Jaeger shines in small track meet

Savanah Mertens claims multiple top 10 finishes for Prairie girls

Among the smallest of meets last weekend, Prairie track saw some success. Carter Jaeger stood out in the crowd in a track invite that only welcomed 18 teams. He even earned a win at the Bronco Stampede in Kersey.

The freshman jack of all trades won outright in the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, 3 inches. His teammate, freshman Justin Schreiner, placed fifth in the event as he jumped to 37 feet, 9.5 inches. Jaeger very nearly repeated that gold-worthy feat in the long jump as he just missed out on first place by 8.5 inches. That crown went to Severance’s Trevin Hull, who leaped 20 feet, 3.25 inches to Jaeger’s 19 feet, 6.75 inches. Schreiner finished 17th in the event at 15 feet, 11.5 inches.

Jaeger added another top-10 mark to his resume on Saturday as he sprinted to ninth place in the 100meter dash after recording a time of 11.82 seconds. The winner of the race, Platte Valley’s Devyn Lauer-Duarte, crossed the finish line in 10.7 seconds. Schreiner rounded out his day with 16th place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.8 seconds.

On the ladies’ side, freshman Savanah Mertens showed out when she placed eighth in the 100meter dash after recording a time of 14.04 seconds. She managed to cross the finish line in the 200-meter dash in 12th place with a time of 30.10 seconds.

She proved even more competitive in the field events, as she triple jumped to fifth place with a distance of 29 feet, 11.5 inches and managed sixth in the long jump at 14 feet, 2.25 inches. Freshman Lilly Dunston rounded out Prairie track’s day after placing 26th in the discus with a throw of 50 feet even.