletes competed Saturday at the East Alton-Wood River Invitational, which had 22 schools represented. 

For the Gibault girls, Clara Willson won the 3,200 meter run with a finish time of 13:00.32 and placed second in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 5:52.78. 

For the Gibault boys, Austin Stern won the 800 meter run at 2:08.71. Ryan Biffar placed second in the 400 meter run (52.55 seconds) and also second in the 200 meter run (24.07 seconds). 

Gibault’s Oscar Gedris placed second in the triple jump (37 feet, 10 inches) and fourth in the discus (116 feet, 0.25 inches).

The Waterloo girls track squad competed Friday in the Lady Knight Invitational at Triad High School, which had 19 total schools represented. 

In the 3,200 meter run, Waterloo’s Cameron Crump placed second with a time of 10:55.70, followed by teammate Ava Rau in fourth with a time of 11:59.38.

Waterloo’s Karigan Littlejohn placed fourth in the pole vault at nine feet, 5.5 inches.

Also on Friday, Dupo tracksters competed in the Pinckneyville Coed Meet. 

For the Dupo girls, Taylor set a new school record in the discus with a heave of 112 feet, nine inches. The previous school record in that event was set in 2015.

Taylor also won the shot put with a throw of 33 feet.

Other winners for the Tigers at Pinckneyville were West in the triple jump (41 feet) and Barnett in both the discus (134 feet, nine inches) and shot put (43 feet, 10 inches).