The 2023 Prentice Gudgen High School Invitational Meet at Pittsburg State University on Jan. 8-9 attracted more than 900 athletes from more than 145 teams across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas to compete in more than a dozen events.
Many athletes said they treated this indoor meet at the Robert W. Plaster Center as a preseason event and a chance to warm up for the coming outdoor track season.
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"This is really knocking the rust off from all the months of taking a break," said Micah Lindsey, a senior from Carthage who has signed to play football at Pittsburg State next year.
Lindsey placed seventh at state in shot put last season, the first season he competed in track and field, and he's hoping this meet helps him build on that unexpected success. He placed seventh on Saturday at Pittsburg.
"It's getting me back into the track season so I can do better this year than I did last year and hopefully get No. 1 at state," Lindsey said. It really just started as a filler during the off-season and as I did it and as I saw I was pretty good at it I really started enjoying the competition that it gives me."
Athletes competed in running events ranging from the 60-meter dash to the 3,000-meter run. They also competed in hurdles, long jump, triple jump, pole vaulting, shot put and other events.
Charles Shaw, competing with the St. Louis Warriors team, said he set a personal record in the long jump, placing fourth overall in the event on Saturday.
"First meet this season, this is an opportunity to make myself better and get ahead of everyone else at home getting ready for the regular season," Shaw said. "I'm already ready. It was worth the long drive."
Grace Parsons, a senior from Columbia Rock Bridge, competed in the long jump as well as the 60 hurdles, 200 meters and shot put. She finished 12th in the long jump and 15th in the shot put.
Parsons said this meet was a starting point for what she hopes is a successful season.
"It's really fun. I like it because it's important to get a baseline, especially where I'm at," Parsons said. "I've been training since late November and so I'm trying to find a baseline of where I'm at so I can build from there and get better."
Olivia Rogers , running with the Pony Express team, won state in the 200 meters last season for North Platte and placed eighth on Saturday. Rogers said she's hoping to build on those results.
"I'm hoping to get a new PR today," Rogers said. "This is my first ever indoor meet so that's exciting. I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things and get ready and hopefully lower my time before I head off to college at Missouri State."