The Charleston Invite was an early testing ground for the Shelbyville Ram boys track team on Saturday. They placed 7th in 30-team Class A Meet and they didn't take the whole team.

The Ram 4x8 relay team placed 1st. Eli Miller ran second in the 55 meter dash. Cory Powers placed 5th in the 400 and Drennian Martin was 5th in the 800 to lead the team.

"We did not take everyone but had a decent contingent of athletes," said Ram coach Kevin Kramer. "I feel we probably could have been in the top three if we would have had everyone ready to go. But that will give us some goals for the post-season."

Shelbyville Results:

4 x 200: 1:43.94, 20th out of 26, Team members Kurtis Cameron, Chase Jackson, Jordan Brown, and Tyler Hendryx.

"This is a tough relay to run indoors," Coach Kramer said. "We just wanted to give everyone a chance to run today so we put this team together. I thought they did ok. Handoffs were a little shaky but they always are indoors. They will do much better outdoors."

4 x 800: 8:26.10, 1st out of 24, Team members Myles Foor, Neil Yockey, Drennian Martin, and Cory Powers.

"This was our top finish," Kramer said. "This team has a chance to finish in top three at state in May. Champaign St. Thomas More will be tough to beat but we want to break school record of 8:01 and if we do that we will be happy with where ever we finish. Splits were Myles 2:07, Neil 2:06, Drennian 2:06, and Cory 2:05."

55 meter Dash: 6.43, 2nd out of 51, Eli Miller

"Eli is in just his second year of track and has already shown improvement," Kramer said. "Eli dual sports in baseball so we practice in P.E. He has worked hard on the track and weight room and it has shown. Eli is definitely one of the top ten sprinters in class 1A in my opinion."

400 meter Dash: 54.05, 5th out of 29, Cory Powers

"Cory now has a top twelve time in three events at the state level," Kramer said. "The 400, 800 and 1600. Cory has worked extremely hard this year and his hard work is being rewarded. This was a personal best for Cory indoors or outdoors."

800 meter Run: 2:08.82, 5th out of 56, Drennian Martin. 2:15.93, 16th out of 56, Neil Yockey.

"Drennian and Neil are both coming off of injuries this winter so they are a little behind in their training," Kramer said. "But I thought they looked strong as this was their second races of the day following their win in 4 x 8."

1600 meter Run: 4:46.99, 10th out of 54, Alex Matlock. 4:52.32, 13th out of 54, Myles Foor.

"Alex cut about six seconds off of his time from a month ago so it was good to see his improvement," Coach Kramer said. "Myles is also coming off of an injury but I thought he came back strong after he ran in the winning 4 x 800. I look for Myles to drop the most time from now til end of season because he is behind a little in his training."

4 x 400 Relay: 4:02.45, 14th out of 23, Team members Jaden Stockdale, Kenton Wilson, Seth Applegate, and Devin Miner.

"We just kind of threw this relay together to get all the guys a race," Kramer said. "They really are part of our distance crew but I thought they did a good job. We were trying to get under 4:00 but just missed."

Long Jump: 18'-5 3/4", 15th out of 25, Jake Keown.

"This was Jake's first actual day of participating in track this season," Kramer said. "I thought he did ok. His steps were fairly consistant. He will get better with more practice. We need him to get back in the 20 foot range like we know he can do to get us some points. It will happen with more practice."

Triple Jump: 33'-6 1/2", 18th out of 30, Kurtis Cameron.

"Kurtis has been working hard in practice but has not had many attempts in the triple jump because of the weather. Kurtis will get better with more practice and we will need him at end of year."

High Jump: 5'-8", 11th out of 22, Tyler Hendryx.

"Tyler is another of our baseball guys so it is hard getting practice in for him," Coach Kramer said. "But I thought he did a great job. Because of little practice we have him on short approach and he was still able to clear 5-8. He was over 5-10 several times but either hit it coming down or with back of his legs. It will be nice to have Darin and Tyler both giving us points in HJ this year."

Pole Vault: 11'-6", 9th out of 14, Luke Hatfield.

"Luke is another baseball guy that we have struggled to get some practice time with," Kramer said. "He really doesnt have his approach down so for him to even make a height I was pleased. Between the weather and baseball it is tough to get that approach down and he will continue to struggle until he gets the repetitions."

Shot Put: 41'-1 3/4", 14th out of 33, Mikel Welton.

"Mikel has improved about a foot from last year, but we are going to need him to get up in the mid 40's if he wants to score in the post season," Kramer said"

"This Friday is the Illinois Top Times Meet in Bloomington, Illinois. Top teams from around the state will be at this meet," Coach Kramer said. "This was a qualifying meet, so we don't know how many we will have in it until final entries Monday night. I want to stress this is not the indoor state meet that a lot of people refer to it as. While there are a lot of teams from around the state, not every team even runs indoor meets. But it is an honor to qualify for the meet and is an indicator of possible post-season success."

Charleston EIU Invite

Top Ten Teams:

Pleasant Plains 46

Carlinville 44

Neoga 37

SJO 35

Tuscola 34

Robinson 27

Shelbyville 26

Chester 25

Williamsville 21

Litchfield 20