St. Mary’s places sixth at MMCRU Relays behind balanced effort

Balanced scoring carried Storm Lake St. Mary’s to sixth place at the MMCRU Relays, and the Panthers left Marcus with a clearer picture of their spring ceiling. Against a runaway team race won by MMCRU with 174 points, St. Mary’s pieced together 27 points through points in the sprints, middle distances, relays and field events, the kind of spread that keeps a small roster in the mix.

Brendon Petersen delivered the team’s best individual finish, taking second in the 400 meters in 55.66 seconds. Dominac Mills added fifth in the same race in 58.49, giving St. Mary’s two scorers in one of the meet’s key events. Cael Phelps chipped in ninth in the 100 meters in 12.46, but the Panthers were most competitive when the races stretched out a bit and the same runners kept turning over for multiple events.

Jesus Rodriguez and Paul Foell gave St. Mary’s a strong middle-distance base. Rodriguez finished sixth in the 800 meters in 2:30.29, with Foell seventh in 2:54.99, then the two came back in the 1,600 to place fifth and sixth in 6:13.22 and 6:16.03. Foell also took third in the 3,000 meters in 14:56.29, one of the day’s most valuable results for St. Mary’s because it added points in a different part of the program and showed the Panthers have a runner who can cover multiple distances.

The field and relay work rounded out the total. Ivan Del Villar finished ninth in the discus with a throw of 97 feet, 4 inches. St. Mary’s was sixth in the 4x100 relay in 53.39 seconds, fourth in the sprint medley in 1:53.03 and fifth in the distance medley in 4:55.3. That mix of finishes mattered because the Panthers were not depending on a single standout performance; they were collecting small point totals across the card and building a team score one place at a time.

That balance is what makes the sixth-place finish more of a foundation than a warning sign. St. Mary’s did not threaten MMCRU for the top spot, but the Panthers were competitive in the 400, the 800, the 1,600, the 3,000 and two relays, which is the profile of a program that can keep improving as the season goes on. It is also a notable step down from the 46 points St. Mary’s scored in a sixth-place tie at the same meet in 2022, but the Panthers’ mission of positive personal development through sports and physical activity fits the same pattern: build depth, collect points and keep enough athletes contributing to stay relevant week after week.