Athletes Compete at 2015 State Track Meet
On May 22 and May 23, athletes from Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, Deshler and Thayer Central traveled to Burke High School in Omaha to compete at the State Track Meet.
Thayer Central
The Titans accumulated a total of 36 points at the State Meet, taking third overall after Aquinas Catholic (39) and Bishop Neumann (45).
Simon Wiedel, junior, competed in four events that day: long jump, triple jump, the 100 meter and the 200 meter dash. Wiedel took second in the triple jump at 44-05.5 and garnering eight points. Junior
Jadyn Dightman followed in 16th place at 41-02.5. Wiedel took third in long jump at 21-08.75 scoring six points for the Titans. Sophomore Riley Templin was 18th at 19-02.00. Wiedel was the 100 meter dash final champion with a time of 10.82 and ten points. Wiedel raced a close one for the 200 meter dash, placing second overall with a time of 22.31: a second behind Hastings St. Cecilia’s Jake Kadow who took first at 22.30.
The 3200 meter relay team took fifth with a time of 8:17.03 and scored four points. Team members included senior Adam Hellbusch, sophomore Connor Mumm, freshman Aubrey Fangmeier and senior Tyler Hergott.
Hellbusch went on to compete in the 800 meter run and took ninth overall with a time of 2:03.27.
Though he did not make it into finals, senior Landon Schmitt was sixth in his heat in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.38. Schmitt also competed in the 300 meter hurdles and placed sixth in his heat with a time of 42.14.
BDS
On May 22 and 23, the BDS track team members who qualified traveled to Omaha for a chance to participate in the Nebraska State Track Meet.
The girls scored 30 points and ended in eighth place while the boys scored six and ended up in a tie for 36th.
The boys 4X800 relay got things going for the Eagles on Friday by running to a new school record of 8:52.15 and placing 12th. Members of that relay were seniors TJ Krupicka, Jayden Otto and Charlie Martin, and freshman Karson Dixon.
Sam Christensen, who was running in the 110 hurdles at State for the third year in a row, ran 16.64 to finish fourth in his heat but didn’t qualify for the finals on Saturday finishing 14th.
The 1600 meter relay team finished off the boys portion of the meet with a solid run in the 1600 relay and a seasons best time of 3:34.4 which was good enough for a third place medal. Members of that relay were Seniors Chris Rohr, Grant Norder, TJ Krupicka, and Junior Kendall Dixon.
“Our senior boys really did an outstanding job of leading us in our two relays all year long,” said head coach Fred Kluck. “I remember when they were little freshmen and sophomores and struggled to compete with other team’s older kids and we kept reminding them work and wait. When you’re juniors and seniors things will fall into place. Well they did it and now they own school records and State medals. They’ve really been good leaders by example for us in all ways this entire school year.”
Catherine Mick led the way for the girls. She brought home gold medals in each of her three individual events and anchored the 1600 relay team which broke the school record with a time of 4:18.17 and finished in ninth place. Other members of the relay were Kristin Troyer, Tristen Mosier and Courtney Kamler.
Troyer capped off her senior year by leaping 32’101⁄4 which just missed making the finals in the triple jump as she finished 11th place.
Freshman Megan Grote had an opportunity to participate at State for the first time in the high jump where she failed to medal but got some valuable experience.
After qualifying in both the 100 and 300 hurdles on Friday, Mick began her day Saturday with an extremely close win in the 100 hurdles by beating the competitor who had just edged her out for first place in the same race the year before. Mick’s winning time was 15.35. Things got a little more complicated later on as the pole vault and the 300 hurdles often overlap at State.
“It didn’t seem to affect Catherine much, and maybe the cooler weather helped some,” said Kluck. “Some years we’ve had jumpers who are really worn down by their races and had a difficult time coming back to field events. This almost seemed to help her.”
Mick won the 300 hurdles with a school record time of 45.39 and then turned around and broke her own State record in the pole vault with a leap of 12’3”. She also had to go and run the leg on the 1600 relay prior to the pole vaults completion, but by that time had already set the State mark. In addition, Mick won the school’s first All Class Gold medal by beating all the pole vaulters in classes A, B and C.
“It’s difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t come to practice each day just how hard Catherine works out,” said Kluck. “Sometimes she makes things seem pretty effortless, but that’s because of an extreme determination she exhibits continually in her workouts. She’s a great example for our younger kids.”
Deshler
Five Deshler Dragons State Track qualifiers traveled to Omaha for the May 22 and 23 meet.
“Overall, we had a good state track meet and look forward to another great season next year,” said Shannon LeFave, Deshler track coach.
Junior Elizabeth Meier placed fifth in discus and had a season personal best of 114’ and scored four points.
Lauren Schmidt, senior, competed in the 3200 meter and 1600 meter run. She had a personal time of 13:00.13 in the 3200 and a new personal record of 5:46 in the 1600: a five second improvement from her personal record set at districts.
Senior Ashton Oakman also ran in the 1600 meter run. Oakman ran his first sub five minute mile and set a new personal record at 4:58.82.
Mason Roth, freshman, competed in the 3200 meter run and ran his first sub 11 minute two mile run to improve his two mile personal record at 10:59. His State time was 10:59.32 .
Senior Jared Pohlmann competed in discus with a throw of 126-08.
