Area teams battle through unfavorable conditions
ARNOLD - Rainy and windy conditions did not stop area teams from competing their hardest at the South Loup Invite in Arnold on April 9. Several teams placed very well and there were several meet records set despite the weather.
Finishing with the highest performance of the area squads, was the Mullen boys and girls track teams. They were second in the boy’s team standings with 55 points and second in the girl’s standings as well with 69.5 points.
“The weather made it miserable,” Mullen Coach Jennifer Moore said. “I thought at about 11:00 “if it stays like this, we will be ok”, but the temperature kept slowly falling. I thought the kids did an OK job of keeping warm and getting their muscles warm. It is Nebraska and we just have to deal with the weather. I think we are all just glad to be able to have a track season this year.”
The highlight for the day for the Broncos was Samantha Moore in the 100 meter hurdles. She won the event in a time of 15.49 which was a new meet record.
“The 100 hurdles are Samantha’s favorite,” Jennifer Moore said. “She has been working hard on getting over the hurdle faster. I was a bit surprised with her time as she has been injured and not training super hard due to her injury. I feel she is very capable of running in the lower 15’s.”
Also taking home firstplace finishes for the Mullen girls was Callie Coble in the 3,200 meter run and Brooke McCully in the 1,600 meter run. Coble ran a 12:48 in the two-mile and McCully crossed the line in 6:00 in the mile.
Winning double golds for the Bronco boys was Trevor Kuncl. He won the two-mile with a 10:55.57 and the mile in a time of 5:03.39.
The South Loup boys ended up with a thirdplace finish with 44 points and the Bobcats girls were fourth scoring 47 points.
Continuing their dominance in the 3,200 meter relay were the Bobcat boys. They won the relay easily in a time of 9:20.4.
“I couldn’t be happier with the boys in the 4x800 relay,” SL Boys Coach Rick Peterson said. “We have been giving some different kids an opportunity to prove what they can do on that relay. I”m as shocked as anyone else that three freshman boys and a sophomore are running that well. They are really excited about it. We’ve tried to create a sense of pride in our relays through the years and they know this.”
Reagan Cool was the only gold medalist for the South Loup girls. She won the pole vault competition with a vault of 8’00.
Having another outstanding performance for Ansley-Litchfield on the track was Carli Bailey. She finished first in both the 300 meter hurdles and the 400 meter dash. She clocked a 1:04.96 in the 400 and a 48.33 in the 300 hurdles.
“The two scorers for Ansley Litchfield girls did great, as usual, even with horrible weather,” A-L Girls Coach Lynette Finley said. “Carli Bailey will consistently place high in every event she does and Taylor Haines will always compete hard too. Even though times weren’t great, the girls competed right at the top.”
The Spartan boys got two first-place performances from Hunter Arehart in the pole vault and Calvin Finley in the 800-meter run. Arehart cleared 12’00 and Finley ran a 2:13.74.
“Friday was a rough track meet, however, we had some great performances,” A-L Boys Coach Jamee Smith said. “Hunter Arehart came away with another win at Pole Vault but opted to stop at 12 feet due to wind. Calvin Finely came away with a win in the 800 with a time of 2:14.”
In her first season competing in high school track, Jessica Stieb of A-LC has been nothing short of spectacular. The sophomore continues to rack up the gold medals in the discus and shot put events. She won the shot with a throw 41’8.75 and the discus with a toss of 134’03.
“So far this season, Jessica Stieb has been so focused on what she is doing,” A-LC Coach Paul Henry said. “Each meet she has set her own personal records in the shot put and she has been very consistent in getting good throws in the discus. A lot of this is attributed to the daily work she puts in and her ability to make technical corrections during meets.”
Setting two A-LC Coop records were Kaden Reeves in the pole vault and Jadyn Scott in the 300 meter hurdles. Reeves finished second with a vault of 11’06 and Scott was third in the 300 hurdles in a time of 43.43.
Similar to the South Loup boys in 4x800, the Anselmo-Merna girls team continues to find the podium in the 4x400. They won the relay in a time of 4:33.84. That was just under 14 seconds faster than the second-place team from North Platte St. Pats.
“I just think our girls do a good job of embodying the idea of team,” A-M Girls Coach Jason Reed said. “They run hard for each other and hold each other accountable. It took a lot, not only physically but mentally, to run in those conditions. I thought our girls competed really well overall.”
Wyat Lambertson was able to brave through the cool and windy conditions to take home first in the boy’s long jump for the Coyotes. He finished with a winning mark of 20’1.75.
“Wyat has been working hard at practice and has been very focused,” A-M Boys Coach Katie Hoblyn said. “He had the goal of jumping 20 feet before the season ever started. It was nice to see him attain his goals.”
Despite not taking home any first-place medals, the Sandhills-Thedford track team was able to put out some good performances on both the boy’s and girl’s side.
Seth Scranton was second in the triple jump going 39’10.5 and right behind him was Matt Dailey with a mark of 38’9.25. In the girl’s triple jump Tenley Rasmussen had one of her best outings of the year going 31’3.5 to finish third.
“I thought the team handled the weather conditions well and competed the whole day,” S-T Coach Josh Deines said. “With 19 teams there it was the
biggest meet we’ll see all year and we had a lot of tough competition. There were kids there that’ll do well at the end of the year down in Omaha. I was pleased with the performance that the kids were able to put up and look forward to building on it this week at the Burwell Invitational.”
All the area teams expect Mullen that competed in Arnold will be at the Burwell Invite this week. The Broncos will be traveling down to the Bertrand Invite. Both meets are scheduled to be held on April 16.
Girls Shot Put: 1. Jessica Stieb A-LC, 41’8.75.
Girls Long Jump: 1. Samantha Moore Mullen, 15’4.5. Girls High Jump: 3. Charli Vickers SL, 4’8; 6. Brea Branic S-T, 4’8. Girls Triple Jump: 3. Tenley Rasmussen S-T, 31’3.5; 6. Lindey Coble Mullen. Girls Discus: 1. Jessica Steib A-LC, 134’3; 3. Kyllie Jerabek, 105’10; 6. Abby Stallbaumer SL, 100’10. Girls Pole Vault: 1. Reagan Cool SL; 8’00. Girls 4x800: 2. A-LC, 11:34.9; 5. South Loup, 12:06.5. Girls 100 Meter Dash: 4. Bryn Schwarz SL, 13.147. Girls 100 Meter Hurdles: 1. Samantha Moore Mullen, 15.49; 2. Taylor Haines A-L, 16.81; 3. Kaitlyn Jacquot A-M, 16.9; 4. Carli Bailey A-L, 17.00; 5. Dayle Haake S-T, 17.8. Girls 3,200 Meter Run: 1. Callie Coble Mullen, 12:48.44; 3. Landyn Cole SL, 13.21.7; 5. Haley Wells A-M, 14:00.5. Girls 800 Meter Run: 3. Taylor Svoboda Mullen, 2:43.12; 5. Landri Loos A-LC, 2:44.4. Girls 300 Meter Hurdles: 1. Carli Bailey A-L, 48.33; 2. Samantha Moore Mullen, 48.8; 3. Kaitlyn Jacquot A-M, 52.15. Girls 400 Meter Dash: 1. Carli Bailey A-L, 1:04.96; 2. Carlee Bartak A-M 1:06.7; 3. Brooke McCully Mullen, 1:06.98; 6. Taylor Svoboda Mullen, 1:08.6. Girls 200 Meter Dash: 2. Halie Recoy SL, 27.8; 3. Hadlee Safranek A-M, 28.00. Girls 1,600 Meter Run: 1. Brooke McCully Mullen, 6:00.23; 2. Callie Coble Mullen, 6:03.4; 3. Landyn Cole SL, 6:11.8; 4. Jessi Heyen A-LC, 6:14.6; 5. Talli Martin SL, 6:30.1. Girls 4x100: 4. Sandhills-Thedford, 55.38; 5. South Loup, 55.40; 6. Anselmo-Merna, 56.17. Girls 4x400 Meter Relay: 1. Anselmo-Merna, 4:33.84; 4. Arcadia-Loup City, 4:51.7; 6. South Loup 4:54.7. Boys Shot Put: 4. Jack Halstead SL, 42’3.5; 5. Matt Cox A-LC, 40’04. Boys Long Jump: 1. Wyat Lambertson A-M, 20’1.75; 3. Gavin Sell A-LC, 19’8.75; 4. Seth Scranton S-T, 19’04. Boys Triple Jump: 2. Seth Scranton S-T, 39’10.05; 3. Matt Dailey S-T, 38’9.25; 4. Wyat Lambertson A-M, 38’03; 5. Jeffery Cunningham A-L, 37’09. Boys Discus: 5. Andrew Furrow S-T, 131’08. Boys Pole Vault: 1. Hunter Arehart A-L, 12’00; 2. Kaden Reeves A-LC, 11’06; 3. Silas Cool SL, 10’06; 4. Chase Stieb A-LC, 9’06. Boys 4x800: 1. South Loup, 9:20.04. Boys 100 Meter Hurdles: 2. Clayton Moore Mullen, 16.00; 6. Justin Lueck, 18.24. Girls 3,200 Meter Run: 1. Trevor Kuncl Mullen, 10:55.57; 3. Samuel Coble Mullen, 11:33.43; 4. Logan Recoy SL, 11:37.72; 6. Ty Greenland A-LC, 11:49.53. Boys 800 Meter Run: 1. Calvin Finley A-L, 2:13.74; 3. Silas Cool SL, 2:17.94; 4. Matt Dailey S-T, 2:18.02. Boys 300 Meter Hurdles: 1. Clayton Moore Mullen, 43.22; 3. Jadyn Scott A-LC, 43.43. Boys 200 Meter Dash: 2. Jaden Emerson Mullen, 23.04. Boys 1,600 Meter Run: 1. Trevor Kuncl Mullen, 5:03.39; 2. Logan Recoy SL, 5:21.6; 5. Hayden Jennings Mullen, 5:23.1; 6. Samuel Coble Mullen, 5:23.53. Boys 4x100: 3. Ansley-Litchfield, 47.28; 4. Sandhills-Thedford, 47.68. Boys 4x800 Meter Relay: 3. South Loup, 3:59.51.