ALTON - Nearly 100 young women from Girl Scouts Service Unit 101 gathered at the Alton Square Mall on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, to compete in the third annual Pinewood Derby

Service Unit Manager for Girl Scouts Service Unit 101 Jennifer Melton, which covers most of the communities in the Riverbend, said 93 racers participated in the event, ranging from kindergarten to ninth grade. Melton said the event was opened to racers up to 12th grade, but said the oldest racer was in ninth grade. Trophies were awarded for first, second and third place in four age groups. Awards were also given for "best in show," which was chosen by the young women participating.

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"It's the third year we've conducted a Pinewood Derby," Melton said. "We started doing it in 2015, and have been doing it every year since."

The event is held at the Alton Square Mall, and the Girl Scouts utilized track left in the morning by the Cub Scouts. While the Girl Scouts' Pinewood Derby and the Cub Scouts' are not related, Melton said some of the volunteers stayed to help run the equipment.

"We are not associated with the Cub Scouts, and they didn't invite us, but they were nice enough to let us use their track," Melton said. "It was solely our race."

Melton sent a list of the winners to Riverbender.com via email. They are as follows:

Daisy Winners

  • 1st - Stormlee Starkey
  • 2nd - Ahanlee Marberger
  • 3rd - Lena Droste
  • Best of Show - Lyla Fish 

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Brownie Winners

  • 1st - Joslyn Springman
  • 2nd - Aubrey Cathy
  • 3rd - Alexis Peal
  • Best of Show - Elisabeth Preston 

Junior Winners

  • 1st - Bridget Murphy
  • 2nd - Alyssa Herbst
  • 3rd - Ava Cetra
  • Best of Show - Lexie Davis

Cadette/Senior/Ambassador Winners

  • 1st - Samara Helton
  • 2nd - Jynnifer Floyd
  • 3rd - KayLee Melton
  • Best of Show - KayLee Melton 

Overall Winners

  • Fastest - Stormlee Starkey
  • Best of Show - Lexie Davis

"Special thanks to Pack #3126 for the use of their track and special thanks to Mark Brown, Christina Brown, Terry Croxford, Tim Starkey and Joel Schimansky from Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for running the track and software for us," Melton said in an email. "Also to Terry and Tim Melton for checking all 93 cars in and validating that they met size and weight specifications before racing." 

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