In her third trip to state, a Wolfpack senior finished as one of the top 10 girls triple jumpers in Class D and was also the second leg of the girls 4x400 relay.
EPPJ’s Lydia Behnk recorded a distance of 33-1.5 in the girls triple jump at Omaha Burke Stadium on Saturday to qualify for finals and place 9th overall. Heading into her final state track meet, EPPJ coach Sandy Henn said Behnk decided to take a different approach this year. “She was so much calmer,” the coach said. “She said it was her senior year, and she was just going to go out and compete, and what is, is.” After Behnk completed her initial jumps, she hit the track to join her teammates in the 4x400 relay. Paige Meis was the first one out of the blocks for the relay team, followed by Behnk, Haley Zegers and Kaylee Martinsen. According to their coach, the Wolfpack team ran some of their best splits, until the end of the third leg when one of the girls went down. Coming off the final curve, one of Zegers’ legs gave out and she collapsed on the track. She was able to pull herself up and make her way to Martinsen for the final handoff. “The way they were running their splits, if they would have continued to run like that, they could have placed 7th or 8th,” Coach Henn said. “I think Haley would have had her fastest time of the season had that not happened to her leg.” The relay finished in 13th overall with a time of 4:28.324. The coach said relay alternate Theanna Dunn, a freshman, also attended state track so she could experience it and possibly replace one of the seniors (Meis or Behnk) next year. “We have multiple girls, even next year, who could run the 4x400 relay for us,” she said. Elkhorn Valley sophomore Bryson Anderson finished 35th at the Class D state golf meet on Wednesday in North Platte.
The Falcon shot a two-day score of 181. EPPJ's dynamic duo kept the pace Wednesday with a strong finish at the Class D state golf meet. Hunter Reestman finished 29th and Liam Heithoff was 32nd.
Reestman shot a 176 and Heithoff was a mere two strokes back at 178. Reestman's play was the definition of consisted as he shot a 44 on both the front and back nine on Tuesday and a 45 and 43 on Wednesday. Heithoff was a bit slower on the start with a 50 and 45 on Tuesday, powered back with an incredible 40 and 43 on Wednesday. In their first state appearance in co-op history, the Cyclones finished eight as a team at the Class D state golf tournament on Wednesday.
Gage Clifton shot a two-day score of 173 to finish in a tie for 22nd. Ryan Whilhelm tied for 33rd with a 180. Blake Hoke was 47th with a 186, Rafe Grebin carded a 231 to finish 85th and Clay Thile was 90th with a 243. As a team, the Cyclones finished ninth. For many athletes, qualifying for the state track meet is something that they strive for throughout their high school career. For those who qualify, placing in the top three in their event is the driving goal in their mind. Jacob Long did just that. Twice. The Cyclone junior earned himself two state medals Friday as the state champion in high jump and state runner-up in triple jump. Long qualified for the state track meet in three events after a dominating performance at districts in high jump, triple jump and long jump. After the state meet, the Cyclone said that he believed support from parents and coaches are what fueled the top finishes. “I feel a lot of it was the confidence boosting from my coaches and my parents. They really helped me feel that I could actually compete with the athletes down there,” Long said. OC coach Shannon Schumacher said a quad injury plagued Long over the season. However, they worked with it wrapped up for most of the meet and prepared for the state meet with more therapeutic practices. “We’ve been trying to get him healthy, and in the last couple weeks, we have taken it easy on him, doing a lot of rehab stuff . We were trying to get everything back to where it should be, strong and ready,” Schumacher said. Long made his first appearance of the state meet in the high jump. Long brought his "A" game, clearing 6-4 on his first try at that height. That jump tied his personal best on the season, following a 6-4 jump at the meet in St. Edward. Long's fellow competition, Trevor Pfeifer of Humphrey St. Francis and Aaron Alcorn of Crawford, also managed to clear 6-4. However, they cleared it on their second attempt. Because of the misses on the first, Long took the lead and the gold medal. Schumacher told Long after his jump that the pressure was on the other competitors. “You’re ahead of them, so you have to make them beat you now,” he said. However, none of the athletes cleared 6-6. Looking back to Long’s success on his first attempt, he earned the championship title. Schumacher said that they were hoping to make it in the top three in the event. However, he said that Long went above and beyond what he expected. “We were hoping to make a top spot, but he did amazing,” he said. Long’s second appearance at the state track meet was in the triple jump. Schumacher said they also had high hopes going into the preliminary rounds.
“We were hoping we would make it into the top three. You never know if it will happen, but we were hoping.” Long set out to jump the 43 foot mark. His personal best for the season was 43-½ at the Norfolk Classic. He was already close to the previous records for the schools: Clearwater with 43-3 and Orchard with 43-4. According to Schumacher, Long said that he wanted to beat both of those. “He said, ‘It would be cool if I could beat all of those records.’ ” Long seemed to improve and progress with each jump during the preliminary rounds and finals. His last jump of finals put him above and beyond where he wanted to be: 44-4½. Besides wiping out the school records and his personal best, the jump earned him the state runner-up in Class D. Long’s third event was in long jump. Coming in halfway through the season, Schumacher had hoped that he might medal at the state meet. He said that he came very close in his attempts. “It was very close. His first round he scratched, and his second round was give-or-take. They ruled it as a scratch, but it was so close, it could have been ruled either way,” he said. Although the 12th-place finish was not what they were hoping for, the top two finishes in both high jump and triple jump showed that his hard work paid off. Long said that his performances at state will fuel how he prepares for the next season. “I wanna work a lot on my jumping in general. It will help me in both high jump and triple jump. I think working on my explosiveness will help propel me to the next level,” Long said. By the end of the first round of the Class D state golf tournament in North Platte on Tuesday, Elkhorn Valley's Bryson Anderson is tied for 37th place.
Anderson shot 91 in 18 holes. The second 18 holes for the Class D tournament will be played on Wednesday at Lake Maloney Golf Course. After the first round of the Class D state golf tournament in North Platte on Tuesday, Hunter Reestman leads Elgin Public/Pope John, sitting in a tie for 28th place. Reestman shot an 88 in 18 holes.
Following him, Liam Heithoff is in 53rd place having shot a 95. The second 18 holes for the Class D tournament will be played on Wednesday at Lake Maloney Golf Course. Gage Clifton shot an 85 to lead the Clearwater-Orchard golf team in the first round of the Class D state tournament in North Platte,
Clifton shot a 42 on the first nine and a consistent 43 on the back to lead the Cyclones and is tied for 20th. Blake Hoke was also a consistent 46 - 46 for a 92, tied for 42nd. Ryan Wilhelm was one stroke ahead of Hoke with a 91 and is tied for 38th. He shot a 43 on the first nine and struggled a bit on the back with a 48. Clay Thiele used a strong 49 on the back nine to finish at 114 while Rafe Grebin rounded out the Cyclone squad with an 18-hole 124. As a team, the Cyclones are tied for eighth with Clarkson/Leigh at 94 over par. West Holt is leading the team race at +32. Wednesday will mark the second 18 holes for the Class D tournament at Lake Maloney Golf Course. A pair of decades-old track records were shattered at Neligh-Oakdale this season.
Hurdler Bailey Frey and distance runner Emma Bixler each eclipsed a school record for the girls track team. “We knew at the beginning of the year that it was possible for them to set the records,” Coach Terry Trautman said. A Warrior senior, Frey chased down a 24-year-old school record in the 300 hurdles at the Class C-5 district track meet in Atkinson on May 10. Heading into the meet, she knew she needed a peak performance to qualify for state in the fiercely-competitive district. Running stride-for-stride with last year’s state champ throughout most of the district race, Frey eventually crossed the finish line in third place and broke the Neligh-Oakdale school record. Her time of 48.43 seconds was fast enough to earn the first wildcard spot in Class C, qualifying her for the state meet. Stacy Strong was the previous school record-holder in the 300 hurdles since 1994. The new fully-automatic timing (FAT) system that is used today was introduced after that time, so a conversion is necessary to figure Strong’s FAT time. Coach Trautman said .24 seconds must be added to the old hand-held times, putting the previous record at 48.64 instead of 48.4, which makes Frey’s time of 48.43 the new school record. “I’m really happy that Bailey was able to do this in her senior year,” the coach said. The record for the school’s 3200 meter run came crashing down at last weekend’s state track meet. In her sophomore season, Bixler cut nearly a full minute off her 3200 time from the beginning of the year to her record-setting performance at state. “She just kept improving and improving every meet,” Coach Trautman said. Bixler was only about one second away from the 34-year-old record with her time at districts. She too, placed third in the tough C-5 district meet behind last year’s state champ and one other runner, but earned herself a wildcard with one of the fastest times in the class. Surrounded by the top runners in Class C, Bixler turned in her best performance yet, running a 12:31.71 at state to break the school record by nearly 6 seconds. The old record of 12:37.5 was set by Pam Green in 1984. Coach Trautman said he is proud of the girls and their efforts. The Neligh-Oakdale girls haven’t broken a school record since Kelley Carden’s high jump record in 2012, and this season, two have made their mark on the record board. Four former Wolfpack volleyball players and their coach have been selected for the 21st annual Northeast Nebraska All-Star Volleyball Classic next month.
Recent graduates Grace Henn, Calli Krebs, Paige Meis and Nickol Payne have been invited to play in the classic, and EPPJ coach Tina Thiele-Blecher was chosen to coach to dark team. The event will take place on Saturday, June 9, at 3 p.m. in the Cox Activities Center at Northeast Community College in Norfolk. Members of the light team, including the high school they attended, are: Madalyn Arens, Hartington Cedar Catholic; Maci Batenhorst, Wisner-Pilger; Julia Eskens, Wynot; Ashley Hamilton, Hartington Cedar Catholic; Lauren Jacobsen, Wisner-Pilger; Taya Johnson, Battle Creek; Kyla Moore, Norfolk Senior High; Caitlin Orton, Rock County High School; Anna Reifenrath, Hartington Cedar Catholic; and Emma Rosberg, Lutheran High Northeast. Coaches are Kathy Gebhardt, Lutheran High Northeast, and Denae Buss, Hartington Cedar Catholic. Members of the dark team are: Kylie Hammer, Wayne; Grace Henn, Pope John XXIII Central Catholic; Hannah Heppner, Stanton; Calli Krebs, Pope John XXIII Central Catholic; Bailey Kraus, West Holt; Paige Meis, Pope John XXIII Central Catholic; Nickol Payne, Pope John XXIII Central Catholic; Katie Pilakowski, West Point-Beemer; Bailey Schindler, Ewing; and Logan Wemhoff, Humphrey St. Francis. Coaches are Tina Thiele-Bleacher, Elgin Public / Pope John XXIII Central Catholic, and Tracy Kuester, Stanton. Numerous athletes from Neligh-Oakdale, Clearwater-Orchard, Elgin Public/Pope John and Elkhorn Valley competed in the 2018 Nebraska State Track and Field Championships at Burke Stadium in Omaha this past weekend.
Check out our photo gallery of their performances: EPPJ senior Lydia Behnk competed in the Class D triple jump on Saturday afternoon at the state meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.
Behnk finished in top 10 with a jump of 33-1.5, placing ninth in the state. The EPPJ 4x400 relay team competed Saturday afternoon in Class D at the state track and field meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.
The team of Paige Meis, Lydia Behnk, Haley Zegers and Kaylee Martinsen finished 13th in 4:28.324. Elkhorn Valley freshman Hunter Bennett competed in the Class D pole vault on Saturday afternoon at the state meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.
Bennett went 10-6 and finished 21st. Clearwater/Orchard junior Jacob Long competed in the Class D long jump on Saturday afternoon at the state meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.
Long jumped 19-6.25 to finish in 12th place. JoCee Johnston will be bringing home another medal for the Clearwater-Orchard Cyclones after taking third place in the girl's high jump at the state track meet in Omaha on Saturday morning.
Johnston jumped for 5-01 over the morning. Trinity Langley of Potter-Dix and Hunter Wiebelhaus of North Central took first and second place overall in the high jump, respectively. Brooklynn Chipps of Clearwater-Orchard will be bringing home a state medal after her fourth place finish in shot put at the state track meet in Omaha on Saturday morning, her second top ten finish in an event at this year's state track meet.
Chipps threw for 37-05.5 on the day. She also placed in the top 10 in the discus throw Friday morning. Cade Wilkinson of Neligh-Oakdale competed in the 200 meter dash at the state track meet in Omaha on Friday night. He ran a 23.73 and was seventh in his heat.
Bailey Frey of Neligh-Oakdale competed in the 300 hurdles at the state track meet in Omaha on Friday night. She ran a 50.25 and was fifth in her heat.
Neligh-Oakdale sophomore Emma Bixler broke a three-decade-old school record in the 3200-meter-run at the Class C State Meet tonight in Omaha.
Bixler ran in 12:31.71 to break the record held by Pam Green from 1984. Bixler finished 14th overall in the 3200. Julien Hearn of Neligh-Oakdale competed in the high jump at the state track meet in Omaha on Friday. He went out at 5-10.
Houston Marino of Clearwater-Orchard competed in the 200 meter dash at the state track meet in Omaha on Friday. He ran a 24.39 and was seventh in his heat.
Jake Long will be bringing home the silver after placing 2nd in the boy's triple jump finals at the state track meet in Omaha. He jump 44-4 1/2.
Long was the state champion in the boy's long jump earlier in the day. Brayden Effle of Elkhorn Valley competed in the 300 hurdles on Friday at the state track meet in Omaha. He ran a 42.93 and was fifth in his heat.
Hunter Bennett of Elkhorn Valley finished in the top 15 in the 3200m run Friday at the state track and field meet in Omaha. Bennett ran an 11:01.00 to finish 12th in Class D.
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