A veteran to the postseason, Coach Sue Wright knew it would take an exemplary effort by her athletes to push through to the next round.And that’s exactly what she witnessed on Saturday, as the Wright City track team advanced five events past the Class 3 District 4 meet at Mexico High School.“All the kids were coming back with personal bests, and that’s what you want,” said Wright. “In the years that we’ve been in Class 3, this is one of the biggest groups of kids we’ve had advance.”Now the Wildcats will vie for a trip to state when they compete in the Class 3 sectional on Saturday at Troy High School.It was a day that belonged to the senior class, with a pair of juniors joining in the fun.Senior Ben Randolph was right in the midst of the success, moving on in three events.“It feels awesome, because it kind of shows me as one of the common links, being a big part of the team,” said Randolph.He had the Wildcats’ highest finish of the day, taking second in his signature event with a 2:01.3 in the 800-meter race.“Qualifying was the main objective, and I knew I was comfortable there,” said Randolph. “I’ll do better at sectionals than I did at districts.”Fellow senior Brittany McPike became the only competitor from the girls team to advance, eking through in the discus throw with a heave of 106 feet, good enough for the fourth and final qualifying spot.“It would have been the third year in a row that I let the nerves get the best of me,” said McPike, who missed the cut the past two seasons. “On my last attempt I calmed down and threw my best distance.”She had scratched in each of her previous tries, but mustered a personal best on her final throw.“It’s a great feeling,” said McPike. “I’m so excited to get to move on. I’m proud of myself for advancing, because it’s been a while since a thrower has made it from our school.”She will be the female competitor to move on for the Wildcats.“I was pretty confident that Ben would make it out and knew Brittany would have a chance if she threw her best,” added Wright.But Randolph’s work wasn’t limited to his open races. He helped anchor a pair of relay teams into the next round as well.Along with Alvin Chenoweth, Brendan Gierer and Nick Mueller, Randolph guided the 1,600-meter relay team to a second place finish with a new school record of 3:36.“I’m really happy for these guys, because they’ve worked hard and put a lot into this program to achieve what they have,” said Wright.The 3,200-meter relay, consisting of Cody Klemp, Geier, Mueller and Randolph, qualified with a third-place finish after running an 8:36.“There was a lot of pressure on me being the only one that qualified last year,” acknowledged Randolph. “I figured I’d go in the 800 again based off what I did last year, but I didn’t expect to perform as well as we did in the relays.”The gradual emergence of Kody Morgan is finally paying off for the junior, who broke through in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.9 seconds, sufficient for third place.“I was so glad for Kody,” said Wright. “He ran a great race and came up to catch some kids from behind. He’s always cutting down on his time.”She was appreciative of their effort but disappointed for several athletes who barely missed the cut, especially sophomore Jynna Fritz. She placed fifth in both the mile and 800-meter races.“She’s right there as a sophomore,” said Wright. “I thought she would be close.”Moving forward, Wright is eager to focus on the remaining events in an effort to snap the Wildcats’ drought in recent state appearances.“It’s nice knowing that I can focus on just these kids and their individual events,” said Wright. “We can’t count anybody out at this point. Everybody’s got a chance.”MCPIKE ADVANCESDerrick Forsythe Photo.